‘What We Do in the Shadows’ Costume & Makeup Teams Break Down Nandor’s Look
He is Nandor the Relentless and…well, at least he looks fierce.
The old-world imbecile (Kayvan Novak) may think he’s the coldhearted leader of horror-com What We Do in the Shadows‘ trio of Staten Island bloodsuckers — but we wonder how much bite he would really have if it weren’t for the very modern miracles created by the show’s hair, makeup and costume crew.
The Face
Makeup must reflect vampires’ no-sunlight rule. “Their skin is pale,” says department head Katie Brennan, “so they are kept a little dewy to offer character.”
The Fangs
Ve vant to understand the dialogue, so prosthetics pro Paul Jones skipped mouthpieces and used individual canine fangs “sculpted in clay, molded in silicone and then reproduced in a hard dental acrylic.”
The Wardrobe
Costumer Amanda Neale based the 14th-century Turk’s leather-fastened tunic resembling a breastplate “on the armor they would have worn then.”
(Credit: John P Johnson/FX)
The Cape
Neale created spares of this upholstery-velvet cloak with hand-stitched embroidery. One has holes poked in it to allow Novak to fly. ‘He’s in a harness a lot,” she says.
The Palette
Because dark sets and lighting predominate, Neale “avoided blacks [for] dark greens, browns and even, as you see in his cloak, jewel tones.”
What We Do in the Shadows, Wednesdays, 10/9c, FX
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