Did Rebecca Romijn hate the makeup process for Mystique as much as Jennifer Lawrence?
Jennifer Lawrence's hatred for the makeup process in the X-Men films is very well known, and now Rebecca Romijn, the original Mystique in the X-Men films, shared what she thought of the same process.
When asked what was the most memorable part of making the X-Men films, she told Looper:
I guess it was the makeup application. It was no joke! My call time was at midnight to be ready at 9AM. It was a nine-hour makeup process.
We did, over the course of three movies, manage to get it down to seven hours, but that was still ... It was a big deal. And I realized pretty early on that was the job.
I was getting paid to be a part of that makeup application. The acting was free. The job was getting all that makeup put on!
She could have asked to not use the make-up all the time, like Jennifer Lawrence did, but she was not only happy to wear the make-up, but also wanted to stay true to the characters pride of being a mutant.
Also, it was the most beautiful costume I've ever seen in my life. Every single time they finished, and I would look in the mirror, I would just look at it like it was a masterpiece.
And I treasure it now, because hindsight is 20/20, and I don't remember how painful it was, but I really appreciate everything that came from that, really. I'm glad that I did it exactly how I did it.
It was worth it. It was worth every single second of all that, of all those 11:30 wake-up, calls to go to the set. I would try and go to bed at 7:30 or 8AM and just lay there, and then I would have to get up at 11:30PM and go to work and work for 24 hours straight.
Rebecca played Mystique in the first three X-Men movies and later had a cameo in X-Men: First Class, and when asked if she would be happy to reprise the role, she stated:
Sure. Well, with the makeup, yes. I wouldn't do it without the makeup, because I feel like that's a really big part of the transformation of the character, is going through that makeup process. There is nothing that turns you into a colder, harder bitch than going through that makeup process. I really feel like it's a really key part of the character. Going through that process is like, ‘Okay, I'm angry. I'm super angry now.’
To this day she still often talks about the role and shares pictures showing all the details involved in the make-up process:
So it seems that, if given the chance, she would definitely return to the role, and I would love to see her back in all her blue glory.
Would you like to see her back in the role?
