First glimpsed sat stock-still at a huge banquet table, he shudders to life when Ofelia takes a grape to eat. His other appearance in the film is all Jones though, as the frankly terrifying Pale Man. He wanted the voiceover to look completely authentic, even though del Toro had advised he could just mouth a load of gibberish. In another example of incredible dedication, Jones learned all his dialogue in Spanish despite the character also being voiced later by another actor. First we see him as the goat-legged, horned Fauno, who sets Ofelia three tasks to complete. The Franco era tale centres around young Ofelia, with Jones playing two key roles as she navigates the maze of the title. ![]() In between though, came arguably his and del Toro’s finest work to date: the Spanish language dark fantasy Pan’s Labyrinth. He would reprise the role in 2008 sequel The Golden Army, while also adding new creatures The Chamberlain and Angel of Death to the mix. Jones had to nail Abe’s physicality while also giving him a personality, and delivering the lines which would later be dubbed over with the voice of Frasier’s David Hyde Pierce. In somewhat of a warm-up for The Shape of Water, Jones would become the amphibious man Abe Sapien in comic book adapation Hellboy. Del Toro was fascinated and inspired by the actor’s background in mime, contortion, and prosthetics, and a few years later he was back in touch about a more significant role. ![]() Jones was only on set for three days but got talking with his director at lunch. It was another silent, physically demonstrative, and impactful role that typifies Jones’ genius.īy now though, a hugely fruitful working relationship with Guillermo del Toro had been formed, with Jones as a giant cockroach monster in del Toro’s Mimic. Jones, as the tallest, is the most striking and scariest of the lot. Known as The Gentlemen, these bald-headed, grey-faced, metal-toothed demons wear pristine dark suits, float just above the ground and don’t speak a word as they cut out your heart. That episode: season four’s classic ‘Hush’, where the main cast all lose their voices, with Jones playing one of the show’s creepiest and most enduring villains. His reputation grew throughout the ‘90s, culminating in another iconic moment, this time on the small screen with an unforgettable one-episode appearance in Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Jones later revealed the moths that he coughs out were real. His twitchy, moth-belching turn provides a fan favourite scene as Billy cuts open his stitched-up mouth and answers back to Bette Midler’s witch Winnie. First, as a member of Penguin’s gang in Tim Burton’s Batman Returns (for which he spent three months on set and got one line of dialogue), then as zombie Billy Butcherson in Disney comedy Hocus Pocus. Roles in adverts eventually followed: as a mummy, an alien and then a crescent-moon headed pianist in a series of McDonald’s commercials.Ī film debut came in 1988 with indie horror The Newlydeads but it was in the early ‘90s when his real breakthroughs came. The skills, the motivations and the willingness to spend hours in make-up or a baking hot suit were all present and correct already.Īfter getting married, Jones and his new wife packed up and headed to Hollywood so he could pursue his dream of being an actor. The seeds of his future path were sewn yet further by two years ‘portraying’ the school’s mascot Charlie Cardinal ‘on a whole new level’. He joined Ball State University’s mime troupe Mime Over Matter, being recruited after he was spotted ‘gesticulating in the cafeteria’. Born in Indiana in 1960, it was when a young Doug headed off to college that he found his calling. His first genuine leading role under del Toro feels like the reward for years of criminally under-appreciated devotion to his craft. The sci-fi/fantasy love story is Jones’ sixth movie with the Mexican director, after a first collaboration on 1997’s Mimic led to roles in the Hellboy franchise, Pan’s Labyrinth and Crimson Peak. He’s most famously associated with Guillermo del Toro, a 20-year partnership which continues this week with Oscars darling The Shape of Water. This is Jones’ trademark and wonderful gift as an actor: giving life and humanity to characters who are not actually human. There’s a reason you might not be able to place this veteran of so many roles: he’s most likely been buried beneath a layer of prosthetics or make-up. The former contortionist-turned-actor has appeared in a varied range of huge films including Batman Returns, Hocus Pocus, Men in Black II, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer and The Watch – as well as TV shows like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Falling Skies and Star Trek: Discovery. ![]() You may not know his name, you quite possibly don’t know his face, but you’ll certainly have seen Doug Jones on screen somewhere.
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