Movies have the power to make an audience believe an actor has always looked a certain
way.
Take, for instance, Kelsey Grammer in the X-Men films.
With a bit of makeup and some prosthetics, you truly believe he could have been a blue,
beastly mutant at one point in his life.
The reality, however, is slightly more complicated.
It takes more than just the clothing and a hint of makeup to make a costume come alive.
Whether the outfit is CGI or handcrafted by a costume designer fans always remember the
greats.
Check out these 10 shocking facts you didn’t know about your favorite movie costumes.
Black Panther in Captain America: Civil War Wakanda is one of Marvel’s most technologically-advanced
countries in the world, notable for its massive supply of vibranium—the same metal found
in Captain America’s shield.
But what you probably didn’t know is the durable and powerful metal is also found in
King T’Challa’s Black Panther suit giving him one big advantage in Captain America:
Civil War.
Actor Chadwick Boseman spoke in detail about the Black Panther costume revealing to Entertainment
Weekly that the infused suit absorbs attacks from an opponent.
That explains how Black Panther stood perfectly still while being shot at by police in a helicopter
in “Civil War.”
Catwoman in Batman Returns A popular figure in DC Comics, Catwoman has
been featured in most media adaptations related to Batman (most recently in 2012’s The Dark
Knight Rises).
But arguably Selena Kyle’s finest moments came in Tim Burton’s 1992 Batman Returns,
which had Michelle Pfeiffer step into the role.
While Pfeiffer’s sexy and sleek outfit gave the appearance of latex, it actually took
a little more work to get that glossy and sheen look.
When Pfeiffer put on her cat costume, the costume department used big sponge brushes
to lather her in a thick silicone.
Costume designer Mary Vogt has stated the process was messy but the final look was perfect
giving the actress a fluid and elegant look with a hint of grunge.
Johnny Depp in Edward Scissorhands This Tim Burton film featured an almost unrecognizable
Johnny Depp with tight and creaky leather, a wild mess of hair and the scissors for hands,
of course.
The look came together to give Depp a Frankenstein, American goth feel but with the art came a
bit of suffering for the actor.
To ease some of Depp’s pain the director and costume designer installed a special cool
suit that would stop him from overheating in the Florida sun on those long shooting
days.
Despite these efforts the actor would still rush over to special fans to cool down after
a shot.
Viggo Mortensen in The Lord of the Rings Trilogy Peter Jackson’s epic adaptation of JRR Tolkien’s
The Lord of the Rings Trilogy features the rugged character Aragorn (played by Viggo
Mortensen).
When initially introduced, the character had a distinctive look of a grungy and rough man,
which is exactly what Mortensen wanted.
The actor wanted to give his costume the lived-in appearance and took it upon himself to make
that happen.
He reportedly took his outfit home, then lived, breathed and sweated in it until it looked
as beaten and battered as possible.
He even repaired the costume whenever it needed it.
Mortensen’s efforts paid off, as the actor not only delivered a breakout performance,
but looked 100 percent the part doing it.
2 Fellowship actors wore no prosthetics in Lord of the Rings
Almost all the actors in Lord of the Rings wore prosthetics to create the look of their
various fantasy races.
Among the many used in the films were the pointed elf ears that were worn by both Cate
Blanchett (Galadriel) and Liv Tyler (Arwen).
Hairy hobbit feet worn by Elijah Wood (Frodo Baggins) and Sean Astin (Samwise Gamgee) and
much more.
However, two members of the nine in the fellowship managed to go prosthetic free.
Both Viggo Mortensen and Sean Bean (Boromir) wore no latex additions to their costumes—this
is because they were playing humans.
Heath Ledger as The Joker in The Dark Knight Heath Ledger will arguably remain the best
Joker to grace the screen in Christopher Nolan’s Batman adaptation.
The actor went to great lengths to get in the right mindset of the psychotic clown in
The Dark Knight.
He locked himself in a hotel room for a month and worked on his character’s voice and
personality, all while keeping a diary to chronicle the Joker’s thoughts.
He even designed the Joker’s makeup using mascara and grease paint.
Ledger said Sid Vicious and the thugs in Stanley Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange inspired him.
While the costume designer Lindy Hemming looked to musicians such as Pete Doherty, Iggy Pop
and Johnny Rotten for inspiration on wardrobe.
Darth Vader in the original Star Wars trilogy Would you believe that Darth Vader’s costume
was based on a gas mask, a motorcycle suit and Nazis headgear wore during WWII?
Costume designer John Mollo fused elements of various real life uniforms associated with
war and evil to bring Vader’s look to life.
Aside from the Nazi gear and leather attire, the costume designer also added in elements
from a monk’s cloak found in the Middle Ages department of a costume warehouse and
that gave us the iconic villain the original Star Wars trilogy: Darth Vader.
It’s also worth noting that his helmet isn’t the only German army reference in the films.
Vader’s army of Stormtroopers are named after specialist German soldiers in World
War I.
Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man Before Tom Holland took the mantle as Spider-Man,
a young Tobey Maguire stepped into the red and black lycra costume.
Well, apparently there were 70 versions of the Spider-Man suit made for the films.
Costume designer James Acheson created 70 different versions of the famous costume while
trying to find the right perfect way to get the webbing to stay on and remain flexible.
According to Movie Pilot, Acheson recalled a disastrous time when the everything on the
costume went belly up.
Speaking to Imaginary Worlds, Acheson said: "We had a stunt man on a wire, and they flew
him straight into a tree and the whole suit, I mean, half the webbing unglued from the
suit, I mean it was sort of like a terrible waffle hanging in the trees.
It was a disaster.”
Luckily we now have amazing CGI capabilities to keep those details in place.
Harry Potter and the wizard wands Every wand seen in any of the eight Harry
Potter films has been created on-site, which include the few Daniel Radcliffe has worn
out.
Just like in the books, no two wands are alike.
Most of the wands have remained the same throughout the films staying a consistent 13-15 inches
long just like in the books.
This means characters have grown into their wants over years of filming.
Dumbledore’s (Michael Gambon) wand has remained the same throughout all the films even before
fans knew of its significance as the Elder Wand.
Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine claws Wolverine’s adamantium claws are as iconic
as the characters sideburns.
Visual effects supervisor Tim Crosbie spoke to Fxguide about the practicality of those
unique claws saying: “Those metal claws are pretty sharp, you can put an eye out pretty
easily - they are polished aluminum.
They had to be sharp otherwise they wouldn't play properly in close-up.
But only a certain level of stunts can be done with them, beyond which even the slightest
bump can cut his knuckles - so that's where CG takes over.”
Beyond CGI, Jackman would sport plastic claws, rubber claws and even small two-inch long
stubs.
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Are there any shocking costume facts we missed?
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