10 GREATEST MEN BEHIND THE MASKS

The 10 Greatest Men Behind the Masks
By Heidi Davis, Popular Mechanics, 31 October 2012.

You know their characters, but you don't know their faces. Say hello to the real actors behind some of movie history's greatest villains, monsters, and ghouls.

1. Xenomorph, Alien (1979)

The Man: Bolaji Badejo

A 7-foot alien is scary enough without it slobbering K-Y Jelly from its pharyngeal jaws. Designed by Swiss surrealist H.R. Giger, Alien's "biomechanical" aesthetic changed preconceived notions about extraterrestrials on film. Giger and his team were even referred to as the "Monster Department" for their penchant to use real animal bones in many of their designs.

Desperate to find the perfect body type to play his one-of-a-kind monster, director Ridley Scott decided to cast unknown Nigerian student Bolaji Badejo, who was as skinny as he was tall, and managed to beat out Peter Mayhew (Star Wars' Chewbacca) for the role. Badejo studied mime to create a believable and sinister range of motion, which was no easy feat considering he wore a latex suit with pieces for the ribcage, legs, and tail‚ each attached separately with wires. And the sets were only about 6'6" tall, forcing Badejo to exercise caution whenever he had to move or turn quickly.There were two version of the banana-shaped head Badejo wore: a non-mechanical version for action scenes and an articulated one designed by Carlo Rambaldi for effects shots.

Scott would push Badejo, even though he could stand to be in costume for only 20 minutes before risking overheating. And one of the most difficult shots never made the final film - a scene that found Badejo suspended upside down from a wire 15 feet in the air. Badejo wore a harness around his stomach that suffocated him when he moved, and even proved too much for the stuntman brought in to do it, who ended up passing out.

2. Darth Vader, The Original Star Wars Trilogy (1977-1983)

The Man: David Prowse

You know the voice to be James Earl Jones. But the man inside the Sith Lord's imposing suit was David Prowse. Prowse, a British bodybuilder, caught George Lucas' eye when he appeared in Stanley Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange, and Lucas asked Prowse to choose between the fur-covered alien Chewbacca or the villainous Darth Vader. In Prowse's words, "people will always remember the villain."

A veteran of several Hammer horror films - he even co-starred with future Star Wars co-star Peter Cushing in 1973's Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell - Prowse was no stranger to being hidden behind a mask. Still, transforming into Darth Vader would present a unique set of challenges. The quilted leather suit weighed 40 pounds. Breathing would fog up the mask, while sweat would pour down the bottom of the mouthpiece, requiring Prowse to remove it every few minutes.

Despite playing such an iconic character, Prowse was never really given his due. He learned Jones would re-dub his lines only after filming wrapped, and found out one on the shocking twist (SPOILER ALERT! Darth Vader is Luke's father.) at the movie's premiere. Audiences don't even get to see Prowse's face when Vader is unmasked at the conclusion of Return of the Jedi - Lucas brought in Sebastian Shaw for the scene as a favour to Sir Alec Guinness. Prowse fought hard for the role of Superman but lost out to Christopher Reeve. However, he was asked to train Reeve for the film.

3. Leatherface, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)

The Man: Gunnar Hansen

Brutal and unrelenting, Tobe Hooper's horror classic was a wholly-fictional film presented as a "true story" that sent shockwaves through America as viewers took in the deranged, chainsaw-wielding Leatherface and his perverse, cannibalistic brood.

Leatherface was played by Gunnar Hansen, a 6'4", 300-pound grad student who had no idea what he was in for when shooting began in July 1973. The Texas temps averaged 100 degrees, and the cast and crew endured 12 to 16-hour days for a month. Hansen provided his own clothes for the film, was was fitted with a mouth piece designed by his own dentist and 3-inch lifts to his boots. But it was the grotesque masks created by art director Bob Burns - and a snarling Poulan 245a chain saw - that made Leatherface a legend.

A mentally and emotionally stunted man-child, Leatherface relies on masks made from his victim's skin to express his feelings. Burns carefully the masks using a mix of liquid latex and fiberglass. As an added bonus the material would turn a brownish-yellow, much like real human skin. Unfortunately, the masks offered little to no peripheral vision, making chase sequences difficult and downright dangerous, especially with Hansen hauling a 20-pound chainsaw. In time he learned to overshoot his turns to compensate.

Under such gruelling conditions, almost everyone got hurt at some point. That includes the famous scene in which Leatherface falls and cuts his leg. Despite preparations which included wrapping a piece of sheet metal around Hansen's leg, covering it with a thick steak to emulate human flesh, and topping the whole thing off with a blood bag, the saw cut so fast that it heated up the sheet metal and burned him. It was a small price to pay. The scene remains a classic, with Hansen grabbing his leg in real pain while fake blood spews everywhere.

4. Abe Sapien, Hellboy (2004) / Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008)

The Man: Doug Jones

Standing 6'3" and weighing a mere 140 pounds, actor, mime, and contortionist Doug Jones learned to use his body to tell a story early on. But it was working on the creature feature Mimic and connecting with Mexican director Guillermo del Toro that truly launched Jones' career.

When it came time for del Toro to bring Mike Mignola's Hellboy to life, Jones was his only choice to play the beloved fishman Abe Sapien. Jones's work as one of The Gentlemen on an Emmy-nominated episode of Josh Whedon's Buffy the Vampire Slayer formed the foundation for Abe's slow, refined mannerisms, and Jones painstakingly studied the movement of fish to round out Abe's physical traits.

Becoming Abe would not be as easy, however, requiring the actor to endure a 6 to 7 hour make-up process. Spectral Motion created foam latex pieces based on a full body cast of Jones, including those for his torso, arms, and legs. Transparent fins made from semi-flexible polyurethane were applied down his back and legs, and webbing under his arms used thermal-gel. Mechanized gills created by Mark Setrakian were placed on either side of his face; they would open and close just as a fish's would. Finally, everything was painted an aquatic camouflage design created by Steve Wang, and blended into Jones body by freehand airbrushing.

5. Jason Voorhees, Friday the 13th VII, VIII, IX, and Jason X (1988-2002)

The Man: Kane Hodder

On May 4, 1989, Kane Hodder headed to Times Square to film the final scenes for Friday the 13th, Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan. His arrival would be met by blood-curdling screams, but not the kind you're thinking of. Hundreds of people lined the streets just hoping to catch a glimpse of him. Not bad for a veteran stuntman who was bullied relentlessly as a child, and channels his past anger in order to get into character.

Hodder quickly became a fan favourite for bringing continuity to the hockey-masked killer for the first time, and giving him a personality onscreen, which is all the more impressive considering he does so without any facial expressions or even a voice. Tapping into the rage that motivates Jason to kill, and laying down several concrete rules for the character, such as Jason will never run after his victims, he will never hurt children or animals, and, in the case of Jason X, Jason will never, ever float!

Hardcore fans know that the signature hockey mask didn't make an appearance until Part 3. Originally moulded from a Detroit Red Wings goalie mask, it's also gone through a number of changes over the years. But beginning with Friday the 13th, Part VII: The New Blood, director John Carl Buechler wanted the mask to reflect the history of the character. Afterwards, there would always be subtle cracks, cuts, and chips, to suggest the violence that had been inflicted upon it.

6. Ghostface, Scream (1996) / Scream 2 (1997) / Scream 4 (2011)

The Man: Dane Farwell

Although audiences have never seen his face, or heard his voice, they definitely sensed that someone was missing from Scream 3. With good reason - it's the only instalment of director Wes Craven's Scream series without 6' 1" stuntman Dane Farwell. Farwell and Craven have a long history together, with Farwell appearing in eight of the director's films including The Serpent and the Rainbow, Shocker, The People Under the Stairs, Vampire in Brooklyn, and Red Eye.

Even though a premise of the series is that a different killer inhabits the costume in each Scream film, Farwell brings a manic energy to the Ghostface character. Farewell was so methodical that he would subtly alter Ghostface's mannerisms to match those of whomever played the killer in that film. He also mastered the trademark mannerism of cleaning the blood off the knight after each kill by running thumb and forefinger down the blade in a clean sweep.

The Ghostface character was described in Kevin Williamson's script simply as the "masked killer," so Craven faced a dilemma in deciding what the costume should be. Credit goes to executive producer Marianne Maddalena, who spotted the Ghostface mask produced by Fun World and saw the possibilities. The decision didn't win the team any fans at the studio, with Bob Weinstein going so far as to call the mask "idiotic" and threatening to replace Craven as the director, but thankfully a 13-minute rough cut of the opening sequence changed his mind.

While Farwell inhabited Ghostface's flapping cloak, it was veteran voice actor Roger L. Jackson who provided his cold, menacing tone.

7. Michael Myers, Rob Zombie's Halloween (2007) / Rob Zombie's H2 (2009)

The Man: Tyler Mane

When Rob Zombie set out to remake one of his all-time favourite horror films, Halloween, he went straight to director John Carpenter who offered him up some advice: namely that Zombie shouldn't be afraid to "make it his own." The shock rocker has a well-documented love affair with horror show pastiche in both his music and his movies, and Michael Myers' meagre backstory was the perfect blank slate for Zombie to add many of his trademark touches.

Young Michael still kills his older sister, but Zombie expands the Myers' clan, allowing him to kill her boyfriend, and his stepdad as well. Former wrestler Tyler Mane, who had appeared in The Devil's Rejects, was cast as the adult Michael, and at 6'9" Mane was an imposing figure. Appearing in Halloween and its sequel H2, Mane holds the distinction of being the only actor to ever portray Michael Myers in two consecutive films.

Say what you will about Zombie's almost sympathetic portrayal of the psychopathic serial killer; he did right by fans for keeping the mask. Zombie's Halloween uses a visibly distressed version of the mask used in Carpenter's original Halloween, which was a converted Don Post Studios Captain Kirk Star Trek mask first produced in 1977, which just so happened to be the cheapest mask the filmmakers could find.

While rumours of a Halloween 3 have been kicking around since H2 was released, neither Zombie nor Mane have any interest in returning.

8. The Collector, The Collector (2009)

The Man: Juan Fernandez de Alarcon

This lean, mean $3.5-million independent film was buried by blockbusters like Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen and Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince when it debuted. But the movie achieved a cult status for being much more than a paint-by-numbers torture fest (even though writers Marcus Dunstan and Patrick Melton are the men responsible for Saw films IV, V, VI, and VII).

Dunstan didn't want a hulking goon to play the Collector. Instead, he chose someone who could convey the movements of a spider. Enter Juan Fernandez de Alarcon, a Dominicann actor whose portfolio includes modelling for the likes of Yves St. Laurent - and Salvador Dali.

Envisioning a mask like that worn by Jason in Friday the 13th, Part 2, special makeup effects designer Gary Tunnicliffe designed a flocked black mask for Alarcon that laces up the back and creates the illusion of tiny hairs when viewed close up. The horrific cherry on top - special contacts worn by Fernandez top give his eyes an eerie insect glow - creates an unnerving overall effect was unnerving. However, though the Collector appears on film to have the heightened senses of an insect, wearing the mask turned out to be a claustrophobic experience. Fernandez found that the mask completely covered his ears, so that he could only hear his own breathing. It had only two small holes for sight.

While Dunstan and Melton return for the sequel The Collection, set to premiere November 30, Fernandez will not be reprising his role as the Collector, leaving accomplished stuntman Randall Archer with a pair of big black boots to fill.

9. Pumpkinhead, Pumpkinhead (1988)

The Man: Tom Woodruff Jr.

"Deep in the Appalachian Mountains they say that an act of evil shall never go unpunished." So begins Stan Winston's folklorish fright flick Pumpkinhead, and if Winston's name sounds familiar, it should. Responsible for some of the best makeup and visual effects in film, the four-time Academy Award winner's work includes The Thing, The Terminator, Aliens, Predator, and Jurassic Park.

Winston trusted his creature effects team to oversee the monster's creation, and enlisted the help of Tom Woodruff Jr. to play the creature. After Woodruff portrayed the Gillman in Fred Dekker's cult classic The Monster Squad, Winston thought he'd be perfect as Pumpkinhead, a creature that need to appear as if it had sprung up gnarled and twisted from the earth itself.

The finished film suffered after the original studio, DeLaurientis Entertainment, went bankrupt, but has since gone on to attain cult status. Woodruff went on to team up with another of Winston's designer-technicians, Alec Gillis, and start their own company, Amalgamated Dynamics, which specializes in make-up, animatronics, and puppeteering for film and TV. Woodruff has continued to act, playing the Alien in Alien 3, Alien: Resurrection, and both Alien vs. Predator films.

10. The Gimp, Pulp Fiction (1994)

The Man: Stephen Hibbert

"Bring out the Gimp!" In that one stomach-tightening sentence, Tarantino ensures that we'll never forget the nightmare about to unfold in the pawn shop basement.

Tarantino's films have always been a weird amalgamation of dark humour and extreme violence, but the Gimp scene was originally conceived by Pulp Fiction's co-writer Roger Avary for a different project. Tarantino liked the story so much that he asked if he could write it into the film.

Tarantino was friendly with the Los Angeles-based Groundlings comedy troupe at the time, and you can spot many of them throughout the flick: Julia Sweeney appears as Winston Wolf's squeeze, Raquel; Phil LaMarr plays the hapless Marvin, who Vincent accidentally caps in the face; and Kathy Griffin pops up after Butch runs down Marcellus Wallace with his car. For the Gimp, Tarantino cast former Groundlings member Stephen Hibbert.

Although the performance won't earn Hibbert a call from the Academy anytime soon, the Gimp's two mute, faceless minutes on-screen - climbing out of a cage locked inside of a trunk and decked out in head-to-toe leather bondage regalia - was so inflammatory that it has been removed entirely from the broadcast version. Unfortunately, Hibbert hasn't been able to parlay his Gimp-famy into anything more than a few blink-and-you'll-miss-it appearances in Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me and National Treasure: Book of Secrets.

[Source: Popular Mechanics. Edited.]