Actor Clark Moore speaks to Close-Up Culture about his role in the true-crime movie, Gaslit By My Husband: The Morgan Metzer Story.
The movie follows the true story of the Metzers, Morgan and Rodney, who were childhood sweethearts and married at 21. When tensions begin to arise for this picture-perfect family, Rodney starts to ‘gaslight’ his wife causing her to doubt her own reality and a split is inevitable. Just as Morgan begins to turn her life around, a masked intruder breaks into her house and assaults her. Turns out – it was her ex-husband.
Gaslit By My Husband: The Morgan Metzer Story is such an attention-grabbing title. What drew you into this story?
Clark Moore: The title is definitely Lifetime-esq. They don’t pull punches in letting you know what is going on. But it’s how it all unfolds that makes it a story worth telling and the fact that this movie is based on a true story. Unfortunately, I don’t think what Morgan Metzer, Janas’ character, went through is all that uncommon in our society. A story like this is important in order to bring about attention and awareness for people who are in a situation where psychological abuse is taking place. My hope is that audiences understand the importance of community and getting one’s story out there, allowing women in this situation to be heard.
What can you tell us about your character and your experience playing him?
CM: The character I play in this movie, Griffith Walker, and he is a man broken by the loss of his wife. However, despite his emotional pain he has to keep going for his kids, who are too young and vulnerable. Regardless of his own struggles, his love for them keeps him moving forward.
My first thoughts when I saw the character was that “I can’t do this.” It’s draining playing a character going through so much pain, and it scared me. Maybe it was the thought of whether or not I could pull it off, but it was in my preparation for the role that solidified it. During prep, I was able to relate my own emotional experiences of loss to those of the character and that’s when things fell into place.
What should audiences expect from the movie?
CM: I think audiences can expect a roller coaster of emotions, not only from the actors but from themselves as they are carried along with the trauma that Morgan Metzer experienced in real life. When someone who you trusted and thought had your best interests at heart turns out to be something completely different, we are left twisted by our thoughts and feelings wondering what is real and questioning our choices…like I said it’s a rollercoaster.
When did you first realize you wanted to become an actor?
CM: I realized I wanted to be an actor from an early age…probably 5. I loved making people laugh and telling stories, I still do. I wanted to become a part of the escapism that movies provide. I have always felt that if I’m going to devote a major portion of my life to exchanging my time for money, why not do it with something I love. Not to say that is easy or that I knew what I was doing in the beginning, but that’s a story for another day.
And what was the first project you working on that felt like your breakthrough moment in the industry?
CM: I don’t think it was a single project, but more of like a tipping point. A time when I looked back and realized that I had a substantial amount of professional work under my belt. It was probably when I had worked on 5 shows in the span of a year. Things were moving, casting directors had a sense of what I was able to bring to the table (because I was repeatedly asked to come back for certain shows) and I really felt I was at a point where I became part of the machine that creates these shows and understood more of how it worked.
What type of projects and roles would you love to take on in the future?
CM: I have always been a fan of Westerns, it’s one of my favorite genres. So, I would love to be a part of some sort of series or trilogy where I get to be in nature on horseback. That would check a lot of boxes for me. Outdoors, Horses, Western…geez, sounds like a dream. That being said, I want to be more involved in the creative process as well. It’s fun to get a script, imagine the world and then make it your own. But there is something equally satisfying about flipping that. Imagining the world, getting that into a script and/or the filming of it. I think that’s why directing interests me as well.
Title image by Paul Smith