Why Dr. Caitlyn Corr From Clayface Looks So Familiar

"Clayface" marks the unusual next chapter of the rebooted DC Universe, following swiftly on the heels of James Gunn's "Superman" and Craig Gillespie's "Supergirl" earlier this year — but with much less fanfare. More modestly-budgeted compared to its two predecessors (and thus better set up for success at the box office) and boasting a hard R-rating, the villain origin story is taking a dramatically different approach to building out this franchise. Everything about the project, from newcomer Tom Rhys Harries in the title role as Matt Hagen to the choice to flesh out (if you'll pardon the pun) this most unusual member of Batman's rogues gallery, suggests that this is a film best suited to the shadows.

Everything, that is, except for the most recognizable member of its supporting cast. "Clayface" isn't entirely fated to slide under the radar, not when it boasts an actor as talented as Naomi Ackie. Cast as Dr. Caitlyn Corr, an original character created for the film (but perhaps loosely based on the character of Stella Bates, seen in the Clayface-centric episode of "Batman: The Animated Series" titled "Mudslide"), Ackie plays a pivotal role as Hagen's potential savior and possible love interest. A biotech CEO who provides the desperate actor with the means to heal his facial disfigurement, Corr's experimental treatment instead makes matters worse and sets Hagen on a path that will ultimately end in his transformation into the monstrous Clayface.

But if you found yourself taken by Ackie's performance in the midst of all the body-horror action and wondered where you've seen her before, you've come to the right place.

"Clayface" is hardly Naomi Ackie's first brush with the blockbuster world, though her confident and assured screen presence as Dr. Caitlyn Corr certainly helps make the latest DC venture feel small-scale and intimate. That's been a consistent theme throughout her filmography, in fact, as she's appeared in everything from big-budget franchise films to indie-sized passion projects and everything in between. On the television side, Whovians might actually remember seeing her in a Season 9 episode of "Doctor Who" in a minor role. More recently, she was cast in the hit Netflix series "Master of None" throughout the third season and in Steve McQueen's anthology series "Small Axe."

That said, viewers will undoubtedly place Ackie from her higher-profile roles throughout a variety of theatrical releases. In 2019, J.J. Abrams cast her as the former Stormtrooper and freedom-fighting rebel Jannah in "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker" (who may or may not be the daughter of Billy Dee Williams' Lando Calrissian — it was a whole thing) and followed that up a few years later with a leading role in writer/director Zoë Kravitz's provocative drama "Blink Twice." In 2025, her two biggest movies turned out to be Bong Joon Ho's sci-fi romp "Mickey 17" opposite Robert Pattinson (multiple Pattinsons, to be accurate) and a major supporting turn in Eva Victor's breakout debut "Sorry, Baby." But for those tuning in to "Clayface," you may have last seen her in filmmaker Boots Riley's subversive satire "I Love Boosters" as Sade, a member of the so-called Velvet Gang of shoplifters. Ackie will next appear in "They Follow" alongside Maika Monroe.