[Editor’s note: The following containsspoilersforProject Power.]
Netflix’sProject Powerrocks quite the core concept! The movie takes place in New Orleans where a new drug has flooded the market, a pill called Power. The pill lets the user unlock a superpower for five minutes. The thing is though, every person’s power is different.Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s character becomes bulletproof,Colson Baker’s character essentially turns himself into a human fireball, and then there’sRodrigo Santoro’s character Biggie, who’s name was giving away his ability all along.
When Biggie takes Power, he basically turns intoProject Power’s version of The Hulk. When he finally shows off his ability around the midpoint of the movie, I made the assumption that the look was largely achieved through CGI. Turns out, that’s not the case! Here’s how Santoro described it in our interview:
“That’s a makeup artist from New York called Mike Marino. He’s a genius. And I wore a suit [in] four pieces, and I spent nine hours in the chair the first day to get ready, and I did everything. It’s me doing everything, wearing a three-piece suit and then pieces on the neck and pieces on the face. I shaved my whole face and this side of my mustache, that was the only thing I had, and then the rest, hair is fake. It’s all makeup and then body work doing the guy.”
After this interview I immediately foundMike Marinoon Instagram and highly recommendgiving his page a look. He’s got some very impressive images fromProject Powerup there now, including some detailed shots of the stages of Biggie’s big look. Santoro also posted a very detailed (and mighty amusing) video about the transformation on his own Instagram page which you may check out below. For more from Santoro onProject Power, check out our full chat at the top of this article! We also have a conversation with Gordon-Levitt for youright here, and one withJamie FoxxandDominique Fishbackhere.
