‘Fantastic Four’ Star Ebon Moss-Bachrach Had to Shave for The Thing’s Suit, Cast Sent Him Flowers for Emmy Nom: ‘I Miss Them Already’
While walking the red carpet at the 2024 Emmy Awards, a clean-shaven Ebon Moss-Bachrach chatted with Variety‘s Marc Malkin about the mandatory grooming needed to transform into The Thing for Marvel’s “The Fantastic Four: First Steps.”
“I’m doing a lot of motion capture on [‘Fantastic Four’],” said Bachrach, explaining the absence of his usual stubble. “So for maximum-data facial capture, I have to be clean-shaven.”
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Bachrach said that throughout the roughly six weeks of production, he’s only seen “crude renderings” of himself as Ben Grimm, aka The Thing, but added he is looking forward to seeing the final result soon.
“They got so many amazing animators working on it, literally hundreds of people working on it,” Bachrach said. “We’ve been shooting for about six weeks, and I haven’t been able to see anything yet, I don’t know exactly what the lead time is. I’m very excited to see something.”
When asked about seeing his co-stars Vanessa Kirby, Joseph Quinn and Pedro Pascal taking shape as their “Fantastic Four” counterparts, Bachrach described their superhero transformations as “beautiful.”
“You got Joseph Quinn, you got Vanessa Kirby, Pedro Pascal. I mean this is a great-looking crowd,” Bachrach said. “[They have] beautiful hearts, just a pleasure working with these guys. I miss them already.”
Production for “Fantastic Four” is currently underway in London. Bachrach said upon his departure for the Emmys, there were “a bunch of flowers and a bottle of champagne” in his hotel room, sent by his “‘Fantastic Four’ family.”
“It’s really kind. [There was a] sweet card, [and I] teared up a little bit,” Bachrach said. “I love them. We’ve been working so hard together. We’re so close, so even going away for a second I get a little separation anxiety.”
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