Hugh Jackman's hair and make-up team nailed his grizzled outlaw look "on the first go" while preparing for The Death of Robin Hood.
In Michael Sarnoski's dark, revisionist take on the popular folk legend, Robin Hood is reimagined as an old, battle-worn outlaw with long grey hair and a beard.
While he was working on his previous film, Song Sung Blue, Jackman, his make-up artist Pamela S. Westmore and his hair stylist Sean Flanigan came up with his grizzled look using a wig and prosthetic facial hair and got it right on the first attempt.
"Pam and Sean, his hair and make-up people, just kind of nailed it on their first go," Sarnoski told Cover Media. "The script said that he was supposed to sort of feel like this ogre-y hermit who is kind of overgrown and lion-like and all of that.
"He was working on Song Sung Blue and they were just practising with him in the make-up trailer and they sent a picture of like, 'Hey we're thinking something like this.' And it was like exactly right," he continued. "So weirdly, it was a much easier process than (normal)... sometimes you go back and forth a lot - 'Oh, it should be this length and not quite that' - but with this one, they just had really good instincts. He has such a good team around him, so they just kind of nailed it on the first go."
The Deadpool & Wolverine actor first heard about the project through its producer, Aaron Ryder, and asked to read the script before sitting down with Sarnoski at an Irish bar in New York.
"He read the script and was like, 'Hey, let's sit down and chat about this and we had this very kind of like - without a formal offer - sit-down discussion about it, and it was one of those just kind of magical meetings where, within five minutes, we were both kind of like, yeah, we should probably do this together," the Pig director recalled.
Sarnoski explained that Jackman was the perfect fit for his version of Robin because he has "so much range", a "deep warmth" and a keen interest in understanding "what makes you tick".
The Death of Robin Hood, also starring Jodie Comer and Noah Jupe, is in cinemas now.
