Johan Clarke enters the room confidently, carrying himself with an air of someone who does not care what others think of him. He plops down in the largest chair in the room, as if asserting his own authority. He smiles, then nods, as he waits for the interview to begin.
Clarke is a junior in the IB program with a lead in the school play. Clarke is playing inspector Clouseau in the RHS production of The Pink Panther Strikes Again. This is his 15th show so far. Six have been done at Earle B. Wood Middle School, and including the Pink Panther, five have been at RHS.
However, since this is his first lead role, there were some things that posed a challenge to Clarke. “The most challenging part of this role was learning the lines… I just had to practice and do the same thing over and over again, which can get pretty boring and tedious,” said Clarke.
Not only did Clarke have to memorize all those lines, but he had to do it in a French accent! It was not just any French accent – Clouseau is notorious for his ridiculously over the top French accent. This makes learning the lines “twice as difficult,” according to Clarke.
Along with the lines and accent, Clarke had to get in touch with his character. Clouseau is a devoted detective with one problem: he is horrible at his work. In the Pink Panther, Dreyfus, a former colleague of Clouseau, escapes from the asylum with the mission to kill Clouseau. Despite Clouseau’s wrong doings and missteps, he manages to solve this case and many others.
Clarke feels he can overcome this obstacle. Among many other roles, Clarke had to play all three wise men by himself in a Christmas pageant at his church. He comes from an active theater family, his cousin has recently finished studying acting and his grandparents still participate in an acting troupe that tours throughout Ireland.
Even though Clarke’s family is filled with actors, Clarke does not dream of being an actor. Instead, he dreams of studying medicine at Georgetown University. Clarke said, “Acting is fun to do right now, but it’s not what I want to do for the rest of my life.”
