Screen: How a Legendary Werewolf Artist Changes With the Times | Magazine

Screen: How a Legendary Werewolf Artist Changes With the Times

In 1982, Rick Baker won the first-ever makeup artistry Oscar for his work on An American Werewolf in London. Since then, his bone-crunching, sinew-stretching lycanthropic transformations have become legendary. But Hollywood’s approach to makeup is changing as dramatically as those lupine metamorphoses: While working on a remake of The Wolfman, out February 12, Baker had to integrate his handcrafted artistry with the latest digital effects. He spoke to Wired about the hairy process.

Wired: When you have a dramatic actor like Benicio Del Toro playing a werewolf, it’s vital that he appear believable. How were makeup techniques and digital effects combined to create a look that’s convincing, not kitschy?

Rick Baker: I think it’s a letdown when a great actor like Benicio, who’s practically a wolfman anyway, suddenly becomes completely CG. So I’m glad the studio considered makeup an option. I wanted this werewolf to be an homage to Jack Pierce’s design for the 1941 original, but I updated it to be more ferocious.

Wired: You revolutionized the man-to-wolf transformation in American Werewolf and Thriller. Did you use the same methods for Wolfman?

Baker: The transformation in this film is all digital, but the wolfman is all my makeup. So I tried to anticipate how the CG effects would be used. Benicio’s wolfman is subtle: His teeth and hair grow, and his ears get pointed, but there are fewer physical changes than in American Werewolf in London.

Wired: Have you worried that your work can’t keep up with evolving technology?

Baker: I had that concern. I wondered whether today’s kids, who grew up on CG, would accept a guy covered in yak hair. But I actually embrace digital stuff now — I do it for fun. I was heavily involved in the digital work on The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. I like any trick that helps me achieve what I can’t with rubber. I try to make the right choice for the circumstances of the movie.

In an era when special effects make creatures more pixelated than predatory, it’s good to have Rick Baker on your side. Here’s how the monster makeup maestro added bite to Benicio Del Toro’s depiction of Universal’s classic wolfman.