Batman & Robin's Mr. Freeze Make-Up Was A Step Up In Safety From Terminator 2

In the mythology of Joel Schumacher's clunky 1997 superhero extravaganza "Batman & Robin," the villainous Mr. Freeze (Arnold Schwarzenegger) was accidentally exposed to liquids and chemicals that altered his body chemistry. His body now had to constantly remain at below freezing temperatures, and he couldn't walk around without the aid of an elaborate, temperature-regulating suit of armor. The accident also gave his skin a chrome sheen, his eyes became mirrored, and a mysterious blue light emanated from inside his mouth.

In order to transform Schwarzenegger into Mr. Freeze, makeup artists Jeff Dawn and Jim Kail put the actor through a strenuous, hours-long process. After Schwarzenegger's hair was slicked back and covered with a bad cap (he refused to shave his head), and after his eyebrows were covered by latex appliances, Dawn and Kail coated his face with a special layer of protectant. Over the protectant, the makeup artists sprayed the actor's face with, essentially, silver paint, which would then be layered by a splatter of blue and white, lending Mr. Freeze an usual facial texture. According to an article by Vulture, the LED light-up appliance inside Schwarzenegger's mouth frequently leaked battery acid, posing a risk to the actor.

"Batman & Robin" was not the first time Dawn had worked with Schwarzenegger. The makeup artist had also previously worked on the many sci-fi effects for James Cameron's "Terminator 2: Judgement Day," another film that featured a silvery character played by Robert Patrick. In a 2017 "Batman & Robin" retrospective with the Hollywood Reporter, Dawn revealed that he learned a very important lesson on his earlier job: it's not a good idea to spray chrome Christmas tree flocking right into an actor's face.

The evil T-1000  in "Terminator 2" was a robot that could reduce itself to a liquid metal state and seep through cracks or morph its hands into stabbing weapons. Although achieved partly through state-of-the-art CGI, the T-1000 was practical in many scenes, and Robert Patrick had to be painted entirely silver to achieve the desired effect. Jeff Dawn knew of a brand of aerosol, spray-on chrome that he felt would work well to make his actor the right shade of shiny. Dawn admitted that, because there was no explicit label instructing him not to spray the toxic flocking on a person's face, he felt free to do so. Years later, he realized how reckless he was:

"This is back in the days when you kind of look at the can and there's no major skull and crossbones on it. So you think, 'This is okay to spray on someone's face.' Nowadays it's a whole different ballgame when it comes to safety and safety data sheets and all that. But back then, you'd smell it and go, 'It's extremely flammable, and there's some smoke skull and crossbones down here, but I think we'll be okay.'"

Hence, the development of protective layers of paint-proof glue applied to Arnold Schwarzenegger's face several years later. According to Dawn, the process to get Schwarzenegger in makeup took four hours, a process that was extended by the fact that the actor refused to shave his head and eyebrows. Had he allowed himself to be bald, the makeup may have taken a full hour less. 

Jeff Dawn almost got his way, and Arnold Schwarzenegger agreed to shave his head, but sadly, backed out at the last minute. The makeup sessions became a constant bustle. The star was constantly surrounded by his own personal team of assistants. Dawn recalled: 

"He'd always have tons of people around him. One person would be massaging his hand. He'd have an assistant there talking, he would be eating. I would have one or two people assisting me. It's a lot of bodies in a very small area around a big guy."

Schwarzenegger was paid $25 million to appear in "Batman & Robin," and he received top billing. George Clooney, who played Batman, only received $1 million. His shooting schedule only had Schwarzenegger on set for a total of 25 days. His contract also dictated a strict 12-hour shift policy, allowing the actor to go home at the end of the day. The four-hour makeup job, naturally, cut into his shifts considerably, and a lot of shooting had to be done quickly to accommodate the star's schedule. Schwarzenegger was essentially only present on set for his close-ups. Most of the wider angles on Mr. Freeze were shot with a body double. 

Indeed, most of the film was shot using stunt performers, skaters, and stand-ins in order to speed up the enormously elaborate shoot. Unless you see an actor's face, it like wasn't them. On the film's DVD extras, actor Chris O'Donnell, who plays Robin, admitted that, despite the number of scenes where he and Mr. Freeze interacted, he never shot a single scene with Schwarzenegger. The film's biggest star wasn't there for most of the movie.

It's a good thing the finished film was so acclaimed.