What Terrifier’s Art The Clown Looks Like In Real Life

Creator and director of the “Terrifier” series, Damien Leone, had one mission with his splatter saga. The enterprising filmmaker set out to deliver movies that go further than any Hollywood slasher ever would, presenting viscera-soaked nightmares that somehow get worse with each new entry in the franchise. It prompted horror aficionado Mike Flanagan to dub 2022’s “Terrifier 2” a “MegaSlasher,” and while such labels might be redundant as long as the “splatter” genre exists, there is something unique about Leone and his trilogy, if only in the sense that these celebrations of unfiltered gore have gained more widespread recognition than they have any right to in recent years.

A big part of the films’ appeal, and one of the reasons why they’ve made the modest but significant cultural impact they have, is the twisted fiend at the center of it all: Art the Clown. The malicious harlequin is fast becoming this generation’s slasher superstar, especially in the wake of “Terrifier 2” and its surprise box office success. No doubt Art will transition from burgeoning horror icon to living in full-on infamy following “Terrifier 3,” dubbed one of the nastiest horror movies ever made by /Film’s Jacob Hall.

As such, you might be interested in the man beneath the makeup. While Art himself is about as evil as slasher villains come, the actor responsible for animating his grotesque rampages is, by all accounts, a pretty chill guy. Allow us to introduce you to actor David Howard Thornton.

As Art the Clown, David Howard Thornton has delivered multiple deeply unsettling performances, giving the homicidal clown a tricksterish energy that sees him delighting in his violent outbursts. It’s this bleak comedic approach that earned Howard Thornton the gig in the first place. After actor Mike Giannelli played the character in Damien Leone’s early short films, Art was recast for 2016’s “Terrifier,” with Howard Thornton taking on the role following an audition that instantly impressed Damien Leone and his producer.

Howard Thornton landed the gig after a nasty bit of improv during his audition (which can be seen here) whereby he mimed decapitating a victim and salting the head to taste. Prior to that, the would-be teacher had completed a degree in elementary education but decided acting was his future, and managed to land some voiceover gigs for video games before going in to audition for Art. You can see Howard Thornton doing impressions of Warner Bros. characters on his YouTube channel, prior to his debut as Leone’s murder-clown.

It was Art and the “Terrifier” series that really gave Howard Thornton his start in the industry. While 2016’s “Terrifier” was, as /Film’s Chris Evangelista once put it, a “plotless, storyless, valueless excuse to showcase gore and not much else,” the sequel provided audiences with more in the way of story, plot, and lore to flesh out Leone’s “Terrifier” universe. By that point, Howard Thornton had well and truly settled into the role, animating Art with barely contained homicidal glee.

Now 44, David Howard Thornton has gained recognition in the industry for his portrayal of Art the Clown, which, regardless of your thoughts on the value of the “Terrifier” movies, is I think well-deserved. The actor has clearly given his all to Art, sitting through a makeup process to transform into the character that began as a seriously arduous ordeal spanning multiple hours. The actor was also made sick by a particularly brutal scene in “Terrifier 3,” which is quite an accomplishment on Damien Leone’s part as his star is otherwise surprisingly equable while acting out Art’s depraved acts. What’s more, Howard Thornton was almost shot by real cops during the making of “Terrifier” after locals called the police having witnessed the actor in his blood-stained costume.

So, it’s fair to say that Howard Thornton has given a lot to Art and the “Terrifier” franchise as a whole. Between his performances in Leone’s films, the actor has also landed small roles in TV shows, including a brief appearance in Fox’s “Gotham” and a 2023 guest appearance on Pete Davidson’s “Bupkis,” where he cameoed as the murderous clown during a hallucination sequence.

With “Terrifier 3” set to hit theaters on October 11, 2024, we’ll have to wait to see whether Howard Thornton returns as Art for a fourth go-round. But with the threequel already stoking similar controversy to its predecessor, we’re sure this won’t be the clown’s last spree.