Meet man behind cinema’s most thrilling scenes
AN UNSUNG Oscar-winner from South Wales has opened up on his glittering showbiz career.
Leslie Dilley, who was born in Pontygwaith, has worked with the likes of Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, James Cameron and Ridley Scott, and scooped Academy Awards for his work on Star Wars and Raiders of the Lost Ark.
He even helped push the boulder that famously charged at Harrison Ford in the opener of the first Indiana Jones movie and was on set when Ridley Scott filmed the “chest-burst” scene in 1979’s Alien.
Les, who still has family in Ferndale, Aberdare and Caerleon, now lives in LA after leaving Wales aged five.
Describing one of cinema’s most thrilling scenes – John Hurt’s shocking demise in Alien – which he saw live, he said: “The practical special effects were terrific. As on-set art director I was able to witness so many special cinematic moments, like the Alien chest-burster scene.
“I won’t give away the magic of the moment and the practicality of how it was done in this interview, but I can tell you that the actors were unaware of how it was going to be done, and when John Hurt’s chest breaks open and we see the baby Alien for the first time and blood is spraying everywhere, the actors’ reactions were real – they were caught completely off guard, with blood on their clothing and mouths open in fright and surprise!”
Aged 15, Les started working as an apprentice plasterer at the Associated British Picture Corporation, before making his way into Pinewood as a master plasterer, starting on From Russia With Love, then working his way up to art director on The Three Musketeers in 1973.
Throughout the ’70s and ’80s he worked on blockbusters such as Star Wars, Superman, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Empire Strikes Back, Never Say Never Again and Legend.
He said: “On Raiders of the Lost Ark once again as on-set art director I was called upon to help with another bloke to get behind the rolling boulder – pushing it as it chases after Harrison Ford in the opening sequence.
“Also I have fond memories of learning to water-ski on that film. On the last day of shooting on Kauai, Hawaii, Harrison Ford crashed (lightly) the small bi-plane used in that scene, and the plane took a full week to be repaired.
“While waiting, g, [fellow art director] Norman Reynolds lds and I had the opportunity y to fill our days water-skiing g for the first time as there were no more sets to be built.”
The 79-year-old ld recalls the “head- scratching” tching” challenge of creating reating George Lucas’ Star Wars vision, without any CGI in those days, and knowing that the nowc-inematic behemoth felt unlike anything thing they’d worked on before. “We knew it was very different on the Star Wars sets, but we did not initially believe it would be so unbelievably successful and iconic. Because it was futuristic we were incredibly busy. “There was a lot of practical special effects being done that none of us had seen before, so there would be a bit of head-scratching going on amongst us as we tried to make sense of it.”
Les’ Oscars came for Star Wars in 1978 and for Raiders of the Lost Ark in 1981, which were shared with others from the production design team. He was also nominated for an Oscar for Best Art Direction on Alien in 1980, Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back in 1981 and The Abyss in 1990.
One project that brought Les back to Wales was the 1981 horror, An American Werewolf in London. The outdoors scene where the main characters visit The Slaughtered Lamb pub was filmed in Crickadarn near Builth Wells.
“I was thrilled to be a Welshman working in Wales,” he said.
Now the art director and production designer is the worthy recipient of Bafta Cymru’s Outstanding Contribution to Film and Television Award, a recognition which he describes as “an honour”.