After all, why would a movie call for its actors to look all sweaty and dirty? Wouldn’t that pose a problem instead? Well, if you’re shooting a movie with people wearing spandex costumes and capes while making it look like they are in a burning hot desert or a tropical jungle, such as with James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad, it makes a lot of sense for your characters to look a bit disheveled and scruffy. Still, to hear of staff members literally dabbing actors with fake sweat is something that sounds made up, but believe us when we say that this is all true.
The Suicide Squad continues to surprise ahead of its premiere
In a recent video posted on Twitter, the film’s director, James Gunn, showed how the WWE superstar, John Cena, needed help getting his armpits looking less tidy by misting them with fake sweat. The director even joked that “on most movies, makeup artists are constantly dabbing the sweat off of actors,” which is actually true. Of course, The Suicide Squad is not most movies. It sees a ragtag bunch of villains-for-hire doing battle against a giant starfish, among others, on the fictional island of Corto Maltese. According to James, the staff had to “constantly keep the actors sweated up and dirty,” which makes sense considering the climate of the film’s setting.
— James Gunn (@JamesGunn) July 23, 2021 Speaking of the video, as you can see from the original Tweet linked above, Cena is holding his arms outward as the staff works hard to make him look like he’s sweating through his shirt. You can clearly see the staff also dabbing John’s forehead with the same fake sweat to complete the look. Having said that, John Cena seems to be having a lot of fun filming The Suicide Squad, and it’s probably not just because he’s being misted to make him look all sweaty and drenched. Just in case you didn’t know, The WWE superstar has also signed on to return as the Peacemaker and star in his TV show on HBO Max. According to Gunn, Peacemaker already finished production for its first season earlier this month. Here’s hoping that its success will lead to a sequel.
