[Interview] Amelie McLain Talks Teaming with Art the Clown as the Pale Girl in ‘Terrifier 2’

Art the Clown is back in the ultra blood soaked sequel Terrifier 2 (read our review here), which is making history with unprecedented success for an unrated independent film, and perhaps the movie’s biggest surprise is the debut of a brand new character, credited only as “Little Pale Girl”, and so we were excited to talk to 13-year-old Amelie McLain about playing the creepy role and working alongside David Howard Thornton‘s killer clown in an exclusive new interview.

In a video conversation earlier this week, McLain tells HDN of her initial audition for Terrifier 2, “I stood in front of the mirror and I had this wig on, and I had this big lollipop, and I was making all these creepy faces. I didn’t really think much of it. We submitted it, and we waited about a week, and we got an email from Damien (Leone). He was like, ‘We loved your audition. Would you like to be the Little Pale Girl on this project?’ My mom came upstairs and told me, and I wasn’t very sure, because she said you’re going to have to tease your hair up, you’re going to have to wear all this makeup, these dentures, these contacts that cover your whole eye.

“And I was also nervous to meet David and meet Art the Clown, because I did a little research and I looked at him, and he’s pretty creepy. So I did take the role, and I’m so glad I did, because the whole cast and crew was just so sweet, and me and David just really hit it off with each other.”

She told us that it took about three hours to have her makeup applied each day before shooting, and then another three hours to have it removed after filming. “I actually liked getting my makeup done,” she said. “I feel like it was super fun, especially afterwards for the first time when I really saw myself transformed into this character.”

On the the somewhat overwhelming response with which the horror community has embraced the film in these early weeks since its initial theatrical release, Amelie says, “I honestly did not expect the movie to go as crazy as it did. That really shocked me when everybody started going crazy. I love seeing all the cosplay of my character, and all the tattoos and the fan art, and everything. I’m so glad the movie went where it did.”

She later adds, “It’s really helped me to realize this is what I want to do. I loved doing it, and this is exactly what I want to do for the rest of my life. I love seeing all my friends, because they went to see it and they’ll come up to me in school and tell me how great I did, and everybody on social media telling me how great I did. There’s such a ton of positivity coming out of it. That’s what I love.”  

McLain told us that she is in awe of the support fans have shown her. “The coolest thing is definitely the tattoos,” she said, “because that lasts forever. That’s tattooed on someone’s body. It’s crazy to think that my face, the Little Pale Girl, is like permanently on someone’s body, When I saw the first one, my mom showed it to me, I was shocked. For like the next hour, it kept on occurring in my head that people are taking this super duper seriously.” 

We also of course discussed celebrating Halloween itself, and got more of Amelie’s thoughts on being such a central figure in what is destined to be one of the most talked about horror films of all time, as well as her favorite scene to film, her reaction to watching Terrifier 2 for the first time at its New York premiere, her more recent recurring role on General Hospital, and more.

You can watch our full exclusive video interview with Amelie McLain below.

Watch our exclusive new interview with Amelie’s costar, Lauren LaVera, here.

Watch our exclusive new interview with Art the Clown himself, David Howard Thornton, here.

Watch our exclusive new interview with Amelie’s Terrifier 2 costar, Casey Hartnett, here.

[See all of our Terrifier 2 coverage here.]

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