Artist Spotlight - Kevin Yagher

The 1980's was time were prosthetic makeup and animatronic effects were a key part in creating breathtaking images in horror and science fiction films. It was a time were artists such as Rick Baker and Stan Winston created lifelike creatures of the real world and fantasy. But there was one artist who was involved with some of the most iconic horror film series and characters of all time. This artist is Kevin Yagher and he truly is a creative master mind that can't be stopped.

AM: What first attracted you to creature and makeup effects, was there any particular film or artist that inspired you?

Kevin Yagher: First film influence was PLANET OF THE APES. As a child that fascinated me and I wanted to know how they did the ape makeups. After that I started following the work of Dick Smith. His films, LITTLE BIG MAN, Altered STATES and of course THE EXORCIST (still one of my favorite horror films). Then along came a young guy named Rick Baker and all his young protégés like Rob Bottin, Greg Cannom and Craig Reardon. After seeing THE HOWLING and AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON, I knew for sure that I was going to pursue this craft for a living.

AM:What was your education and training?

Kevin Yagher: I went to Ohio State University and Wright State University and was studying theater design (which was the closest thing to makeup that I could find there). I eventually got in touch with Dick Smith which led to an interview in LA with Greg Cannom. He later hired me and I worked for him for about a year and a half before starting my own business.

AM: Could you talk about your time before you started your own company?

Kevin Yagher: I worked for Greg Cannom on projects like THE LAST STAR FIGHTER and DREAMSCAPE. Then Rick Baker got the job on Michael Jackson’s THRILLER. About everyone in town at the time worked on it. I helped Greg with his makeup and also applied makeup to one of the dancers. Rick Baker knew I was a huge Michael Jackson fan and asked me if I wanted to be in the video as a Zombie. Of course I said “Hell yes!” Then I started working with Greg on FRIDAY THE 13th. He eventually left the film but I stayed on to work with Tom Savini. The next year I worked with Greg and Rick on Ron Howard’s film COCOON. Then I got A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET 2 and started my own company.

AM: You were involved with many iconic horror series from the 80’s. Your first job was on FRIDAY THE 13th: THE FINAL CHAPTER, how did you get involved with that and working with Tom Savini?

Kevin Yagher: By the time Tom took over the film, I was already involved with several of the effects gags including a knife through a neck stab effect and also painted and applied Jason’s makeup which was sculpted by Jim Kagel.

AM: Shortly after you got involved with the NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET series. How did it feel to inherit the Freddy Krueger makeup from David Miller?

Kevin Yagher: Dave Miller was in talks to do Freddy’s makeup and Freddy’s effects with the producers, who also produced the first film. I had an interview with the line producer, Joel Soisson and the director, Jack Sholder. We got along great and they offered me the secondary effects of the film. Mark Sholstrum was to do the third level of effects. Dave and I knew each other and were in contact about the daily negotiations with the producers. After awhile, they stopped talking to Dave, and approached me with the idea to do all of the Freddy Krueger stuff including Robert Englund’s makeup. I called Dave and told him. His response to me was, “Good, I don’t care, they were being super cheap with me anyway.” As far as me taking over he told me to do it and said he’d rather have someone that he knew and liked doing it than somebody else he wasn’t familiar with. So, with his blessing, I did the show. Later on, I heard through the grape vine that Dave said I had taken the show from him. I confronted him about the rumors but he denied it. Never found out the truth but it was something that I was sort of disturbed by and affected my reputation for awhile. The great ending was that Dave got to come back to the series and finish it out after I had departed to do the CHILD'S PLAY films.

AM: Could you discuss the work you’ve done throughout the series?

Kevin Yagher: I did Freddy’s makeup for NOES 2, 3 and 4, along with the short lived TV series. Also, all effects that surrounded the Freddy character for part 2 and 3., things like, The souls of the children on Freddy’s chest and the Freddy snake. I only did Freddy’s makeup on part 4 and had Howard Berger apply it for me.

AM: I’m curious to know how you got involved with CHILD'S PLAY, since from what I understand Rick Baker recommended you?

Kevin Yagher: Yes, the recommendation was from Rick Baker. Chris Walas was hired to do some early prototypes and artwork for Chucky, then I came on to do the film. The producer, David Kirshner, was the one who talked to Rick about me. David stopped by my shop and I showed him the Freddy snake head from Nightmare and he loved it and we began to talk about CHILD'S PLAY. That’s how it began.

AM: A thing that you’re really known for is your animatronic work, did that prepare you for Chucky?

Kevin Yagher: At that time, animatronics was at its infancy. I had done a few things that got some attention, but not at the same level as Chucky ended up being at. I was lucky to come across a group of guys that worked on a film called MAC & ME. They had built a little alien character for the film. It was like a practice run for Chucky. I was able to hire them for CHILD'S PLAY and we developed together the most sophisticated puppet to date.

AM: Was it a surprise that underneath all the murder and mayhem, that you found romance blossoming on the set?

Kevin Yagher: Ha! Yes. I was actually living with someone and my soon-to-be wife, Catherine Hicks, had been engaged for 4 years to someone else. We only really flirted with each other during production. But at the end had a talk about it all at the wrap party. She gave me her number and we spoke on the phone about the possibility of dating. Each of our current relationships were not the best and we decided to break off those first before continuing with something new. A couple of months later we were free to date and were married within a couple more years. By the way, just hit our 27th anniversary.

AM: After Chucky, you were tasked with creating another beloved animatronic icon in the form of the Crypt Keeper from TALES FROM THE CRYPT. What were the challenges of bringing the Crypt Keeper to life?

Kevin Yagher: That was a fantastic experience! I was able to design, build, animate and direct all of the wrap-arounds for the show. And I auditioned and picked John Kassir to do the voice. There were a lot of producers on the show, but most were directors themselves and therefore understood that it was best to allow creative people to create. They certainly had input, but let me do my thing. Bob Zemeckis had suggestions that helped. The main challenge was the amount of facial movement needed to pull off The Crypt Keeper’s personality, making him as expressive as possible. Also, puppeteering is always a challenge. I put together a great crew for that show. They did a fantastic job!

AM: You became more than just an effects artist on that show and became a more involved creative figure, could talk about how that came to be?

Kevin Yagher: Bob Zemeckis was slated to direct all the openings and closings for the show. He then got busy with, I think, the Back to the Future sequels or some other film. Then Dick Donner stepped up to do them. The plan was that I would eventually take over the directing. I decided to help Dick Donner, since he hadn’t really directed much puppet stuff before. So I storyboarded the first couple of opening/closing segments. I had a meeting with him and the line producer. After I presented the boards and a plan of action, Dick said, “you’ve got this you’ll be fine and walked away. The line producer sort of panicked and ran after him, saying the kid’s never directed before. Dick just told him not to worry and told him let’s let him try. That was a tremendous break for me. After the first day of dailies came in, everyone was pleased and I was able to finish the first six shows on my own. Then of course, went on to finish the whole TV series.

AM: On MAN'S BEST FRIEND, you had to not only create animatronic versions of the Tibetan Mastiffs, but also had to create makeup effects for the actual dogs too. Could you talk about the challenges of doing makeup effects on animal actors and how you maintained them?

Kevin Yagher: We had a bit of a tough time with the animal

trainer on that film. He was rather possessive of his dogs. After awhile we taught him how to apply the makeup himself to the mastiffs, just to avoid further hassles with him. It was a gelatin makeup applied in a couple of layers. One of the dogs did most of those scenes. He was a bit temperamental. About six dogs worked on the show, they all had different talents.

AM: Could you talk about your experiences as director and producer? Did it give you an understanding of how they view the way effects should be?

Kevin Yagher: I really liked directing from the very beginning. Actually, I think all the effects work and puppeteering worked helped me as a director. Having that experience on set, watching other directors like Walter Hill, Bob Zemeckis and Dick Donner, was so valuable to me. Directing is a tough gig. If you mess up once of some project doesn’t go as well as everyone’s expectations, it’s really hard to get the next job.

AM: The effects work in STARSHIP TROOPERS is just phenomenal. How did you get involved with that project? How much did you collaborate between ADI and Tippett Studio?

Kevin Yagher: I can’t remember if I was brought in by an outside recommendation, or if ADI recommended me of Starship. I did work with both ADI and Tippett. With ADI we did the Arachnid warrior slicing the Net Correspondent in half. ADI built a fully animatronic/pneumatic Warrior and we provided a body that was held together with electromagnets. It was all hooked together to that when the Arachnid bit down the body split in two. With Tippett, it was mostly coordinating puppet effects with his CGI work, timing out our effects to be in the correct position, etc. for him to animate around. Like when the Hopper Bug makes a dive at a soldier and slices of the top of his head.

AM: Throughout the CHILD'S PLAY series, Chucky has changed in appearance. Could you talk about how that progressed throughout the series until his drastic change in BRIDE OF CHUCKY?

Kevin Yagher: On the first film, Chucky started out as a Good Guy Doll, then throughout the film, he became more and more human and started to take on the likeness of Charles Lee Ray (Brad Dourif). In the second film, the director, John LaFia, wanted Chucky to stay more doll like. So, Chucky’s eyes stayed that way, less human. On the third film, I wanted to bring Chucky back to more of how he looked in the first film, but not as extreme. So Chucky took on a look that was like halfway human. For Bride, it was a completely different look with all the stitching, etc. Also, that Chucky’s skin was more translucent with the use of silicone.

AM: How come BRIDE OF CHUCKY was your last time creating Chucky?

Kevin Yagher: It boils down to this – Universal sold the franchise to Focus features. They didn’t like the deal I set with previous films (maintaining the puppets after shooting, etc.) Also, they were unbelievably cheap and wanted to cut the budgets down to a point where I couldn’t personally bring the same level of quality to the puppets as I did in past productions. They also said I had to use all Romanian puppeteers. It just became too difficult. So I stepped away from the project. I really felt they wanted me off the project and therefore purposefully made it that way.

AM: You were an executive producer, writer, and makeup effects head on SLEEPY HOLLOW. Could you talk about your work with that project?

Kevin Yagher: I had an agent at the time who handled the writer Andy Walker. They sent me his script SE7EN. It was fantastic. I met with Andy and pitched to him my idea of SLEEPY HOLLOW. We decided to develop it into a full script. We pitch it

to producer Scott Rudin at my house and he bought it. We wrote the script (Andy got credit, I shared story by credit with him) I was slated to direct but Paramount Pictures thought because of the failure of THE CRUCIBLE, those type of period pieces weren’t working at that time. It sat around for five years until Tim Burton got wind of it. I stepped aside as far as directing and took the co-producer credit and was able to also do the practical makeup effects.

AM: You’ve worked with a wide range of celebrities from Robert Englund to Nicholas Cage to Johnny Depp to Christopher Walken, the list goes on and on. What’s the process of creating a character makeup or effect with? Were there time when you had an actor who wouldn’t cooperate?

Kevin Yagher: Every time you begin a film that has a well known actor in it that you have to work with directly, you always get a bit excited but also nervous. Most of them start out great and end great. But some change over the course of the film or start out tough and end even worse. I won’t name names but there are a couple I wouldn’t want to ever see again.

AM: What’s your creative process when you’re attached to a project? Is it ultimately your say if it should be a prosthetic or animatronic approach?

Kevin Yagher: It’s usually a give and take thing. Mostly between you and the director or actor (if you’re doing a makeup on them). I have had both experiences, where they rely on me and trust my judgment or other times they are control freaks and anything you say isn’t acceptable to them. I think smart directors and producers spend time finding someone they trust before hiring them and then let them lead the way.

AM: From FREDDY'S NIGHTMARE, TALES FROM THE CRYPT, and BONES, could you talk about the differences about working for television as opposed to film?

Kevin Yagher: It’s kinda simple. Films - more time, usually more money. Television - no time, less money. You have to approach with an entirely different mindset. TV won’t be seen on a fifty foot screen, so do the best you can with what you got to work with. With film, you have to have a more scrutinizing approach. A lot more meetings take place. More discussion.

AM: Since the 90’s, filmmakers have constantly increased the use of digital effects. Now most films, especially those that feature creature work are now done with CG. What are your thoughts about the, not truly current, but constant trend of using digital effects in film?

Kevin Yagher: Of course I still love practical effects, but when CGI came to town it actually brought business for us for awhile because the ideas using both practical and CG effects got wilder and more

creative. But since then practical effects have begun to go the way of the dinosaur. It’s Ok. I guess, Ray Harryhausen got pushed out by go-motion and animatronic rod puppet stuff. So, it’s a part of life. I do appreciate CGI though. It’s exciting to watch it develop and become better and better.

AM: How do you think current filmmakers should approach character and creature work?

Kevin Yagher: With an open mind, whatever works best for the individual project. I still think that a combination of practical effects and CG works best. Practical effects feel more real because they are there in the scene with the actors. I don’t think we should give up on them just yet.

AM: Is there any advice that you have for up and coming makeup effects artists and monster makers?

Kevin Yagher: Learn Z-Brush as well as sculpting in clay. Keep inventing new ways of making stuff cooler and more realistic. And keep doing this - Practice Practice Practice!