Guillermo del Toro is a filmmaker who spends a great deal of time on the details within the world of his movies. He’s meticulous about everything from the color of costumes to the number of rivets on Hellboy’s gun. Do you think he wouldn’t therefore have a very specific reason for setting a movie in 1962? That movie is The Shape of Water and our own Hector Navarro caught up with del Toro and cast members Octavia Spencer, Doug Jones, and Richard Jenkins to discuss everything from social changes in the early ’60s to bracing yourself to see an amphibian man’s butt for the first time.
1962, as del Toro puts it, was a year of both great progress and great division in the United States, and the discrepancy transfers to all the characters in The Shape of Water. Spencer told Hector about how her character and Sally Hawkins’ characters are essentially invisible, being the night janitorial staff of a research facility, and “othered” by race and disability, respectively.
Obviously the suit and makeup/prosthetics for the Amphibian Man worn by Jones is getting a lot of attention, and rightfully so, as well as his physical shift into character once “action” was called. But Spencer was most in awe of the character’s amphibious backside, which she declared was absolutely perfect. Hector also especially wanted to know about another bit of movie magic on the set… Jenkins’ hairpiece, which may get its own fan club out of this movie.
The Shape of Water opens in New York on December 1, LA on December 8, and elsewhere next year.
Images: Fox Searchlight
Kyle Anderson is the Associate Editor for Nerdist. You can find his film and TV reviews here. Follow him on Twitter!
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