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: We’re here with Andrew Clover who plays the clown on Ashes to Ashes. How are you Andrew?
ANDREW: Well I’m feeling pretty good, thank you, yes. I’m not being a clown today, so I’m not lurking around in the shadows being spooky. I’m just being a dad and a normal man.
BBCAMERICA.COM: Well that’s great. How did you get the part of the clown?
ANDREW: I got the part of the clown because my agent rang me up and said, “You’ve got to audition for this. You’re perfect for the part. You look like the clown. Your character is actually some kind of weird angel of death.” And I was thinking, “I probably am perfect for that because I am a clown. I’m a comedian.” But I’ve got a bad face for a comedian. If I drop my eyebrows for a moment, I do look like a serial killer. (laughs) I am a perfectly nice man, but I’m not the kind of guy you’d want to meet at two o’clock in the morning if you found yourself in a hotel.
So he said, “Now don’t mess it up like you normally do.”
And I said, “Well how do I mess it up?”
“Well you talk too much and you don’t prepare.”
So I think “Right, I’ll show him” and I get out my kid’s makeup and I put on the white face paint and the lipstick and the scar, now dripping with fake blood, which obviously is quite an embarrassing look to sport on the tube on the way to the audition. But I figure, you know I’ll just act like I’m a normal clown off to Covent Garden, ready to spend the day looming next to tourists. But walking through Rotherhithe in Southeast London was much harder. I got out of the tube and I was walking down the street and there were two guys on the other side of the street shouting, “Chi-chi man, you better mind your back.” And I’m not a fighter; I get quite scared. So I ran to the audition. I arrived sweaty in the audition, sat down in front of the director, Johnny, who said to me, ‘What are you going to bring to this part, Andrew?’
I just stared him in the eyes for about ten seconds and then I said, “…Sandwiches.”(laughs)
ANDREW: I got the part. I did have the right element of weirdness and sheer sinisterness.
