‘One mean-looking baby’ — Long before he shined for BYU freshman Cutter Clawson appeared in a full-length Hollywood movie

PROVO — Tell us something interesting about yourself.

That's a command almost everyone has heard at one time or another, mostly on the first day of a class or the first day on a job.

For Cutter Clawson, a freshman pitcher and designated hitter on the BYU baseball team that had its season canceled last month after 16 games, a reply is quite easy — even if he doesn't remember it.

Clawson played a leading role, of sorts, in the 2003 movie "Dry Cycle," a full-length romantic comedy about a gun-toting mother trying to flee with her baby from a determined bounty hunter. The box office disaster can be found on YouTube or Amazon Prime Video. He was "baby Lloyd," a toddler that several other characters in the box-office disaster called "one mean-looking baby" and other not-so-nice names.

"I don't remember anything about it," said Clawson, who grew up in Laguna Beach, California, 60 miles down I-405 from Hollywood. "I know that it wasn't really a hit, or anything. It didn't go anywhere. … But I guess it's something cool to say, that I was in a movie as a baby."

Clawson got into acting, if you can call it that, because his mother, Kimberly, would let him pick out a toy if he went to a commercial shoot or a movie set. His older sister was also a child actor. Clawson does remember appearing in a couple of commercials when he was 6 or 7, including one where he was involved in a snowball fight.

"My parents (Kim and Travis Clawson) say they got it from a movie, of course. My mom was pregnant at the time, and they had a name, but they weren't sure about it. Then they heard the name Cutter in a movie, and they both looked at each other and said, 'that's the name we want — Cutter." — BYU baseball player Cutter Clawson on how he got his unique first name

Maybe that's where he developed such a strong pitching arm. His fastball has been clocked in the 93 mph range, and he also has a wicked curve, a slider and, of course, a cutting fastball befitting his unique first name.

How did that come about?

"My parents (Kim and Travis Clawson) say they got it from a movie, of course," Clawson said. "My mom was pregnant at the time, and they had a name, but they weren't sure about it. Then they heard the name Cutter in a movie, and they both looked at each other and said, 'that's the name we want — Cutter."

Shortly thereafter, a movie star was born.

Now Clawson is a bonafide college baseball star — he was leading BYU with a .350 batting average when the season was halted on March 12, and also appeared in four games as a pitcher, compiling a 3.86 earned run average.

"We're excited about Cutter," head coach Mike Littlewood said before the season started. "He's got a big-time arm and is also an outstanding hitter, so he's going to be an outstanding two-way player for us."

Clawson's cousin, David Clawson, was BYU's starting catcher for two seasons (2017 and 2018) before he was selected by the Los Angeles Angels in the 37th round of the 2018 Major League Baseball draft. He played for the Orem Owlz the past two seasons.

Cutter Clawson was drafted out of high school — the Washington Nationals selected him in the 33rd round last summer — but he chose to honor his signing with BYU, having committed to the Cougars when he was a sophomore at Laguna Beach High School.

"I have always been a big Cougar fan," said Clawson, who was rated as the No. 2 LHP in California his senior season by Perfect Game. "Both my parents went there. I was talking to other schools, but BYU was the first to offer me. It had been a dream of mine to be there. I went there and met the coaches and just loved them and everything about it."

Having the seasons canceled was devastating to all spring sports athletes at BYU, but it hit Clawson hard because he already has his mission call and almost all of his teammates will be gone when he returns in 2022.

He was called to serve in Lima, Peru, and was supposed to begin on June 25. Now he will do his language training and other preparations online for eight hours a day and faces the possibility of being sent to a mission in the United States until Peru's borders are cleared.

"This whole coronavirus thing has just been crazy," Clawson said "I'm trying to make the best of it, spending as much time as I can with my family. I honestly don't know for sure what will happen, or where I will end up. It's just weird."

Just like that movie role he can't remember.

More on BYU baseball star Cutter Clawson

• Was Baby Lloyd in the movie "Dry Cycle" — when he was a toddler

• Recently called to serve a church mission in Lima, Peru

• Cousin of former BYU catcher David Clawson of the Los Angeles Angels

• Was leading BYU with a .350 batting average when season was canceled

• Two-way player also made four pitching appearances, compiling a 3.86 ERA

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