The artisans behind “The Death of Robin Hood,” including hair designer Sean Flanigan and costume designer Lorna Mugan, wanted Hugh Jackman to become unrecognizable as Robin Hood. But of course, director Michael Sarnoski‘s (“Pig,” “A Quiet Place: Day One”) vision for Robin Hood is much darker than most filmed adaptations.
“This was really rough and rugged, and just downright earthy in a weird way. And I have never seen him completely silver with long hair like this,” Flanigan tells Variety of Jackman’s transformation. “And once we put it all together with the costumes and the beard, we had Robin Hood.”
Sarnoski‘s take on the 17th century ballad follows Robin Hood as he contends with a life largely filled with murder, a direct contrast from his renowned image as a hero. After narrowly surviving a battle, Robin Hood comes across Sister Brigid (Jodie Comer), a healer who also comes to contend with Robin Hood’s role in the death of her own family.
Mugan, who had about eight weeks to design outfits prior to production starting, describes how Sarnoski wanted to track Robin Hood in three parts, with “The Revenant” and “The Virgin Spring” serving as rich inspiration for the brutality: “He [starts off as the] hermit, so we wanted him to emerge from the landscape, be part of it, be camouflaged. He is a creature of that landscape and so we did that with layering these skins, which were all ethically sourced, vintage and faux.”
