Nicolas Cage's Terrifying Look In Longlegs Was Inspired By A Music Legend

Without question, "Longlegs" has become the horror movie of 2024. The indie movie from Neon has taken the world by storm, arriving to rave reviews and, without exaggeration, one of the most impressive box office openings we've seen in a long time. Much of the film's success can be chalked up to the ace casting of Oscar-winner Nicolas Cage as the titular killer. While Cage's final form was largely hidden in the marketing, those who have seen director Osgood Perkins' serial killer flick know that it is effectively unnerving. Now, Perkins has pulled back the curtain and revealed what went into crafting Cage's look in the film, including a music legend that inspired it.

In a recent interview with IndieWire, Perkins and makeup department head Felix Fox broke down in detail how they turned Cage into a terrifying serial killer in "Longlegs." Perkins explained that the pale makeup that covers the actor's face was taken directly from none other than Bob Dylan. Specifically, the musician's legendary "Rolling Thunder Revue" tour, which was chronicled by Martin Scorsese in a 2019 documentary for Netflix.

"The pale makeup is Bob Dylan. Bob Dylan's my god, and so I'm always looking for ways to use Bob's stuff, and that white makeup that he uses on the 'Rolling Thunder Revue' tour is this weird sort of performative thing. It's like, 'I'm here to perform for you, and I put on this white makeup, so I'm more visible to you in a way, but at the same time, I'm also more invisible,' which I find fascinating."

Dylan did employ white makeup during that tour, but Perkins and Fox took it to another level with Cage. Speaking further, the director explained a bit more of the killer's backstory saying, "The idea was that he'd been busted by sh***y plastic surgery. And that's about the mask, it's the masked killer, it's a genre imperative, whether it's Michael Myers ['Halloween'] or Jason ['Friday the 13th'], or 'Black Phone.'"

Perkins and Fox additionally explained that they went through lots of trial and error both in crafting the look and the backstory for the Longlegs killer. They ultimately landed on him being an ex-glam rocker. While Dylan certainly wasn't cut from that cloth, he was a big rock star. They also wanted him to be "androgynous," noting that the white makeup was how he concealed botched plastic surgery.

Once the killer is fully revealed, it's hugely effective. So much so that it nearly gave Cage's co-star Maika Monroe a panic attack. But Perkins never wanted Cage's character to come off as a monster. "He's as shabby and sh***y and ugly and pathetic as possible, and that was just meant to make him a human being, just a person, not a monster," Perkins explained.

"Longlegs" hatched a movie marketing campaign for the ages, and a big part of that was keeping the secret weapon under wraps. They only revealed brief glimpses of Cage as the killer, either from behind or cloaked in the footage so we never get a good look at him. That intrigue paid off as audiences flocked to see the film on opening weekend. The buzz has been palpable. Perkins also addressed this decision, saying the following:

"We don't need to see him, that's the oldest trick in the book, the audience's imagination will provide better than you can. The idea ultimately was to say, 'Hey, this guy is obviously something you don't want to see."

"Longlegs" is in theaters now.