How Madame Tussauds made Ncuti Gatwa's Doctor Who wax figure (original) (raw)
Madame Tussauds are giving visitors a peek behind the curtain, sharing how their acclaimed wax figures come to be, and what it takes to make and maintain them.
Lead sculptor Stephen Mansfield and Head of Studios Jo Kinsey speak with Yahoo UK about the work that goes into each and every statue, but especially how they made their newest wax figure of Ncuti Gatwa which is being unveiled in London on Friday, 19 July. The new display will celebrate his iteration of Doctor Who's Time Lord —The Fifteenth Doctor— for all time.
Gatwa was a dream to work with for the studio's latest Doctor Who display, both Mansfield and Kinsey tell Yahoo UK, so much so that there have been few celebrities to delight them so when preparing for a cast to be made and created.
Watch: Ncuti Gatwa sees his Madame Tussauds wax figure for the first time
"It was really exciting, to be honest," Mansfield says. "He's a very vibrant and interesting, and a very nice sweet fellow so the process of meeting him was lovely for a start.
"And then of course, he's thinking in terms of his character, The Doctor, so when we're talking about the pose and and things like that he will have that kind of thing in mind as well. It was a joyful one to do because it's an interesting character, and he's an interesting person in real life."
It was 'joyful' making Ncuti Gatwa's wax figure
Lead sculptor Stephen Mansfield spoke to Yahoo UK how exciting it was to work with Ncuti Gatwa, saying: 'He's a very vibrant, and interesting, and a very nice sweet fellow.' (Madame Tussauds)
Mansfield and his team worked closely with Gatwa to bring the wax figure to life, having the actor come in for sittings and be part of the process.
It's what made making the figure so enjoyable, he explains: "I've got to say, I've been here for quite a while now, and I've been fortunate that I've never, ever met anybody who I didn't immediately like and there was no exception here. He was very helpful and very supportive, nand the sitting does require a certain amount of standing around and holding the pose, and repeating the expression and so on, which he did superbly.
Read more: Behind the scenes secrets from Madame Tussauds
"When you have someone as helpful and as engaging as that, it just makes the whole process of the sitting, and in fact the process throughout, much more rewarding. In fact, the figure is better for that."
Gatwa's figure is complete with an original costume that the actor work on set of Space Babies, his first full episode as The Fifteenth Doctor which aired earlier this year. The BBC also helped Madame Tussauds create an accurate, full-size replica of the TARDIS to go with it, which Kinsey describes as a must-see.
The head for Ncuti Gatwa's wax figure during its process of being made. (Madame Tussauds)
"We did have an event where a couple of people came down from BBC and they were absolutely in awe of the figure and the set," she explains. "And that was a real, beautiful moment for us to see that we delivered our job. [We have a] very good strong relationship and it's served us well because if you see the figure in the set, having that relationship just strengthens the end results."
Gatwa was also delighted by the figure, Mansfield reveals: "His reaction was one of the best I've certainly had for any of the figures I've been involved in, and it's really rewarding. I mean he was delighted and then of course he looks closely at it and he's looking around. He kept spotting elements and details like the teeth, the fade in his hair, and all of these kinds of things.
"So it was very rewarding when he first saw it, and when you get a reaction like that... I can't describe it exactly, he was just blown away. So it was great for us and as a team to have delivered it, for him to be happy because, as I say, he was there right at the beginning.
"When we do the sitting —and we ask a fair bit of the person to come along and do that sitting— so to be able to repay that is wonderful, and we had some of the gang from the BBC as well who again were delighted. So it was a a very joyful morning, it felt like 'we've done alright', which is brilliant."
Ncuti Gatwa was also delighted by the figure, Stephen Mansfield reveals: 'His reaction was one of the best I've certainly had for any of the figures I've been involved in, and it's really rewarding.' (Madame Tussauds)
Reflecting on the finished figure, Mansfield admits that because they began making it months before Gatwa had even debuted as the character they "hadn't seen how the character was" and had to rely on the actor to inform their depiction of the Time Lord. Even so, he feels the figure is "extraordinary" and has "a lovely expression, it's very warm and welcoming".
"As the programme's gone out we've been doing finishing touches to it. It works beautifully, it reflects his character really well, so I'm I'm thrilled for that," he adds.
Kinsey agrees, saying of the full display at Madame Tussauds: "When you actually step into the set, and you really are immersed into the set, what's wonderful is it's all brand new and sparkly at the moment. So any fan should be buying their tickets. It's wonderful."
How a Madame Tussauds wax figure is made and maintained
The new display, complete with a replica of the TARDIS, will celebrate Ncuti Gatwa's iteration of Doctor Who's Time Lord —The Fifteenth Doctor— for all time. (Madame Tussauds)
Gatwa's figure, of course, is by no means the first or last wax figure that Madame Tussauds has worked on over the years, with a 200 year history as an attraction there has always been something for visitors to see and enjoy there.
The process of getting a figure made and onto the studio floor is a lengthy one, though, and begins six months to a year in advance. Mansfield and his team are in charge of putting the figure together, with up to 25 people working on one figure.
"It always starts with the sitting with the person who we're gonna turn into a figure," Mansfield says. "And that involves meeting them, sometimes they come to us at the studio, other times we travel to meet people. It involves photography, some computer scanning, lots of measuring. It's a good mixture of traditional sculpting techniques and fresher, cutting edge technology as well.
"Once we have all that information we would come back and then we start sculpting it in clay, we build a metal armature — basically like a metal skeleton on the inside — start blocking it out with clay and then the head comes off and one artist carries on with the head, and another artist carries on with the body.
The process of getting a figure made and onto the studio floor is a lengthy one and begins six months to a year in advance. (Getty Images)
"When that's all complete, and everybody who needs to see it is happy with the way it looks, including the person themselves, we then mould it.
"It's moulded in fibreglass, the head's moulded in silicone and fiberglass, and finally it's cast in wax. We pour in the wax, and it's a bit like an Easter egg. If you imagine you pour it and it goes in like a liquid and it slowly draws off and you end up with a hollow head, about an inch thick. We make the eyeballs and teeth here and they’re fitted, and it goes into hair insertion.
“I'm a principal sculptor, so I look after the whole thing as it goes through, but a bit that always amazes me is the hair insertion. Literally the hair is put one hair at a time with a tiny little broken needle that pushes it in like a little tiny fork. Someone sits there for about four or six weeks doing that, and it's an amazing process because it means it looks super realistic, but also you can style it like you can with real hair, and restyle it and so on.
“Once that's done, it goes to colouring and the colour paints with a mixture of acrylic and oil paints, then the hair is styled.
Lead sculptor Stephen Mansfield and his team are in charge of putting the figure together, with up to 25 people working on one figure. (Getty Images)
“If there's a costume to be made that's made by our wardrobe department. If it's donated, as was the case with the Doctor Who, then they're responsible for fitting it and also preparing it for going into the attraction, so things like pockets need to be sewn up and necklaces fixed.
Mansfield adds: “Not only is a wax figure like a piece of art, it also has to endure the rigours of being in one of the top attractions in the country, so it has a fascinating life, the figure.
“Everything that you see is crafted, or produced, or built. Not only do they have to look right, they have to be strong and they have to work under different lighting conditions.
“So they're quite a challenge, actually, making them nowadays in comparison to 30 or 40 years ago, or even 200 years ago when Madame Tussaud started. It's a whole different ball game now, really.”
Stephen Mansfield said that the most impressive part of the process is hair insertion, saying: 'Literally the hair is put one hair at a time... someone sits there for about four or six weeks doing that'. (Getty Images)
It’s then up to Kinsey’s team to take things over: “From my site in London, there's 11 artists who are then responsible for the life of the figure. Once it's delivered from Steve’s team the team will start from 7am most days, up to 11 people who check every figure and and, yes, more popular ones may have a little bit more pieces to correct.
"Steve made the point earlier about sewing pockets and during its journey down here we have to check pockets, we have to check handbags, we have to check that the jewellery is still in its place.
“I think people can get perhaps a little over excited, especially if they're a fan of that figure they can get a little bit too close and sometimes they can be a bit of a whoops moment. It’s not purposeful, but of course we need to keep on top of that.
Once a figure is ready and put on display in Madame Tussauds it's up to Jo Kinsey and her team to make sure they are maintained especially when a figure gets lots of visitors. (Getty Images)
“I think you can see the ones that are hugged more than others, so the shoulders tend to be worn a little bit or the shoes perhaps might get scuffed. So yeah, it's a constant maintenance of every figure, every day. That's how that goes.”
Kinsey explains that the process of choosing which stars get a figure, which she helps with, comes down to “keeping an eye on talent”.
“We like to be ahead of the game,” Kinsey explains. “So we like to think of who's up and coming? What's our guest feedback? We ask guests for feedback, when they exit the attraction, who's up and coming, who is a shining star. With Ncuti, he’s just iconic, this series is iconic so I guess that's how we chose him.”