Exclusive Interview: Iconic Character Actor Clint Howard Talks About Directorial Debut With ‘Another Ice Cream Man’ And The Fate Of “Every Man You See” In Movies
Many actors have flickered across the silver screen in the past century, and most of them are lucky if they have a career a few years later, let alone if anyone even remembers their name at that point. Then there are those who gain success by playing smaller roles as eccentric characters in both independent films, and occasionally the mainstream. They’re the ones that end up being cast as “Every man you see in that movie,” and their destiny is to always be remembered for the work they’ve done onscreen, but never the names they go by off it.
There have been several “Every Mans” throughout film history, and even more with the advent of direct-to-video movies. Names like John Vernon, Héctor Elizondo, and Bill Cobbs have been in the credits of a ton of classics, and their faces can be recognized on sight by most older moviegoers, but then they become invisible once that name has turned into mere markings on a tombstone. Veteran actor Clint Howard is light years away from that grim interpretation of “Every Man” in Hollywood, but he has still managed to find himself in everything, nevertheless.
Clinton Engle Howard first got into acting when he was two years old, and it was in a role on The Andy Griffith Show alongside his older brother, future Oscar-winning director Ronnie Howard (Backdraft, Apollo 13, A Beautiful Mind). While Ronnie went on to become just “Ron,” and carve his own legendary path, Clint would rack up over 200 acting credits in his nearly seven decades in the industry. The list of great movies on his resume can take up an entire article by itself (Austin Powers trilogy, Little Nicky, Ticks, Tango & Cash, The Rocketeer, and I’ll stop), but many horror fans know him as parfait-peddling psychopath Gregory Tudor, from the gory 1995 cult classic, Ice Cream Man.
Howard was at the Nightmare Weekend horror convention in the Chicagoland area last weekend, and he officially started the party with a bang on Friday afternoon during a Q&A. The enthusiastic character actor announced a long-awaited follow-up to Ice Cream Man, and that he will be in the director’s seat. I had the pleasure of meeting him and his lovely wife, Katherine Cruz, after the panel. On top of both of them being the nicest, most approachable people, Clint was gracious enough to have a chat with yours truly, and more than willing to tell us all about the next scoop of wholesale murder coming our way.
Dante Aaricks: Ice Cream Man was released 30 years ago, and the rumors of a sequel have occasionally been heard ringing throughout the horror community for almost as long. What happened to finally get the truck rolling?
Clint Howard: We landed on a story that we liked. Myself, my wife Kat, and Norman Apstein [director of Ice Cream Man] developed an idea for a movie, and it’s not a sequel. It’s another ice cream man; it’s a whole other movie.
Dante Aaricks: Along with a new story, and a new driver, it has the original ice cream man in the director’s chair for your first time. Have you always wanted to work that side of the camera?
Clint Howard: Yeah, directing is something I’ve always wanted to do. I’ve watched my brother do it, I’ve watched a lot of people do it for years and years. I’ve done some directing on a few projects, but I’ve never done a feature. I’m fully confident that I’ll be able to put my fingerprints all over a movie, and make it pretty interesting. I like the creative process, and to be able to fulfill the marketplace.
DA: Did you go to Ron [Howard] for any pointers, or have you been around enough movie sets to where you already know the mechanics of it all?
CH: Well, I picked my brother’s brain. I’ve watched him for years. So, I know what he’s looking for while telling a story, but also how I would do it.
DA: You have been a part of hundreds of stories, and have played characters from all walks of life. What’s the hardest you’ve ever had to prepare for a role?
CH: Hmmm… That’s a good question! When I was a kid, I did an episode of The Night Gallery. I was the boy who predicted earthquakes, and I predicted the end of the world. It was heavy material, and a lot of it. I remember having to work extra hard to learn the dialogue, and get it done.
DA: Yeah, I can imagine having to invade that mindset really takes its toll on adult actors, and it’s probably even worse for the young ones who are just starting out.
CH: But as far as preparing for other work, I enjoy it! I enjoy the process, and don’t consider it a chore, but a challenge. What I don’t consider a challenge is coming up with the emotional stuff. Some people [other actors] have trouble evoking them, but I enjoy it. To me, acting is very cathartic.
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DA: Do you prefer to act on the big screen, or small?
CH: I generally like films. You usually have more time making a film than you do on television.
DA: When fans approach you, it must be impossible to predict what show, or movie they’ll recognize you from, but is there anything in particular that you wish people would bring up a little more often?
CH: Well, I’ve done a lot of interesting little movies that very few people have ever seen. I was in a movie called Planet Ibsen. It was kind of an experimental Fantasy movie set in the Victorian era, and I was really proud of it. Of all the obscure movies that have went away, Planet Ibsen is the one I wish everyone would see.
DA: As I add it to my list, I have a divisive question… You are among the very few actors who can say they’ve been in both Star Wars and Star Trek. Do you personally prefer one over the other?
CH: Star Trek, to me, there’s just something about it that’s really iconic. It started as a television series. Even with episodes like “The Trouble with Tribbles,” the show still has a tremendous amount of gravity, but Star Wars in its own right has been unbelievable! What George [Lucas] has done by building this world, and now Disney has taken over, and it’s mushrooming into all these different stories.
DA: That’s one way to describe it.
CH: But the basic idea that George Lucas had many years ago of doing a space serial, I like it.
DA: If the past several years have shown anything, it’s that YouTube has killed the cinema star. With film studios prioritizing a person’s social media following, or how many likes they have while selecting for the lead roles in their movies, what do you think that means for real actors, let alone the “Every Guys” that can be found in the corner of so many classics, such as yourself?
CH: I think there’s still a thirst for watching stories, and there’s a thirst for storytellers to tell those stories. As an actor, I think people can deliver an emotion to a story that has a lot of power. AI animation is eventually going to advance to the point where they can generate what looks like real people, but I don’t think it’s going to make that big of a difference. They can already do it now with extras.
DA: Are there any big promotional tactics in the works for Another Ice Cream Man? Gory popcorn buckets? Maybe tour around cities riding in an ice cream truck??
CH: (laughs) I don’t believe that I’m going to be riding around in an ice cream truck, but we do have an idea about creating an iconic ice cream truck that we can take to conventions. I learned from the Terrifier people that coming to horror conventions to promote your product is very valuable. Thousands of your target audience are walking around, and what better place to reach them? So, we’re definitely hitting the convention circuit.
DA: As a fanboy, I’d be remissive not to ask this, but have you ever seen the riff that the folks at RiffTrax did on Ice Cream Man?
CH: I’ve seen a little bit, and I got a kick out of it! It was funny. Yeah, they make fun of the it, but we were kinda making fun of the movie while we were making it. The more, the merrier!
DA: Awesome! Final question: What is your favorite ice cream flavor?
CH: Mocha, or Coffee, but I currently have a hankering for some Butter Brickle.
DA: And now, I am hungry…
Ice Cream Man is available to watch on Plex, and the RiffTrax version is on TUBI
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