Interview with Actor Clancy Brown of “The Burrowers”
Written by Elaine Lamkin
Clancy Brown is one of the most respected character actors around as well as being a force of nature. This reporter was privileged to see Clancy several years ago at Actor’s Theater in Louisville, playing Anthony in Shakespeare’s Anthony and Cleopatra with recent Oscar-winner Mercedes Ruehl, so the opportunity to interview him was especially exciting.
One problem though. Clancy was in Chicago at the time we did this interview and it seemed that the city had to be on fire as every few minutes, our conversation would be drowned out by almost literally ear-splitting sirens. But hopefully, what I was able to hear from “Brother Justin/Gus Gilbert/David Brown” and “John Clay” made it into this interview.
Elaine Lamkin: Thank you so much for taking time to speak with Fatally-Yours.com about your new film, the amazing The Burrowers (review). How did you come to be involved with director JT Petty (interview) and The Burrowers?
Clancy Brown: The script was sent to me a few years ago but I wasn’t interested when Tremors was mentioned. It sat on my desk for a while, then I read it and loved that it was a Western and all of the characters were realistic. I took a meeting with JT and was surprised by JT’s references to such films as The Searchers and Ulzana’s Raid. However, I was offered no money so I did another film instead, The Express with Dennis Quaid. I met with JT again and this time the money for the film was there and I accepted the role of John Clay.
EL: For horror fans, what would you say to those who hear it is a Western/horror hybrid and aren’t sure how “horrific” the film might be?
CB: Well, for people who like Westerns, it’s a Western and for people who like horror, it’s a horror film. The whole psychology of a Western is in The Burrowers: Manifest Destiny, propagation of the species, how Westerns expiate the American sin of racism against the Native Americans. The horror is really the horror of the people, not the creatures. In the film, the horror is created by the settlers killing off the buffalo which the creatures fed on.
EL: You are known for playing bad guys but this time you are the “John Wayne” character or, as either JT or Karl referred to you on the commentary, “Big Poppa”. How would you describe your character, John Clay?
CB: “Big Poppa”?? I’m going to have to give JT some shit about that. John Clay is the iconic American Western character: highly principled, taciturn although, as it turns out, his assumptions are wrong as to what he and Parcher are dealing with. JT is a genius – he gave each of us a backstory for our character as well as the backstory on all of the others in the film.
EL: Did you do any research on the time period prior to shooting? I heard you did not attend “cowboy camp” but arrived on set ready to ride.
CB: No, I didn’t do any research and I didn’t attend the camp as I’ve ridden horses in the past. Karl didn’t know how to ride and he had to deal with the pack horse as well (laughs). Thankfully, we had incredible horse wranglers as well as good picture horses. They always hit their marks.
EL: How was it working with such a diverse cast: William Mapother (interview), Karl Geary, Doug Hutchison (interview), Sean Patrick Thomas, Galen Hutchison and, of course, JT Petty (interview)?
CB: Galen was terrific. He was a young local actor and did a great job. I had never crossed paths with William or Doug prior to The Burrowers. Doug was the “rocker” of the bunch while I think William just wanted to go off and read a book between takes. Sean Patrick had just gotten married so he behaved himself. There really wasn’t a lot of time for hijinks.
All I can say about JT is that he’s a genius.
EL: You are a genre favorite with roles in Carnivale, Pet Sematary 2, The Bride, Highlander, etc. Obviously you have no worries about being typecast. And as someone who has worked in horror, what is your opinion on the state of horror films today? I know I would love to see more films like The Burrowers but the studios only seem to be interested in PG-13/CGI-loaded/pretty 20-something “actors” garbage.
CB: I don’t really watch horror films. The slasher films back in the 80s ended it for me. They are just dumbass gorefests. And I think the current trends are ridiculous.
EL: Carnivale was such an unusual series but has such a loyal fanbase (myself among them). Why do you think HBO pulled the plug? And would you ever want to return to the world of Brother Justin Crowe?
CB: I really don’t know. The HBO folks at the time really changed TV with shows like The Sopranos but then they started treating HBO like a network and they, well, they fell from grace. If Carnivale had come around two years earlier, we might have seen the whole series.
EL: You, along with William Mapother and Doug Hutchison, have appeared on the TV series, Lost. Any idea if fans will see a reappearance of Kelvin Inman?
CB: I’m not really hip to Lost so I have no idea whether Inman might return. Filming was a great experience though, as I had just finished Carnivale and several of the crew from Carnivale went on to work on Lost. So, for me, it was great seeing those folks again. And being in Hawaii.
EL: Of all of the horrifying characters you have played, who is your personal favorite (you were pretty creepy as “David Brown” in the mainstream made-for-TV movie, Love, Lies and Murder)?
CB: Playing David Brown was a nightmare! God, that guy and what he did… Favorite characters…I would have to say playing Brother Justin Crowe in Carnivale was a favorite as was Sheriff Gus Gilbert in Pet Sematary 2. That film was really a spoof and we were told to just be as over-the-top as possible. I think I succeeded with Gus (laughs).
EL: Do you have any favorite horror films and horror books?
CB: I love the old Universal horror films like Frankenstein and The Wolf Man. The Exorcist really freaked me out. I also loved John Carpenter’s Halloween. As for books, I’m more of a sci-fi reader – Arthur Clarke, Robert Heinlein, those guys predicted things that are happening now way back – although I do enjoy Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein.
EL: According to the always unreliable IMDb, you are a very busy actor, doing everything from SpongeBob SquarePants (which your children must love) to voice-over work. Any more genre films in your future?
CB: I’m in Chicago right now to have a meeting with the director of the Nightmare on Elm Street remake. My part isn’t that big – I play the father of one of the kids. Still doing Mr. Krabs in SpongeBob SquarePants (which my kids do love) and I recently did some work on a legal series which may or may not be picked up.
EL: Johnny Depp recently did an episode of SpongeBob. How was that?
CB: Johnny did okay. Johnny is Johnny. And Dennis Quaid was also on recently – he was a pain in my ass on The Express so this was my opportunity to pay him back (laughs). I think the stunt casting for SpongeBob is great.
EL: Would you like to add anything I may not have touched on?
CB: I hope The Burrowers can be turned into the classic it should be and it really needs to be seen on a big screen.
EL: What is one thing no one knows about Clancy Brown that you think they should?
CB: I’m really boring and don’t rate this kind of attention. I’m just doing my job.
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