‘Terrifier 3’: Art The Clown Actor Talks Which Scene Almost Broke Him

Terrifier 3’s Art the Clown actor David Howard Thornton said he nearly couldn’t stomach one kill scene in the movie.

According to The Numbers, Terrifier 3 made a killing—so to speak—in its opening weekend at the domestic box office, earning more than $18 million in ticket sales against a $2 million budget before prints and advertising.

Perhaps the biggest surprise about the opening of the unrated movie is that the film soundly defeated Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga’s Joker sequel in its second-weekend outing. Terrifier 3 earned its domestic keep of $18.9 million from 2,514 theaters, while Joker: Folie à Deux’s week two business dropped 81% to $7 million in 4,102 theaters.

Terrifier 3 continues the tradition of the first two films in the franchise with excessive violence and gore, which prompted 11 people to walk out of the film’s UK premiere and spur a rare French ratings ban.

It turns out, though, that at least one scene in Terrifier 3 even tested Thornton’s tolerance for the film’s gore. In a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Thornton said a scene where Art the Clown tube-feeds live rats to a victim pushed him to his limit.

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“I, unfortunately, was not able to tag in my double because my face was shown the whole entire time in the shot, and I was like, ‘Oh, no, no, no.’ It deals with something that I just do not like in general, and it’s something that always makes me nauseous when I see it,” Thornton told THR.

Thorton believes that Terrifier franchise writer and director Damien Leone set up the scene so there was no possible way a double could step in.

“I feel that Damien specifically put that element into this one kill scene just to see if he could break me, and it worked,” Thorton told THR. “So I almost went over the edge, but I stopped myself because I did not want to ruin my makeup. My makeup artist had spent hours doing it, and she was standing there on the side, saying, “Don’t you dare, David! Don’t you dare.”

Thornton’s Agent Advised Him Not To Audition For Art The Clown

David Howard Thornton told THR that he was a struggling actor trying to find work in New York Theater when he was presented with the opportunity to play Art the Clown.

Released in 2018, the first Terrifer, per The Numbers, had a production budget of $35,000. Thornton recalled that his agent felt the low-budgeted slasher film was beneath the actor.

“I had never auditioned for any film roles before, and I wanted to get into film,” Thornton recalled for THR. “I then came across this audition for Terrifier and I was like, ‘Oh, he’s like an evil Mr. Bean. I would love a chance to play a character like this.’ So, I submitted myself for it, and my agent actually fought me on it. She was like, ‘This is such a low-budget independent film. You really don’t need to do stuff like this.’”

According to the box office tracker, Terrifier went on to gross $342,749 worldwide, so a sequel was inevitable. As such, Terrifier 2 was released in 2022 and made $15.7 million worldwide against a $250,000 production budget.

The next question is after the success of Terrifier 3, whether there will be a Terrifier 4. Given Terrifier 3’s cliffhanger ending—combined with the film’s massive opening weekend take—the announcement of Terrifier 4 seems to be all but a formality.

Whatever the case may be, Thornton said he’s “very much so” ready to terrify again.

“I was very happy with the ending to Terrifier 3 when I read the first draft of the script, and I told Damien, ‘Please do not change this aspect at all. Please, please, please.’ I love where it leaves the characters at the end of the film,” Thornton told THR. “It is almost like an Empire Strikes Back-type ending, and I love that.

“So, I am very excited to see where this character is going to go moving forward because he’s in such a different state than he’s ever been in before, and I’m excited to see what avenues we can explore with him that way,” Thornton added.

Terrifier 3, which is unrated, is playing in theaters nationwide.