Alejandro G. Iñárritu has drawn plenty of critical acclaim and awards consideration for The Revenant. The Academy Award nominee and Golden Globes winner has impressed with its beautiful cinematography, incredible landscapes and stories about a punishing shoot.
One of the biggest talking points from the film is the scene in which Leonardo DiCaprio’s Hugh Glass goes toe-to-toe with a grizzly bear. You can see some of that sequence in the trailer (the 45-second mark, to be exact).
As it turns out, that big bear wasn’t real. And no, it wasn’t played by Jonah Hill. For what are probably obvious reasons, the bear was a CGI creation, given life by stuntman Glen Ellis while wearing a ridiculous blue outfit.
https://twitter.com/ETCanada/status/688427796750700544
Ennis explained his work for the bear scene in an interview with Global News:
“There was no bear ever on set. The closest a bear ever got to set (that we knew of) was at the Calgary Zoo. [Laughs]”
Here’s how Ennis, who was one two men to bring the bear to life, describes wearing the blue suit:
“In rehearsals, I would wear a blue suit with a bear head,” says Ennis. “Obviously that [suit] doesn’t make it into the film, and the CGI guys paint the bear in. Alejandro [González Iñárritu] was adamant that the blue bear moved just like a real bear would move, and it was essential that it had the same nuances that a bear would have. Even though it was a big Smurf bear, it still had to be as authentic as possible.”
Ennis says he studied “countless” bear videos online to get his bear movements perfected. He worked with DiCaprio’s stunt double and DiCaprio himself in getting the big fight sequence just right. Things got a wee bit awkward.
“That’s the funniest thing – if you notice the bear head in the picture, they wanted the bear mouth to be right on his lower back,” he explains. “I was supposed to grab his jacket with my hand to make it look like the bear’s jaws were pulling it. In order to have the bear’s jaw in the small of his back, basically my face was in his butt.
“My face was in Leo’s butt for a fair bit of time. I can see how that’s someone’s fantasy, but it wasn’t mine!”
That’s some good old Hollywood magic, baby!
Ennis should be thrilled with his involvement as he was a huge part of one of the most memorable movie sequences of the year. I can’t wait to see how ridiculous the fight looks when the raw footage is hopefully shown in the special features of The Revenant Blu-Ray release.
[People]
