Jack Nicholson Had An Allergy That Made His Joker Transformation Problematic

Long before most blockbuster films were about superheroes, Tim Burton brought "Batman" to the screen. The 1989 Warner Bros. Pictures film starred Michael Keaton as the Caped Crusader and Jack Nicholson as the Joker. The Burton film was more ... cartoon-y than the more recent offerings in Batman's film history, and that meant makeup that made the Joker look close to his comic book counterpart. Nicholson's version got a white face, green hair, a blood-red mouth, a pointed chin, and intensified cheeks. It gave the actor a pretty chilling final look that definitely scared me as a kid the first time I saw it.

According to a 2017 behind-the-scenes video from Flashback FilmMaking (via The Hollywood Reporter) about the makeup process, this took a lot of planning on the part of the film's makeup team lead, Nick Dudman. He had to create a type of makeup that could be both applied on and taken off in two hours, didn't hide Nicholson's face behind it despite the structural changes, and one where the character could wipe off one layer in a mirror while not taking off what was underneath. In addition to all of that, Nicholson had an allergy that made the whole thing more difficult for him.

As it turns out, Nicholson was allergic to a substance that is used by almost every special effects makeup artist out there. "One of the ironies of my life is I am allergic to spirit gum, the basic unit to movie makeup," he admitted. If you're not familiar, spirit gum is an adhesive that combines an alcohol substance and a resin together to hold on prosthetic appliances like the elongated chin of the Joker. Spirit gum showed up for the first time in the late 19th century for use in the theater. It's not easy on the skin, even if you're not allergic, and requires either alcohol, cocoa butter, petroleum jelly, or similar substances to remove. Needless to say, it can cause redness and irritation, even in the best of circumstances.

As a former makeup artist who is also allergic to spirit gum, I can tell you firsthand, both from using it on other people and having it used on me when I was an actor, it can take weeks to get your skin back to normal. Though Nicholson didn't speak on the results of his allergy during the production, I can tell you about mine, which involved breakouts, scaly skin, and itchiness that made me want to claw my face off. One assumes that Nicholson channeled that into his brilliant performance.

If you'd like to rewatch "Batman" to further appreciate what Nicholson went through for the role, it's currently streaming on Max.