12 Times Celebrities Complain About Their On-Set Costumes Being Insufferable
As an actor, you’ll have to do everything it takes to make a movie successful, even if it means putting on a 20-kilogram hairy costume for half a day. Especially in the humid summer, putting on a costume like that is a form of torture to actors, and many popular performers have spoken out about how suffocating these outfits are.
Besides heavy costumes, actors also have to endure hours sitting still on a makeup chair, or get in trouble with a certain type of makeup that they’re coincidentally allergic to.
Today, let us browse through some of the most iconic cases, where actors have spoken out about how insufferable their on-set costumes are. Be alert, though, as this article may make you think twice about stepping into the land of Hollywood.
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#1. Ralph Fiennes In Harry Potter
Source: Warner Bros.
Fiennes is best known for his role as the malevolent Lord Voldemort from the Harry Potter franchise, but few know about his struggle dressing up as He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Apparently, Voldemort’s costume was too troublesome to wear, and his makeup was a huge hassle as well.
The actor shared that he used to stumble on the costume all the time, and his tights fell off on a daily basis, so he couldn’t even walk properly wearing the garb. It’s never easy being a villain, eh?
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#2. Tom Holland In The MCU Spider-Man Franchise
Source: Marvel
Marvel fans all want to don the iconic Wall-Crawler outfit just like Holland does in the movies, however, the actor may convince you otherwise. Speaking to The Graham Norton Show, the British performer complained about the lack of zipper on his Spider-Man suits, especially the red-and-black one in No Way Home.
In case he wants to drink something to rejuvenate himself, Holland must remove the eye sockets of his suit, and drink through the hole via a pipe. Not to mention, the suits are hot as heck in summer.
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#3. Robert Downey Jr. In Iron Man
Source: Marvel
Similarly, Holland’s MCU co-star Robert Downey Jr. also had issues with his superhero getup. In the first Iron Man movie, Marvel Studios had RDJ wear an actual metallic suit to film to save the budget on CGI.
Not only the suit was hot and humid, but RDJ also couldn’t see properly inside the suit due to the design. As a result, the film’s crew must direct the actor on every move he made.
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#4. Paul Bettany In Avengers: Age Of Ultron
Source: Marvel
Yet another Marvel actor to complain about their MCU costume, and we don’t blame them. Vision’s character has a complex design, and we can only imagine Bettany’s suffering portraying the hero.
According to the actor, he must have worn the costume for at least 10 hours a day, wasn’t able to hear well, and even gasped for air at times. Bettany had to constantly remind himself how lucky he was to get the role so that he wouldn’t be discouraged.
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#5. Ryan Reynolds In Green Lantern
Source: Warner Bros.
Portraying live-action Hal Jordan was a huge disaster for Reynolds, both commercially and physically. The film was a huge box office bomb, and the actor described the bodysuit he had to wear as “made of actual woven misery”.
According to Reynolds, the suit was too hot to wear, unbreathable, and donning it for hours under the humid environment in New Orleans made it ten times worse. He even described it as “shooting an entire movie inside Alec Baldwin."
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#6. Peter Mayhew In Star Wars Franchise
Source: Disney+
Some extra-terrestrial beings in Star Wars are made with either props or CGI, like Jabba the Hut or Jar-Jar Binks. Well, Peter Mayhew didn’t have the same luxury, as his character, Chewbacca the Wookie, required him to wear an absurdly thick and hairy suit for hours on set. At some point, the performer even passed out due to overheating inside the suit.
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#7. Rebecca Romijn In X-Men Franchise
Source: 20th Century Fox
The on-screen Mystique looks incredibly charming yet intimidating at times, and the actress, Rebecca Romijn, had gone through a lot portraying her. Every day, Romijn had to sit for 8-9 hours straight for makeup artists to put the blue body paints on her. And then, she also had to wear multiple prosthetics on her face, shoulder, limbs, and torso.
The actress described the experience as “extremely uncomfortable”, as not only her personal space was non-existent at times, but also because she felt “isolated” putting on the makeup.
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#8. Dave Bautista In Guardian Of The Galaxy
Source: Marvel
Bautista’s character in the MCU franchise, Drax, is a fan-favorite thanks to his crude and unorthodox personality. However, the ex-wrestler didn’t enjoy it that much mainly for two reasons: First, the character was too one-dimensional according to him, and second, the makeup process he had to endure was unbearable.
According to Bautista, he had to stand still for five hours to put on makeup and glue the scar prosthetics, just like with Romijn. He also had to wear plastic shells on his head and torso to make his character bulkier and more alien-like. The extensive makeup time is one of the reason why Bautista retired from the role after Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3.
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#9. Jim Carrey In How The Grinch Stole Christmas
Source: Universal Pictures
The Grinch is one of Carrey’s most iconic role, but the actor himself didn’t enjoy it that much. According to Carrey, the suit he had to put on was extremely thick and suffocating, and he even described the experience as “being buried alive every day.” He also recalled having to wear the suit for at least eight and a half hour a day.
It got worse and worse to a point that the film producer had to bring in an expert on how to endure torture to help Carrey’s mentality.
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#10. Emma Stone In The Favorite
Source: Fox Searchlight Pictures
Wearing corset were a pain in the butt (well, not literally) for women back in the Victorian era. Modern day actress, however, must relieve those painful experience again when they star in a movie in a similar setting. Emma Stone in The Favorite is a prime example.
The actress depicted the experience as “extremely unpleasant”, and “gross”, as she couldn’t breathe inside the costume, to an extent that her organs temporarily shifted due to the extreme pressure from the corset.
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#11. Robert John Burke In Robocop 3
Source: Columbia Pictures/ Sony Pictures
Burke took the role of Robocop in the 1993 threequel, after the previous performer Petter Weller quitted. However, Burke had an extremely hard time putting on the suit, as it was made specifically for Weller, who’s way smaller than him. And there’s nothing worse than wearing a 150-pound metallic suit that is smaller than your body frame for hours on stage.
Burke revealed that having to wear the suit was agonizing to say the least, and that he had to drop weight drastically by jumping rope and doing sauna to fit the suit on time.
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#12. Val Kilmer In Batman Forever
Source: Warner Bros.
Every man in the world want to put on the iconic Batman costume one day, but afterhearing Val Kilmer’s story, they may want to reconsider. Portraying the Caped Crusader in Batman Forever, Kilmer described that his suit was so confining and suffocating, he can barely move on his own, and the film’s crew must help him with sitting down and standing up.
When wearing the suit, Kilmer’s hearing was also restricted, so it was an extremely isolating experience for the veteran actor.
Do you still want to wear a Hollywood’s costume after reading this article? Let us know in the comments.
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