MakeupMag has a new interview with Nick Dudman, a make-up artist for the Potter films, and he talks about Fenrir Greyback.

In terms of actual make-up, Greyback is the film’s biggest creation, which Dudman and his team have designed as a seven-piece silicone prosthetic. “He’s a character with a great deal of fine hair all over him,” Dudman explained. “In the old days, if you were doing a werewolf, you would just lay loose hair on an actor, but nowadays the camera would pick that up, plus it’s such a coarse technique, it would be different every day.

“What we’ve done is punch fine goat hair into the pieces and pre-paint them, so when we apply the make-up, it won’t take as long. Because the hair has been punched, there’s no glue, so the movement will be freer. The reason we use fur is because it’s tapered and very fine. If you use human hair, yak or any other hair, because it’s been cut, it’s the same length at both ends and has a coarser flavor, whereas fur sits nicely close to the skin.

“The reason we’ve designed the make-up in seven pieces, including the ears, is that if it was just two pieces, maneuvering the silicone into position and gluing it accurately would become very difficult, so you choose sizes that you can manipulate and to allow a time frame that makes the make-up practical.”

Thanks SS!