Leonardo DiCaprio is finally on the cusp of bagging his first Oscar for The
Revenant, an award he arguably deserves based solely on the fact that he had
to spend up to five hours every day in makeup having his gross fake wounds
applied.
The actor stars as fur trapper Hugh Glass in Alejandro G
Inarritu’s visceral drama and, in one memorable scene, is brutally mauled by
a bear, leaving him with horrific injuries that almost kill him.
A
new photo has emerged on Imgur showing DiCaprio, 41, sitting patiently with
prosthetics artist Duncan Jarman as he works skilfully to make his body look
as realistically destroyed as possible.
Jarman undertook thorough research into the real life Glass and
unearthed historical information about the wounds he suffered. Injuries were
sustained to Glass’ whole body, meaning DiCaprio had to spend an entire day
life casting so the team could create all the necessary effects.
Inarritu,
a notoriously tough taskmaster on The Revenant shoot, reportedly asked the
team to make wounds that could ‘bleed’ and then be stitched up in one take
by one of Glass’ men.
Those who have seen the film know that the bear attack is the
definition of bloody. Tubes filled with fake blood were placed inside a
chest piece made to look as if Glass’ ribs had been exposed and DiCaprio
wore a silicone appliance on his neck that had been designed to froth blood.
Crushed almonds, sunflower and linseed helped to give the appearance of
scabs (don’t worry, we’re gagging too).
DiCaprio’s makeup took
four and a half hours to be applied on the days spent filming the attack’s
gruesome aftermath, following a two-hour drive into the depths of the
freezing Canadian wilderness.
He had to lie in icy mud connected to blood lines as the team
tried to keep him warm while also allowing time for touch-ups before
shooting began.
