Why Alex Rich shaved off his eyebrows for ‘Picasso’

As Alex Rich sat down for breakfast with reporters at a Budapest hotel in January, ready to discuss his first lead role in Genius:

Picasso, alarm bells went off. He had no eyebrows.

“We usually put a prosthetic over it, but it stuck out too far and looked unnatural. So, we had to shave the eyebrows off,” said Rich, with a laugh.

For the 20-something American newcomer, who exudes boyish charm, it was all a part of his two-fold transformation. Not only did he have to become Pablo Picasso, but he had to become Antonio Banderas’ version of Picasso.

“I’ve gone to see him on set, he’s come to see me on set, and we’ve been shaping [the role] as much as we can together to really build some continuity,” said Rich.

“There’s certain things that each of us has picked up on. [Picasso] stands a certain way when he’s looking at paintings, and he does certain things with his hands, and he smokes in a certain way,” he added.

Because the actors would be portraying Picasso at different periods of his life, there were as many differences in their performances as there were similarities.

“When he’s younger, he’s a lot more excited, energetic. He’s coming up in the world, he hasn’t proven himself yet … As he gets older, he gets much sturdier, and much slower, and his voice gets lower,” Rich said. —