When Steve "Frosty" Weintraub from COLLIDER visited the set of
THOR earlier this year, he had the rare opportunity to talk to actor Colm Feore while Feore was in full Frost Giant makeup. Of course the topic quickly turned to what its like dealing with the prosthetics and make up involved in making the transformation.
This from COLLIDER... I’m just going to jump in and say, “Oh my God” with the makeup. Could you talk a little bit about, did you know what you were getting yourself into and has it been a challenge doing this? You know what, I didn’t really until they came to my house and they said, “We have to do an impression of your feet, your hands, your teeth, your head, well pretty much everything. And then could you take a kind of heroic pose? Because we’re going to do some digital photographs and then they’re going to copy this and then they’re going to make something.” And I said, “Well, okay.” And out of sight, out of mind. I didn’t think about it until I showed up, went to Legacy [Effects], and they had pictures of me, the design, this, next to half-naked pictures of Iggy Pop. Now, without telling you too much about myself, half-naked…me and Iggy Pop look a lot alike. I’m not going to tell you which half. But as you can see, I’m not wearing a lot of clothes.
So, I said, “Is this what it’s going to be?” and they said, “Yeah and this is how it works.” This outfit, this costume is remarkable for a lot of reasons, not least of which it’s about 17 different pieces. The only thing that’s real, that’s me, is from here to here. Everything else, and I mean everything, top to bottom, everything is fake. And it’s laid on in four-and-a-half hours by this genius, Ve Neill, of course three-time Oscar winner [for] makeup and Arjen Tuiten from Legacy [visual effects producer: Digital Domain Vancouver] who sculpted and designed all this. And it comes in a variety of these pieces and they just put each one on and glue me into it, paint me blue and stitch me up and then wheel me out. It’s remarkable. And it takes forever. And slightly longer to get off. I’ve been doing a lot of work recently in trying to apologize to people for the blue eyeliner and the blue fingernails and the blue everything. Finally I just gave up. I just said, “Ya know, I’m in here every day shopping. Yes. I am a stripper. I work nights, okay? So if you don’t mind, just cut me some slack. Give me the bread, give me the wine, I’m leaving.”
It’s a little madness. But I kind of enjoy it, because it gives me a good four-and-a-half hours here at three in the morning when no one else is here, it gives me a chance to get into what the character is going to be. I start to assume the physicality and all the stuff that Ken Brannagh and I have talked about in terms of where this character sits and how he’s evolved. And, four-and-a-half hours later, this appears. From inside, it feels different to me than it looks to you, but it actually works as far as I’m concerned. I think it’s pretty scary and the voice…the voice is dropped. It really is. Clint [Eastwood] in outer space. “Get off my lawn,” is going to be my best line. “Don’t eat my dog.” Ya know? It’s going to be fun, because you don’t expect sensitivity, humanity, humor, heartbreak from this kind of guy, but the way Ken directs we managed to get all of that. So it’s been a wonderful synthesis of machinery, artistry and just good-on, old craft. Are you ‘a’ Frost Giant or are you all of them, multiple? “A” Frost Giant? I am the King of Frost Giants. And if you’ve seen any of the Frost Giants, you know that I am, of course, the Napoleon of Frost Giants. We’ve got some massive, fabulous guys who dwarf me and come in at around eight-and-a-half feet, nine feet. But, no. Can’t you tell by the commanding presence? I am the boss. The music will be big. When I show up there’ll be a big storm, there’ll be wind. No, it’s worked out beautifully. It’s very articulated and articulatable. The face moves with me. I have every range of expression. And, I don’t know if you’ve had a chance to talk to Ken at all, but he’s brilliant. He’s brilliant for a lot of reasons. Not least of all because he’s been an actor his whole life. So he knows how to tighten the narrative of what he would do as an actor, so he can get inside and say three helpful words on a very tight schedule, an expensive schedule and just get right to the heart of the point. But he also is looking for most of it, here, right? It’s gotta be in the eyes. And if they don’t work, we’ve got nothing. So it had to be this expressive. [pauses for a scene being shot in the background] See this is way more acting than I’m being paid for. I’m much more subtle. They’re young, you see. Enthusiastic. Hawksblueyes: There is much, much more to this interview. To read it in it's entirety, click on the link below.
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