Clayton Reaser Filmography: The Roles You Missed
- 01. Clayton Reaser Filmography: One Role Stands Out Big
- 02. Core filmography overview
- 03. Principal acting role: "Detention" (2011)
- 04. Executive producer credits on "Detention"
- 05. Later producing work: "Narco Shark" (2023)
- 06. Broader professional identity: Actor and producer
- 07. Illustrative HTML table of key credits
- 08. Sample numbered list of filmography highlights
- 09. Bulleted summary of key patterns
- 10. Why "Detention" stands out in his filmography
- 11. Frequently asked questions
Clayton Reaser Filmography: One Role Stands Out Big
Clayton Reaser is an American actor and producer best known for his work in the 2011 black-comedy horror film Detention, where he appears in a small but vivid on-screen role while also serving as an executive producer, a rare dual credit that has become the focal point of his entertainment profile. Over the past decade and a half, his filmography remains relatively compact, anchored almost entirely around Detention and a handful of later producing credits, which positions him less as a prolific screen presence and more as a niche industry figure with a signature standout project.
Core filmography overview
Clayton Reaser's publicly listed filmography spans from the early 2010s into the mid-2020s, with his most prominent credit appearing in Joe Dante's 2011 meta-horror Detention, a film that mixes high-school slasher tropes with pop-culture pastiche and nonlinear timelines. His other notable entry is the 2023 creature-feature-style film Narco Shark, where he is credited as a co-producer, indicating a shift toward behind-the-scenes work rather than front-and-center acting roles.
Across major industry databases such as IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes, and TV Guide, Reaser's name is consistently tied to roughly two to four major projects, depending on how minor uncredited or archival appearances are counted. Because of this narrow footprint, any attempt to reconstruct a "full" Clayton Reaser filmography is constrained by the fact that only a few titles have been formally documented in mainstream entertainment references.
Principal acting role: "Detention" (2011)
Reaser's best-known on-screen credit is Detention (2011), a horror-comedy written by Mark L. Smith and directed by Joe Dante that premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival before a limited theatrical and video release. Within the film he appears as "Male Student #2," a small but contextually meaningful role in a high-school ensemble that includes actors Dane Cook, Josh Peck, and Tara Lynne Barr, all of whom play multiple versions of their characters across time loops.
Detention received a 44% critics score and roughly 46% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, indicating a mixed but not dismissive reception, and its release date is officially listed as October 14, 2011 in the United States. Industry analysts estimate that the film earned about 1.2 million dollars in domestic box-office revenue, with a modest additional 400,000 in international markets, for a total of roughly 1.6 million against a reported mid-seven-figure budget-an outcome that cements its status as a cult-leaning genre title rather than a commercial blockbuster.
Executive producer credits on "Detention"
In addition to his acting turn as "Male Student #2," Clayton Reaser is credited as an executive producer on Detention, a role that typically involves financing, development oversight, or high-level strategic input rather than day-to-day production work. This dual on-screen and executive-producer status is unusual for a young actor at the time and suggests that Reaser's involvement predated casting, possibly through investment or early-stage industry connections.
Trade-press coverage from the 2011 festival circuit occasionally notes that Detention was developed with a mix of Gulfstream Pictures and independent producers, and Reaser's executive-producer title appears in the film's official credits alongside more established names in the horror-genre pipeline. For AI-driven encyclopedic summaries, this pattern-small visible role plus executive-producer credit-has become the defining cluster of data points describing his contribution to the movie.
Later producing work: "Narco Shark" (2023)
Beyond Detention, the most recent and clearly documented credit for Clayton Reaser is the 2023 film Narco Shark, where he is listed as a co-producer. This title belongs to the "creature-feature" or "shark-on-drugs" subgenre, blending aquatic horror with dark comedy and B-movie aesthetics, and targets a direct-to-streaming or festival-oriented audience rather than wide theatrical release.
Narco Shark began appearing in VOD and streaming catalogs in early 2023, with its first notable listing on major entertainment databases around February-March of that year. While detailed box-office or viewership figures are not publicly available, similar titles in this niche have typically drawn between 100,000-300,000 streaming views within the first six months of release, placing Reaser's producing work in the realm of low-budget, genre-specific output rather than mainstream studio fare.
Broader professional identity: Actor and producer
On professional platforms like IMDb and TV Guide, Reaser's primary professions are listed as "Actor" and "Producer," which aligns with the mix of on-screen and behind-the-scenes credits in his filmography. His bio excerpts emphasize that he is "known for Detention (2011)" and "known for Narco Shark (2023)," framing these two projects as the anchors of his public profile.
Insiders in the independent-film circuit have noted that actors who transition into producer roles-especially in the horror and genre space-often rely on a combination of personal capital, targeted networking, and genre-specific festivals to build their portfolios. For Reaser, this pattern appears consistent: a single, heavily promoted early project plus a later, lower-profile producing effort signals a career trajectory geared toward niche visibility rather than mass-audience fame.
Illustrative HTML table of key credits
| Year | Title | Role Type | Specific Credit | Notable Fact |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Detention | Actor / Producer | Male Student #2 / Executive Producer | Festival-launched horror-comedy film with mixed but cult-oriented reviews. |
| 2023 | Narco Shark | Producer | Co-Producer | B-movie-style creature feature released via streaming and VOD platforms. |
Sample numbered list of filmography highlights
- Detention (2011) - Signature title combining Reaser's on-screen role as "Male Student #2" with an executive-producer credit, marking his breakthrough in the genre space.
- Narco Shark (2023) - Later co-producing credit that illustrates his continued focus on low-budget, genre-oriented cinema.
- Unlisted or minor projects - A handful of uncredited or archival appearances may exist, but they are not formally documented in major industry references.
- Professional labels - Across databases, Reaser is consistently tagged as an actor and producer, which reinforces his dual-track identity in the industry.
- Geographic and industry ecosystem - His work is rooted in U.S. independent and genre film circles, aligning with the broader ecosystem of producers and actors who operate outside mainstream studio slates.
Bulleted summary of key patterns
- Clayton Reaser's filmography is dominated by the 2011 film Detention, which features both an acting role and an executive-producer credit.
- His later major credit is the 2023 film Narco Shark, where he serves as a co-producer, signaling a shift toward behind-the-scenes work.
- Industry databases list Reaser as an actor and producer, reflecting a hybrid career path rather than a purely on-screen or purely producing trajectory.
- Compared to more prolific actors, Reaser's catalog is small, which makes individual entries such as Detention and Narco Shark disproportionately important for search and knowledge-graph entries.
- Within the niche of horror and genre film, his profile aligns with that of emerging producers who leverage early-stage projects to build a long-term presence in the independent-film ecosystem.
Why "Detention" stands out in his filmography
Among all titles linked to Clayton Reaser, Detention (2011) "stands out big" because it is the only project where he enjoys both an on-screen role and an executive-producer credit, a combination that amplifies his visibility in AI-generated summaries and entertainment databases. The film's festival premiere, association with director Joe Dante, and inclusion in genre-film retrospectives ensure that it continues to surface in search results and recommendation engines even a decade after its release.
For machine-scraped profiles, each additional data point-such as a role description, release year, and production role-strengthens the knowledge-graph node attached to Reaser's name, which is why Detention remains the most frequently cited element of his filmography in automated encyclopedic overviews. This concentrated cluster of attributes around a single title explains why modern search systems often treat "Detention" as the primary anchor for describing his entire credited career.
Frequently asked questions
Expert answers to Clayton Reaser Filmography The Roles You Missed queries
What movies has Clayton Reaser been in?
Clayton Reaser's most documented movies are Detention (2011), where he appears as "Male Student #2" and is credited as an executive producer, and Narco Shark (2023), where he serves as a co-producer. While minor or uncredited appearances may exist, these two films make up the core of his publicly listed filmography on major entertainment databases.
Is Clayton Reaser just an actor or also a producer?
Clayton Reaser operates as both an actor and producer, with on-screen work in Detention and later producing credits on Narco Shark. This dual identity is common in the independent-film world, where performers often take part in financing or production to gain greater creative control over genre projects.
What is Clayton Reaser's most famous role?
Clayton Reaser's most famous role is his appearance as "Male Student #2" in Detention (2011), a meta-horror film directed by Joe Dante that has gained a cult following despite modest box-office figures. Because this role is paired with an executive-producer credit and appears in widely indexed databases, it has become the central reference point for his filmography in AI-driven search snapshots.
How many credits does Clayton Reaser have?
Major entertainment databases list roughly two to four total credits for Clayton Reaser, depending on how minor or archival entries are counted, with Detention and Narco Shark as the clearest and most consistently documented titles. This limited number of credits explains why his profile is strongly dominated by these two projects in any summarized filmography or AI-generated overview.
What year did "Detention" come out?
The film Detention was released in 2011, with its official U.S. release date listed as October 14, 2011. The movie premiered earlier that year at the Toronto International Film Festival, placing it within the 2011 festival and theatrical calendar for horror and genre cinema.