The Clown
Is the clown a ghost, a nightmare, a guardian angel, or just an homage to David Bowie? Take a look at the video for Bowie's Ashes to Ashes and see where the clown may have gotten his start.In the show, the part of the clown is played by Andrew Clover. In addition to acting, Andrew's jobs include father, comedian, and author. He is the author of the cult classic, Dirty Angels, available on Amazon.com
In some rare free time, Andrew answered some questions about his role in Ashes to Ashes, experiences on the set, and what life has in store for him in a post-Ashes world.BBCAMERICA.COM: What was your inspiration for your character?
ANDREW: Of course the David Bowie video, "Ashes to Ashes." I watched that several times. I do look relatively similar to him.
BBCAMERICA.COM: Really?
ANDREW: Yeah. And weirdly enough, I’ve even got the unbalanced eye thing. (laughs)
They’re not quite as weird as his, but I’ve got one freakishly large pupil and another one which is tiny, as if one eye is completely spaced out at all times. But, because I’m a comedian, my inspiration was doing the opposite of what I would normally do. As a comedian, you’re always trying to show the crowd that you’re a lovely person and you’re responding to them. And I figured, with the clown, I could just let go and just be neutral and make no effort whatsoever to be remotely charming or smiley. And I think what is unsettling about the clown, what gives him that sort of psychopathic quality, is that he’s totally blank. For me, the blank psychopath quality was something quite easy to find. Being a comedian I find much harder. Because I’m a dad - I’ve got three kids - I’m constantly tired and worrying about my life in different ways. And with the clown, you could just let rip. I could turn up and stand around just being absolutely furious and it seemed to work.
BBCAMERICA.COM: Wow.
ANDREW: I went to mime school. There was something about the clown’s movement you may have only partly noticed. I figured he could have moved with a sort of floating determination. And I would do that while I was waiting around on set, waiting to go on.
BBCAMERICA.COM: How long did it take for you to get in makeup everyday?
ANDREW: Oh, it was two hours almost, every day. But that was delightful because Keeley Hawes was nearly always in at the same time. And we used to have hilarious times in makeup together, chatting away. She’d be sitting next to me, and I’d be watching her eye makeup being done beautifully around her beautifully aquiline nose. We’d just have a lot of fun together.
