There’s nobody quite like Clancy Brown. The celebrated actor has made his mark on everything from The Shawshank Redemption to Starship Troopers, even making a pit stop in Bikini Bottom, where he has been voicing Mr. Krabs on Spongebob Squarepants for the past 20 years. Brown’s deep, booming baritone is the inimitable performer’s signature, and he utilizes it brilliantly in his latest role as the fantastically-monikered Montgomery Dark in the horror anthology The Mortuary Collection. 

Under heavy prosthetics, Brown plays storyteller, guiding his suspicious young charge through a series of increasingly creepy tales à la The Cryptkeeper from the iconic anthology series Tales from the Crypt, which was clearly an influence on Ryan Spindell’s accomplished, entertaining film.As with virtually every role that Brown has taken on over the course of almost four decades in the industry, he imbues Montgomery Dark with an inner story all his own that’s tantalizingly only hinted at onscreen. I caught up with the prolific actor and voiceover artist to talk possible sequels, playing small-time villains and, of course, Mr. Krabs. 

Clancy Brown: [Spooky Voice] Hellooooooooooo?

Joey Keogh: How am I supposed to concentrate on an interview with that voice!?

CB: I dunno!

JK: Okay, so, you’ve been in the business a very long time, you’ve had an incredible career. How do you go about choosing roles nowadays? 

CB: Essentially, they just have to be well-written and look like they’ll be fun to play. This one had no money, no locations. There was no inducement to do it other than the quality of the script and The Babysitter Murders [Spindell’s short film] and the personalities and the talent of the people involved. They’re all beginning their careers — Ryan, Caleb [Heymann], the cinematographer, the production designer [Lauren Fitzsimmons] — they’re all very accomplished at what they do, but they’re not household names yet. Boy, they’re awfully talented though. I jumped at the chance to work with them because they’re just… excellent people. 

JK: What was your experience like of working with first-time director Ryan Spindell?

CB: Well, he’s a first-time feature director, but he’s done a few shorts, so he really knows that format quite well. I read this full-length feature that he had written, and he’s just a terrific writer, which is not surprising, but he’s also original — he’s got an original voice, which is always something you look for. You look for competency too, of course, someone who can tell a story, but it’s quite a bonus when you see something that’s more specific, like a particular sense of humor or certain way of telling a story. Ryan has this ability to put the reader at ease with stuff that’s familiar or seems familiar and then dialing it up a notch or turning it left instead of right, and surprising you in ways that you didn’t expect to be surprised. It’s just a lot of fun — he’s just so much fun to read, and I feel like this movie is so much fun to watch, too. Have you seen it?

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JK: Yeah, I loved it. Especially as anthologies go, it’s very different. 

CB: Right, it’s very special. There’s a real lyricism and a real familiarity to it that I think is very original and worthwhile. I don’t know if that made any sense or answered your question in any way.

JK: No no, it did! Your character has kind of a massive, I don’t want to say secret necessarily, but he knows more than he’s letting on. How did you approach playing that? 

CB: I didn’t really have to play it because the secret is the secret of the whole movie. She’s not who she pretends to be [Caitlin Custer’s Sam], and so I think Montgomery decides to play along with that, and I think he recognizes her — if not right away, then pretty soon — and decides to slowly reveal to her what the story actually is. When he reveals who he is, he doesn’t actually reveal much. He says he’s done these things and visited these boundaries, but we don’t really know what his story is, what his crimes are or what his offenses are, if there are any. But because of the horrors of the offenses, and the stories that he’s told, your imagination leaps to extreme possibilities because whatever it is, it’s got to be worse than what we just saw, right? But maybe it is, maybe it isn’t, I don’t know. He never really tells you. And then his final payoff is not what he expects either, so the final joke is kind of on him. He thinks he’s all caught up and even with the universe but apparently, he’s not. Maybe we’ll see him again, I don’t know. Montgomery Dark is definitely a family name. 

JK: Would you come back again? Taking what happens at the end of the movie out of the equation, if there was an opportunity to revisit this character in future installments, would you take it?

CB: Oh yeah, Ryan and I have been plotting a little bit — him more than me, ‘cause he’s much more in that world — but I’ve told him I’d love to do this guy some more for you, maybe his brother Miles even. Miles Darke! I don’t know what’s going to happen, but I’d love to do it again. We’ll see, but I’d love to come back. I’d love to work with Ryan again. 

JK: Are you attracted to darker roles in general?

CB: I’m just attracted to good roles, to fun roles. I don’t like gross stuff, like, gratuitously bad, evil things, that would kind of put me off but… horror films are the most moral films when they’re good — there’s a very real morality to them. They’re fairytales. And I do like stories with a point, stories with a moral. I don’t like just being horrible for horrible sake. I don’t like slasher movies, for example. 

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JK: How do you feel like this role fits into the Clancy Brown back catalogue, your oeuvre?

CB: I have no idea! Just as one of a few! Another weird makeup job, I guess. All I know is I had a really good time doing it, and I hope people like it. 

JK: But how does it compare to, say, playing Mr. Krabs on SpongeBob SquarePants?

CB: It’s very different! Krabs, I don’t have to put on any makeup for, which is fun. I pretty much just have to read the script and try to get the jokes, then deliver them. Mr. Krabs is a lot of fun, though. I love doing him, but there’s no comparison. I don’t think, anyway. What do you think? You think there’s any similarity? Some… vague visages?

JK: I think there’s some overlap there. They’re both dark characters in their own ways. 

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CB: Mr. Krabs should tell more stories to the boys, I think. He should have more of a moral compass. That’d be a good idea. I’ll tell the bosses at Nickelodeon. 

JK: Speaking of Mr. Krabs, you’re a prolific voice actor, obviously because you’ve got this terrific voice. What appeals to you about that work?

CB: It’s local, that’s why I like doing voiceover work, that’s why I started doing voiceover work — I can do a lot of jobs quickly. That make sense?

JK: Absolutely. Certain actors think voice-work is harder, I guess because of all the extra work you have to put into it that won’t be seen on the screen. Do you find that yourself?

CB: Yeah, you’ve got use your imagination more, but I don’t see it as that much different. Something like Spongebob, we’ve been doing it long enough that we know each other’s rhythms, and we know the world pretty well. There’s not as much imaginary guesswork as there might be with something that’s a one-off or something that’s just starting. Rick and Morty was kind of hard to get my head around at first, but those guys are such good directors that they can tell you exactly what they want. But I didn’t really know what I was doing at first, or what the characters were. I just loved doing it, which is what it’s all about. 

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity. Watch The Mortuary Collection on VOD, Digital HD, DVD and Blu-ray starting April 20, 2021.

Joey Keogh (@JoeyLDG) is a writer from Dublin, Ireland with an unhealthy appetite for horror movies and Judge Judy. In stark contrast with every other Irish person ever, she’s straight edge. Hello to Jason Isaacs.