You've Seen the Backrooms Entity Before - In a Totally Different Universe
If you’ve seen Backrooms already, there’s a good chance that the disturbing image of Pirate Clark has been seared into your memory and haunted your nightmares since.
The massive monster prowling the titular liminal space is the crux of the Backrooms ending, proving to be the real antagonist behind the murders and madness that occur once Mary (and indeed, Clark) cross the threshold.
Kane Parsons did a superb job in building the world of Backrooms from a production design standpoint, but when it comes to Pirate Clark, there was only so much that special effects and make-up can do. Luckily, there was one man who was perfect for the role…
Who Plays Pirate Clark In Backrooms?
The entity in Backrooms is a distorted, menacing 8ft tall version of Clark (Chiwetel Ejiofor) in his pirate attire from those Cap’n Clark commercials we see in the film.
While the monster may look like Clark, and in turn, Ejiofor, the character is actually played by basketball player turned actor, Robert Bobroczkyi. The Romanian-Hungarian moved to America in 2016 to pursue a career on the court, helped in no small part by the fact he stands at 7ft7in tall.
We shouldn’t be too surprised at that height – his father was 7ft1in and his mother was 6ft2in. Incredibly, Bobroczkyi is not the tallest living person on the planet, though. That accolade is held by Sultan Kösen of Turkey, who is an astounding 8ft2in tall.
Bobroczkyi’s basketball career never truly took off. He represented the SPIRE Institute and Academy while at high school in Geneva, Ohio, but spinal surgery and concerns over his weight (he weighed just 86 kg) hampered his progress significantly.
Thankfully, after calling time on basketball in 2022, Bobroczkyi has been able to carve out a path as a very specialised actor. His role in Backrooms was not his first, and you’ve probably seen him before if you’re into horror.
Robert Bobroczkyi Also Appeared In Alien: Romulus
Anyone who has seen Fede Alvarez’s grizzly sci-fi flick Alien: Romulus will not need reminding of the gruesome alien-human hybrid from the chaotic third act. Known as ‘the Offspring’, the hideous monster may be augmented by CGI, but it’s actually Bobroczkyi who helped bring the character to life in the film.
Clearly, Bobroczkyi has a penchant – and a real talent – for embodying the biggest, most terrifying entities on-screen. By using a real actor to sculpt the creation around, too, the filmmakers are able to give their monsters a very eerie, uncanny feel with natural authenticity underlying the digital aspects.
We’re pretty sure that any movies on the horizon that may be looking for unusually large actors will turn to Bobroczkyi, too. Although, he may have competition from Mike Lanier, another 7ft7in former basketball player, who appeared in It Follows – if you know, you know.
How Did Kane Parsons Bring Pirate Clark to Life?
After filling the original Backrooms movie and subsequent webseries with an array of different monsters, Parsons had to raise the game for his feature film debut. That’s where Pirate Clark comes in.
To make Pirate Clark all the more convincing, Bobroczkyi’s physical attributes were put to good use for the most part. The production team did use special make-up and costuming to enhance the gangly, ghastly appearance of the character, but there was apparently no CGI involved.
The man-eating monster takes the form of Clark after he enters the Backrooms, but it doesn’t just feed on flesh: it also feeds on the darkest, most nefarious qualities of his personality, too. It’s what’s referred to in the original Backrooms series as a ‘Still Life’ version of the character, a warped portrait of the characters who cross the boundary of the alternate dimension.
It’s exactly this that the liminal space is all about, with the various people, memories, and landmarks in the Backrooms all being slightly… wrong. They’re strange and surreal copies of real life, and that’s what makes Pirate Clark – and Bobroczkyi’s performance – so unsettling.
