Clayton Farris feels he got lucky with his role in the 2025 hit “Weapons.”
He had seen filmmaker Zach Cregger’s previous movie, the well-received “Barbarian,” and was such a fan he decided that he really wanted to be a part of Cregger’s next project. It’s almost like he willed himself to be involved.
“Somehow, some way magically, I got offered a role in this movie,” Farris said. “I really don’t even know how it happened. If I didn’t believe in manifestation, I do now.”
In “Weapons,” 17 school children from one elementary school class vanish after they run away from their homes at 2:17 a.m. The townsfolk look for an explanation from the class teacher, Justine (Julia Garner) and Alex (Cary Christopher), the sole student from the class who remains. And Alex’s mysterious, flamboyant aunt Gladys (Amy Madigan) shakes things up even more. The film did well at the box office, and Madigan is getting Oscar buzz for her supporting role.
“Weapons” was shot in and around Atlanta in the spring and summer of 2024 and was originally earmarked for a January 2026 release. But, according to Farris, when studio heads saw the film, they knew they had a potential hit on their hands and moved the release up to August of this year.
Farris, who is bisexual and says he splits his time between Los Angeles and Atlanta, plays Terry, one half of a gay couple partnered with school principal Marcus (Benedict Wong). When we first meet the couple, they’re enjoying a lovely hot dog dinner while they watch television. When Gladys stops by without warning, Terry invites her in, not thinking of the consequences.
Farris sees Terry as someone who just wants to live a happy life with his partner.
“The way I see Terry is he’s very open-hearted,” Farris said. “He will do anything for a neighbor or someone in the street, especially an old lady who looks wacky, because they are interesting. He means well and welcomes people into his home when maybe it’s not the best idea.”
On set, Farris was one of the first people to see Madigan in her full Gladys glory, with her eccentric clothes and brightly-colored, clown-like makeup.
“I was taking it all in in real time and how wild and adventurous and crazy the whole look was,” Farris said. “I messaged the casting director at the time just to say, ‘Having a great day on set,’ and she asked ‘How is Amy?’ I said in an email – ‘Mark my word; she is getting an Oscar nomination.’”
The actor is certainly aware of the queer appeal of the film, particularly when it comes to Gladys. He has his own opinions about why iconic female characters stand out.
“Even though Gladys can be looked at as this bad character or the antagonist, I see a character who has been put through a lot and drug through the mud for a while, and this is her getting her comeuppance, in a way,” Farris said. “I think in that realm – as someone who was bullied a lot as a kid – whenever you see characters like Gladys being proudly themselves and loud and open, there is something that resonates to the queer community and everybody, because that is what people want – the courage to be themselves.”
For Farris, Terry and Marcus represent something that he feels is missing in gay representation in media: normalcy.
“We get to see queer characters just living their lives and [that] are happy, and the storyline is not about them being gay or being tragically bullied or the stories we are used to,” Farris said. “I think that is why what happens to my character and Marcus has caused such a stir, because people fell in love with these characters quickly, and because it’s a horror film, [they] meet their end quickly.”
There has been some criticism that Terry and Marcus’ deaths fall into the “Bury Your Gays” trope, where LGBTQ+ characters die more frequently than their heterosexual counterparts. Farris understands the criticism.
“I get it. If you are thinking of it from a filmmaking [perspective], it really worked in terms of the story and writing, because people love those characters,” he said. “That shift that happens during our scene when Gladys comes in – you feel the room shift. This is turning sinister. I want to validate when people say that, but in horror people have to die.”
As a performer who loves horror films, Farris realizes it will be huge if the movie or Amy Madigan gets nominated for an Oscar.
“It will be great for the genre,” he said. “Horror is always put on the side of things – not prestige or deserving of awards.”
He’s been enjoying seeing the Halloween costumes based on his character and taking in the viral buzz about Terry and Marcus’ hot dog platter all over social media.
“It’s a hard time in Hollywood now, so to be part of something cool is next level,” he said.
