The newest addition to Netflix’s lineup of reality dating shows is Sexy Beasts. The show uses Hollywood-level prosthetics for masks worn by contestants. The genius behind all of the designs is a man by the name, Kristyan Mallett, and his company KM Effects.
In a recent interview, he spoke about how little of his work was used for the program. He and his team made an astounding amount of masks that we never get to see on TV. If it wasn’t for her, Netflix wouldn’t be able to push the same boundaries we saw when Sexy Beasts hit the streaming service in 2004.
What is ‘Sexy Beasts’?
Sexy Beasts is Netflix’s reboot of a 2004 UK dating reality show that recently aired its first season. In it, people who’ve had troubled love lives because of their looks (whether beautiful or not so much) put on the masks of animals, creatures, and even the undead and go out on dates with other masked potential mates.
It shares a premise with their other hit show Love is Blind and has the same skip-a-date feature Next had in the early 2000s.
It received mixed reviews, even NBC put out a hit-piece editorial about the show. But one thing everyone agrees on– the makeup effects are amazing. Some of the masks depict a wolf, a mouse, a dolphin, a demon, a witch, a zombie, and a lot more. It seems Mallet brought to life whatever crazy (and/or grotesque) idea sprang into the showrunners’ minds.
Who is Kristyan Mallett?
Kristyan Mallett is a 42-year-old special effects artist from the UK and runs the company KM Effects. Though this is will be his most recognizable gig today, he has a few notable credits under his name.
Namely, he’s done work in the billion-dollar Harry Potter franchise, where his portfolio includes The Prisoner of Azkaban, The Goblet of Fire, and The Order of the Phoenix.
And that was just the start of his career. Some other noteworthy films are Mission Impossible: Fallout with Tom Cruise, The Danish Girl, and The Theory of Everything starring Eddie Redmayne.
Mallet reveals a ‘heartbreaking’ truth
One of the drawing factors for Sexy Beasts is the quality of the disguises used on the show. Critics and lovers alike praise Mallett’s work. In a recent New York Times article, they shared this about the filming process:
“Because each face piece could only be used once, and because the company providing the prosthetics did not know which contestants would be dumped after the first date, sculptors had to create three shooting days’ worth of prosthetics for each character — 148 individual pieces.”
Mallett himself said, “The sheer amount of prosthetics that weren’t used on that show — that were fully made — was heartbreaking.”
If we do some quick math, there are 4 contestants on 6 episodes– that’s only 24 out of the 148 Mallet and his company completed for the show. Perhaps Netflix is thinking about the future because that’s enough masks for 6 and a half seasons if it continues
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