Denis Villeneuve‘s operatic space epic, “Dune” is not only a “spellbinding arthouse blockbuster” (as our review aptly put it), but it’s a tactile piece of art with terrific craftsmanship that makes it feel much more rich, real, and lived-in, as opposed to a lot of films that rely on CGI effects that can feel hollow. That palpable, textured feel of much of the movie is perhaps no better evinced than in the outstanding make-up job for Stellan Skarsgard‘s evil, monstrous Baron Harkonnen character, a hideous, frightening behemoth that’s supposed to be 600lbs.
While many films would simply do Skarsgard in motion capture and then CGI, Villeneuve’s hair and make-up team led by Donald Mowat, decided to make a real prosthetic suit instead, a creation that took seven hours to put on every day. “It was such a collaborative effort and working on a Denis Villeneuve project,” Mowat told The Playlist recently. “You are challenged to bring your best and I knew I had to bring so many creative elements here and assemble a fantastic international team and working with this cast especially Stellan and team Sweden was brilliant.”
To create such a convincing and elaborate prosthetic suit, Mowat, hired Swedish Prosthetic Designer Love Larson, who had his own team solely dedicated to creating the menacing and repellant Baron Harkonnen look. It was a herculean task to pull it off with hours and hours of tests before they got to the real thing which again, took nearly half a day to put on.
“The greatest challenge in creating the Baron was to make a character that was frightening and powerful and still having this huge body,” Larson said. “If one looks back in the history of film, obese characters is usually portrayed as funny and we didn´t want any of that. When Donald approached us with the task of creating the Baron, that was one of his biggest fears, so we always fought to stay away from comedy. It was never about creating a makeup but creating a believable character that would stay with the audience even when they left the theater.”
Marlon Brando from both “Apocalypse Now” and the “Island of Dr. Moreau,” mixed with a “gorilla-like anatomy,” was Mowat’s aim and something he passed down to the entire team. “We wanted him to be frightening but it was when we put Stellan in the makeup that everything came to life. Stellan brought in sensuality to the character and that made him so much more frightening,” Larson explained.
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Villeneuve has even said in the past he was deeply intimidated by Skarsgard on set, but Larson said that’s a function of the character. “Stellan is wonderful to work with,” he said, “But when he goes into the character he is the Baron, it’s no longer Stellan in a makeup. [If] you feel intimidated by him, that’s [because] you were standing eye to eye with the Baron Harkonnen.”
There were many challenges in creating the suit, but also incredible challenges for the actor who took on a great discipline when patiently putting on the suit and make-up for hours on end. Skarsgard wore a cooling system under the muscle and prosthetic undersuit and a prosthetic skin on top of that. “Once we had him in all that he wouldn’t drink or eat until we were finished shooting,” he explained. “He knew we could open the prosthetics and everything so that he would be able to go to the bathroom, but he never did since that would waste time.”
You can see the full process of creating the character of Baron Harkonnen in the exclusive featurette below:
