When creating the film adaptations, Peter Jackson used many tactics to bring the creatures of Middle Earth to life, one of the most creative of which is the prosthetics that were created at Weta studios. However, the prosthetics weren’t always the easiest costumes for the actors to wear. Here are 5 of the most difficult:
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In the original books, the elves are portrayed as a very fair race, often with golden hair and pale eyes, and their beauty and grace is beyond renown throughout all of the kingdoms. However, when the casting took place, Orlando Bloom was found to be the perfect actor to portray the lofty Legolas, the prince of Mirkwood, an elven realm where even the trees are malicious and misleading. The only problem is that the actor has both dark hair and dark eyes. In order to rectify this and keep the films as true to the books as possible, he was requested to wear a blonde wig and blue contacts.
However, the contacts were so irritating to his eyes that they caused him immense difficulty in filming his scenes. Many astute fans of the franchise have spotted discrepancies in the films, in which sometimes the elf can be seen with blue eyes, and sometimes the elf has brown eyes, from the times when the actor was unable to act with the contacts in.
Another group of people who are written to look a certain way within the books is the Uruk-hai, a specific breed of orcs who were created by Saruman at the tower of Orthanc. When we see the army at Helm’s Deep, they are tall, broad, and largely muscly all over, including thighs the size of tree trunks. These massive legs and shoulders are in fact cleverly designed and painted prosthetics, akin to full bodysuits.
However, the biggest problem with these prosthetics is that there were often night-shoots out in the rain involved in filming the Helm’s Deep scenes. The prosthetics were soaked through by the end of the evening, and were impossible to get dry again before the next shoot the following night. The extras and stunt doubles were in and out of these damp, gross prosthetics for nearly 3 months.
Arguably one of the most impressive looking, and effective prosthetics in use during the whole trilogy is that of Gothmog, the leader of the army at Pelennor Fields, who is almost crushed by the catapulted boulder. His marred and disfigured face adds to the horrific cruelty of his character, especially when he later fights Eowyn, the shieldmaiden of Rohan, and eventually killed by Aragorn and Gimli.
However, the biggest issue with this prosthetic in terms of practicality, is that it covers the entire left side of the actor’s face, and is very difficult to see, speak, or perform facial expressions in. Despite the obstacles in his way, Lawrence Makoare still manages to do a great job in portraying this ruthless and merciless character. What’s more, he also plays Lurtz, who kills Boromir, and has one of the best unscripted moments in the trilogy.
Although he is technically in The Hobbit films and not the Lord of the Rings, the dwarf named Bombur has one of the most extensive sets of prosthetics in the entire cast. Not only does he have to wear an entire stuffed bodysuit to give him the overweight stature of his character, he also has 6 pieces of facial prosthetics, including jowls, beard, bald cap, and forehead.
One of the best scenes in the films involves the 13 dwarves riding down the river in wine barrels, after Bilbo uses the One Ring which he won during a game of riddles against Gollum, to help them escape the elven prison The only snag is that when wet, Boffur’s suit became impossibly heavy, and almost pulled the actor into the swell of the water.
The worst prosthetic problem by far though is that of the facial features worn by John Rhys Davies, the actor who plays Gimli. Although the prosthetics themselves aren’t as big or as complicated as many of the other prosthetics throughout the show, the actor, unfortunately, had a terrible allergic reaction to the glue they used to secure the mask to his face. His eyes became horribly swollen and itchy whenever he donned his Gimli costume.
The unbearably itchy skin of the actor just had to be endured, as the prosthetics were an essential part of the portrayal of the character. Gimli is known as a particularly gruff, grump soul, often insulting elves and picking unneccesary fights, so perhaps it even helped. The medics took good care of his skin, giving him soothing creams and lotions to help with the reaction, but it was nethertheless a painful experience throughout the entire movie process.
The prosthetics, including hundreds of pairs of hobbits’ feet, the wigs that were glued on (and accidentally ripped off of Sean Astin’s head), and pointed elf ears, were all shredded at the close of shooting.
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