Norman Reedus is unrecognizable as Funny Sonny in The Bikeriders — and he kept the look when filming wrapped.
“Norman still has those teeth,” the movie’s makeup department head, Ashleigh Chavis, told Us Weekly exclusively. “He kept them after the film, and he said that he reads his daughter’s bedtime stories wearing those teeth.” (Reedus and partner Diane Kruger are parents to daughter Nova, 5)
Reedus’ character was based on an actual biker of the same name. While The Bikeriders, directed by Jeff Nichols and starting Austin Butler, is a fictional story about a Chicago biker gang, the movie was inspired by the 1967 photo book of the same name by Danny Lyon — which included images of the real-life Funny Sonny. Yes, he did have those teeth.
While chatting with Us, Chavis broke down exactly how Reedus’ onscreen look was created.
“We knew that Funny Sonny’s teeth were busted. They just weren’t taken care of. That was something that both Norman and production had really encouraged,” Chavis recalled, explaining that Reedus was filming another project in Paris while “we were prepping” for The Bikeriders.
“I had to work with Paris local time and getting him to am orthodontist to get him measured,” she said. “With the time difference and his work schedule, and my work schedule, that was tricky, but we got it.”
A similar thing happened when it came to perfecting Funny Sonny’s beard. Naturally, that company was in London. “It was definitely a little stressful but a lot of fun,” Chavis said.
When it came to more glamorous makeup looks for The Bikeriders, Chavis gushed over Jodie Comer, who plays Kathy.
“Jodie’s looks, her facial features are so stunning. It’s always fun to do makeup on, really stunning people,” Chavis said. “Even though, at a glance, it looks like fairly simple beauty makeup, doing her makeup every day was incredible. She is so accepting of the process and such a professional.”
She called the actress “patient,” explaining that Comer was willing to “talk about anything” whether it was related to the project or not.
“Her makeup [looks] were definitely my favorite because she’s one of the very few feminine elements to this whole project, but she’s not girly,” Chavis continued. “So, finding that balance between feminine but still rough around the edges because she had to still fit into this society of these people and she was tough. I think that was my favorite part.”
Comer’s character is seen with winged eyeliner throughout the movie. Chavis’ goal was to make it look “purposefully imperfect” because Kathy is just a girl.
“This can’t look like someone who professionally puts this on,” Chavis explained. “This lady’s a biker chick and she’s always chasing these men down, so she still is putting forth the effort, but it’s gotta look like something she put on every single day herself.”
The Bikeriders is out now.
