No./ 4 How to clone Alexander Skarsgård

The man himself and the INFINITY POOL team break down one trippy duplication

IT’S A CLASSIC tale. Husband and wife go on holiday. Husband accidentally kills a man. Husband is sentenced to death and pays handsomely to be cloned so his double can take the hit. Classic. “It was haunting, but it deeply fascinated me,” reflects Alexander Skarsgård, who plays James, of the unique set-up. For Infinity Pool director Brandon Cronenberg, this twisted premise provided an opportunity to create one weird, wild cloning sequence. Here’s how they pulled it off.

STAGE 1: THE PREP

Cronenberg wanted to bring a magicalrealism quality to the sequence and called in puppet-effects designer Dan Martin. “It was all from the perspective of dreaminess and surreal impressionism rather than an attempt to reproduce actual cloning,” the filmmaker explains. Martin cooked up a “buffet” of elements for Cronenberg. On the menu: a cubist recreation of Skarsgård’s face, and an eyeball growing into its socket, which through some tinkering Martin was able to operate manually. “I excitedly texted Brandon and was like, ‘I’ve got a thing! I’m going to send you a video!’” Martin recalls gleefully. The shared camera roll occasionally made both parties queasy.

STAGE 2: THE PROCEDURE

The cloning begins with Skarsgård in a medical gown, poked and prodded by nurses. “The women who took my clothes off and put me in a swim cap were perfect; they were so deadpan in their delivery,” the actor tells Empire. “Like this was something they did every single day: ‘It’s not a big deal, you’re just gonna get cloned.’” The chamber he then enters was inspired by Communist-era athletic centres that the film’s location scouts found in Budapest. “They would have these incredibly hideous, colourful tiles in the changing room and bathroom,” says Cronenberg. “We became absolutely obsessed.” Skarsgård confirms that the sequence feels decidedly old-school. “It’s not a high-tech facility. They attach a hose to something and then a weird generator starts pumping, and that’s the cloning process.”

STAGE 3: THE AFTERMATH

Skarsgård is adamant that in spite of being stripped, manhandled and immersed in red slime, he found shooting the sequence thrilling. “He has this profile as this Hollywood leading man, but he’s up for contorting himself and being the baby,” laughs Cronenberg. The actor was later given a prosthetic replica of his head in said red slime. “I don’t know where to put it,” he muses. “Do I hang it on the wall? Do I keep it in bed next to me? Do I leave it in the fridge to scare people? It’s quite disturbing; it’s very lifelike. And very dead.”

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