Meet the monsters of Hollywood: actors playing cinematic creatures

Unmasking the monsters from your favorite movies

Stars Insider

30/05/19 | StarsInsider

MOVIES Horror

There's some real monsters in Hollywood. Monster movies have always been popular, which has meant that actors need to be trained to play terrifying roles. Luckily, there's plenty of stars who do just that. It started in the days of early cinema. Monster movies like ‘Haxan,’ ‘Nosferatu,’ and ‘The Phantom of the Opera’ were some of the most popular pictures out there. However, as you know, there’s a man (or woman) behind every monster.

Strangely, the first monster movies focused on sea creatures. ‘The Sea Beast,’ and ‘Tiger Shark’ had a whale and tuna for villains. That eventually evolved into beasts like the ‘Creature from the Black Lagoon,’ which brought an iconic monster to the big screen. Meanwhile, established actors like Christopher Lee were scaring audiences as ‘Dracula.’ The star has since acted as vicious villains in both ‘Star Wars’ and ‘Lord of the Rings.’

But it’s not just big franchises that have benefited from big monsters. Small-time horror flicks have also sold themselves off the back of Bigfoot and Frankenstein’s monster. Since then, monster movies have become a staple of cinema. Actors like Doug Jones and Alexander Skarsgård have earned high praise playing beastly creatures on the big screen. Big blockbusters like ‘It’ have arguably helped revive the horror genre, showing that Skarsgård has a long career ahead of him.

Another rising star on the monster circuit is Spanish actor, Javier Botet. He stands 6 ft 6 in tall (almost 2 m) , and has played modern monsters like Slender Man (from ‘Slender Man’) and Set (in ‘The Mummy’). He has also played the towering Wight in ‘Game of Thrones.’ The actor recently sat down with BBC News, and told them about his career so far. “I didn't realize but I was born to perform,” Botet said. He suffers from Marfan syndrome, which can make people thinner, taller, and more flexible. “So nobody really knew that 90% of what they saw was totally mine, was physical work,” he added.

Other actors like Andy Serkis have earned high praise in monstrous roles, and fans have famously begged the Academy to award him an Oscar. Click on to meet the other actors who are the faces behind the masks of your favorite cinematic creatures.

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