The Disease That Javier Botet Lives With, And How It Became His Acting Superpower

In Bram Stoker's 1897 novel "Dracula," the titular Count travels from his remote castle in the Carpathian Mountains to a new home in England on a ship called the Demeter. He travels with multiple coffins filled with earth and is sealed in a coffin of his own. Weeks after departing, the Demeter drifts into Whitby Harbor. No one is on board. Instantly, readers knew the story: Dracula — requiring human blood to survive — sneaked out of his coffin at night to pick off the Demeter's crew one by one. The reader is left to imagine their harrowing experience. 

In André Øvredal's upcoming, long-gestating film "The Last Voyage of the Demeter," however, one no longer needs to imagine. The film is set entirely on the Demeter, depicting the crew discovering their dwindling numbers and the slow realization that a demonic vampire may be on board. The film stars Corey Hawkins, Aisling Franciosi, David Dastmalchian, and Liam Cunningham, and opens on August 11, 2023.

Dracula is being played by Spanish actor Javier Botet, an experienced actor when it comes to playing monsters and creatures. Botet has already appeared in several high-profile genre pictures, usually covered in makeup. Botet played the title character in Andy Muschietti's "Mama," and the leprous hobo in the same director's "It" movies. He played the titular "Slender Man" as well as the Crooked Man in "The Conjuring 2," and Key Face in "Insidious: The Last Key." Botet also provided the motion capture performance for the monsters in "Alien: Covenant."

Botet is often cast as monsters and ghosts largely because of his striking and appealing looks. He stands 6'7" and lives with a rare condition called Marfan Syndrome which gives him long fingers and loose joints. As he recently told the BBC, Botet used his hyper-elasticity as a performing advantage.

Marfan Syndrome, a genetic condition, affects the joints and connective tissues in the human body, causing them to loosen and elongate. Those with the syndrome typically have very long fingers and toes, tend to stand tall and thin, and have curved spines. It's not a serious condition, and those who have it live ordinarily long lives. Marfan Syndrome can, however, cause complications in one's vision thanks to a loosening of the ocular connective tissue and, at worst, it can affect the heart. 

The syndrome also leaves one astonishingly flexible, and Botet has, while decked out in monster makeup, been able to contort his body in a way most ordinary contortionists cannot. This was a talent he always possessed, one he recalled using to impress his school friends as a child to the BBC: 

"I have a disease called Marfan syndrome. It makes people skinnier, taller, and very flexible. So I was all my life very flexible, all my life doing weird tricks and things to enjoy with my friends [using] very creepy movement."

In 2005, the year Botet turned 28, he landed his first film acting role, playing "humanoid creature" in Brian Yuzna's "Beneath Still Waters," a.k.a. "The Vampire's Stage." Two years later, he landed a plum role in the first of two "[REC]" movies wherein he played a Portuguese girl named Tristana who was infected with, essentially, a demon virus. While promoting the sequel "[REC]²" at a horror convention in Spain, Botet was approached by Muschietti about the possibility of appearing in a short called "Mama." He accepted. A year after, Guillermo del Toro was to produce an English-language remake of the short, and Botet was officially on the Hollywood scene.

Guillermo del Toro would eventually cast Botet in three different ghost roles in his haunted house picture "Crimson Peak." 

Botet's movements are so eerie and unique that many audience members assume that his roles are constructed through elaborate CGI. Botet wanted to go on the record to explain that it's all him. Some of the makeup effects and hair are enhanced with CGI, but that is his face and his body. About "Mama" in particular, he said: 

"[N]obody really knew that 90% of what they saw was totally mine, was physical work. [...] So that was the real point that makes my career grow. Because a lot of people knew that my work without CGI is almost as good — it doesn't need much more help in digital."

Botet prefers real performances in horror movies, adding, "When there's something digital, anything can happen. It's like a cartoon — you lose the scare and the fear."

Botet's movies are often terrifying, largely because of his commitment to his roles' physicality. He appeared as a particularly terrifying wight in an episode of "Game of Thrones," and even turned up in an episode of "Star Trek: Discovery," where he played an alien called a Ba'ul which appeared to be made up of dripping black oil. He has also appeared opposite actor Doug Jones, another tall, thin performer accustomed to monsters and outsize creature roles who frequently plays them for Guillermo del Toro. 

Not all of Botet's roles are monstrous, however. He also appeared as a charming, normal guy named Carlos in the absurdist 2023 Spanish comedy film "The Fantastic Golem Affairs," which played at the Fantasia Film Festival in March.