Nicolas Cage went above and beyond for his latest role, according to the movie’s makeup artist.
Cage is taking the role of the legendary vampire Count Dracula in his upcoming flick Renfield - you can see a trailer here:
The comedy-horror, directed by Chris McKay, stars Nicholas Hoult as the titular Renfield - Dracula’s loyal and put-upon servant who finds himself a new lease of life after falling in love with a traffic cop.
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Renfield decides to finally stand up to his boss in the hopes of breaking free from his life of servitude.
As you can see from the trailer, the makeup department have done an incredible job of turning Cage into Dracula - and the actor himself has gone all in for the role even shaving down his teeth so the dentures were a perfect fit. Rather you than me, pal.
Makeup artist Christien Tinsley recently spoke to Variety about the efforts that went into crafting the perfect set of teeth for Cage’s Dracula.
Tinsley said that McKay wanted each and every one of Dracula’s teeth to be pointed - not just the canines; while the makeup artists needed to ensure that he would be able to make timely adjustments once on set.
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The team eventually decided to use a 3D printer to make the fangs - a first for Tinsley.
“This was the first film that I know of where we used 3D printing to do all the dentures,” Tinsley said.
“We jumped in headfirst with 3D printing. We would scan Nic’s teeth and digitally sculpt them.”
The use of 3D printing meant that not only were they quickly able to make different designs for the teeth, but that dozens of pairs could be ready in just a few minutes.
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The speed was a big help, according to Tinsley, as it meant the fake teeth could be made super thin and if they broke they could simply print another set. Clever, right?
And with the dentures made and ready to go, Cage underwent some rather extreme-sounding dentistry of his own.
Tinsley explained: “We shaved Nic’s teeth down and the dentures were fitted so as not to impede on Nic’s speech and allow full freedom.
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“Nic wanted to emote and enunciate properly, so it was important the veneers were thin.”
And if that isn’t gruelling enough, Cage was spending more than three hours in the makeup chair everyday ensuring that he really looked the part.
“It was a full head of prosthetics, dentures, full body, torso, arms, hands and nails,” Tinsley noted. “Those take time.”
Renfield is set to hit cinemas on 14 April.
Topics: Film and TV, Nicolas Cage, Celebrity