How I used my flexible face for American Horror Story

I got to do a promo for American Horror Story and they did cool and creepy things to my face. Here’s a visual that I’m hoping will help my dentist.

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I auditioned as a scary clown, and was chosen because my skin is above-average stretchy and I have a flexible face. That’s not my real mustache. Watch the video here!

The makeup and wardrobe took three hours, and the shooting was pretty fast. A lot of people asked if this was done by a leaf blower. It wasn’t (although you can recreate it with one pretty honorably, as my friend Funny Eddie did). The AHS team used two huge, high-power industrial air tanks that blew out everything. I couldn’t keep my eyes open. The final shot is a composite of my pre-air tank eyes and hair and the bottom half is the magic of the wind.

CLOWN CONTROVERSY

Some clowns and non-clowns have been upset by clown portrayal in American Horror Story, but I think that most reasonable clowns understand that clowns are scary. A horror movie is basically a comedy with the lights off: the distortion of reality that makes a clown funny also makes him scary. Laughing and screaming are very close, but I’ve still only been able to make girls laugh.

I had a good time making this promo. I’m not sure if there’s an actual rubber face on the show, but as far as this character goes I wouldn’t change a thing. There are a lot of talented, hard-working people with great ideas on AHS, and I love collaborating to make a great end product. That’s why I don’t care about looking good in the things I do — I respect the writer’s ability to make whatever character is right and then I try to fill out that character with what I am.

I like to use stretching contortion with my own characters, too. My favorite move is putting my feet behind my head (I have fun throwing that one in on stage). Rubberboy is my favorite contortionist — he can move his heart below his rib cage, which shows you contortion isn’t always just about the joints. I like making faces too. I did it a lot as a kid.  I heard Jim Carey spent hours in front of the mirror making faces, so I tried that, but it was boring. This promo was the opposite of boring.