Stellan Skarsgård is one of those actors that you have to respect. He’s been making movies and TV shows for longer than some of us have been alive. His credits include (the good part of) the MCU, Good Will Hunting, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, and the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, to name just a few.
He also has some strong swimmers, as 4 out of his 8 children are becoming fine actors themselves. In interviews, the guy always seems pretty humble and just a nice guy. He’s never really had a starring role as such, mostly playing secondary characters, but he’s damn good at it.
Recently, Skarsgård has been in Dune Part Two, as Baron Vladimir Harkonnen. He revealed to Business Insider that he spent 8 hours in the makeup chair to transform into the ‘floating fat man’, refusing to rely on any VFX. He is quoted as saying:
“It was painful, but it was worth it. We wanted him to be so well defined as an image that he made an imprint on people just by showing up on the screen. And that imprint should last throughout the film without having him show up all the time.”
The Only One
Skarsgård went on to recall the time he played Bootstrap Bill in the Pirates of the Caribbean movies. Even though a lot of the cast was CG’ed in the final production, Skarsgård had all of the barnacles stuck to his face in the makeup chair again, rather than doing motion capture.
“I was the only one on set with real prosthetics on. Everyone else on that ship showed up five minutes before we started shooting and had dots put on their face, and away they went. I had been there for six hours. But the thing is, I like it. I like to see the artists paint, if that makes sense.”
Computers have revolutionized the movie industry, and now, images we never thought possible can be made with VFX. Back in the day, to get a scary-looking monster or blood spurting everywhere, it was all done practically. When makeup and practical ‘bloody’ effects are done well, it’s a pleasure to see them.
It also seems they are becoming a dying trade, in favor of a team of people sitting at a computer. The thing is, with most VFXs, you know it’s wrong. Some CG sticks out like a sore thumb and you lose that suspension of disbelief momentarily. Seeing Skarsgård still appreciating the artistry of the makeup teams and the work they do, is a good thing.
Skarsgård is in Dune Part Two at the cinema at the moment and he looks like my sister, if she lost weight.
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