October 5th 2024.
Doug Jones may not be a household name, but he's a huge star in Hollywood. Despite his fame, he's somehow managed to keep a low profile for decades. This is quite a feat, considering the fact that he has played pivotal roles in countless blockbuster films.
At 64 years old, Doug has made a name for himself by portraying monsters, aliens, and demons. He has found a fantastic niche as the go-to guy for anything and everything involving prostheses. One of his most notable roles was as the sexy amphibian in The Shape of Water, which received 13 nominations at the 90th Oscars. It ended up winning four categories, including best director and best picture.
Even though Doug has been in the industry for decades, he has somehow struck the perfect balance between immense success and a private personal life. Only in recent years has he started to be recognized more frequently. In an interview with Metro, Doug revealed that sometimes even his friends and family don't recognize him on screen.
"It happens a lot," he said. "I've had both extremes, honestly. I've had a character that should never be recognized, but someone says, 'Oh my gosh, those are Doug's hands.' Other times, someone will watch an entire show and not realize it's me. A current example is from the What We Do In The Shadows series."
In the series, Doug plays a character named Baron Afanas, a blood-thirsty vampire with heavy prosthetics. "No one quite knew [it was me]," he said. "I got a lot of people scratching their heads until I magically became my own face with a wig in season four. Some people were like, 'Oh my gosh, that's been Doug this whole time?'"
Doug is no stranger to playing unrecognizable characters, as he played Faun and the Pale Man in Pan's Labyrinth. He even learned the entire Spanish script for the role, as it was originally dubbed by a Spanish actor. However, he once had a hilarious encounter on a plane with someone who was watching him on screen.
"I was sitting next to someone on a plane a few years ago," he recalled. "They were watching Pan's Labyrinth and were completely engrossed in it. After it was over, I asked them if they liked the movie. They said it was amazing, so I pulled out a photo of my character and asked if they wanted me to sign it. It was a fun little surprise during the flight."
While Doug may not be easily recognizable on screen, he has made a name for himself playing some of the most iconic and terrifying characters. In fact, he admits that he still gets creeped out seeing himself on screen, specifically as the Pale Man in Pan's Labyrinth and The Gentleman in Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
"The two times that gave me the heebie jeebies while I watched it was, yes, Pale Man from Pan's Labyrinth, and also The Gentleman from Buffy the Vampire Slayer in the Hush episode," he said. "Still to this day, I guess I've played many characters that are evil and you wouldn't invite over for dinner. But those two characters were filmed in such a way that you get absorbed in the story."
When asked about his toughest role, Doug had a diplomatic answer. He revealed that it's typically the ones where he is robbed of all of his senses, like in Pan's Labyrinth where he couldn't see or hear. "That was a tough one," he said.
But Doug's talents don't just lie in playing terrifying creatures. He has also played more human characters, such as the fearsome Count Orlock in Nosferatu: A Symphony of Horror. In this film, he will be "fully unrecognizable" with a reconstructed face and prosthetic makeup. However, after years of being under rubber bits and prosthetics, Doug is happy to take a break from it all.
"I'm at a phase in my career right now where I am entertaining more human characters than rubber-clad ones," he said. "I'll never say never. If it's the right director, the right character, the right story that I want to help tell, then yes, I would go back under rubber bits again."
Despite his success in the horror genre, Doug admits that he avoids it in his free time. "The dark films come looking for me, yes, but once I've played in that world all day, I turn on light fluffy fare with happy endings," he said. "If there's a little romance happening and the worst thing that happens in the movie is a little misunderstanding, that cleanses my palette."
Doug may not be a household name, but he's a huge star in the film industry. He has managed to maintain a low profile while still playing iconic roles on screen. And with his talent and versatility, there's no doubt that he will continue to be a sought-after actor in Hollywood.
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