Indiana Jones 5 Took Inspiration From The Green Butcher (But Not For Mads Mikkelsen)
When Lucasfilm announced that Mads Mikkelsen would play the main villain in "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny," there was much rejoicing. Over the last 20 years, Mikkelsen has established himself as a master of menace. He's a skin-crawling masochist as Le Chiffre in "Casino Royale," a deliciously evil master of the Mystic Arts in "Doctor Strange" and a creepily seductive cannibalistic psychiatrist in the frustratingly short-lived NBC drama "Hannibal."
That Mikkelsen could put a fresh spin on a character who'd been portrayed by such thespian giants as Brian Cox and Anthony Hopkins left viewers breathless. We thought we knew Hannibal Lecter, and we were so very wrong. Mikkelsen could've become a go-to Hollywood bad guy at this point, but he kept a foot in the Danish film industry that vaulted him to international stardom and turned in what is, to date, his best performance as a milquetoast high school teacher who learns to reach his students by drinking on the job in Thomas Vinterberg's "Another Round."
Now that you know and love Mikkelsen, you should absolutely dig into his pre-"Casino Royale" career, and check out his excellent work in Nicholas Winding Refn's "Pusher" movies and Susanne Bier's "After the Wedding." And if you want to see the early glimmerings of his take on Lecter, you should absolutely watch "The Green Butchers." Boyd Holbrook, who plays Mikkelsen's sinister underling Klaber in the fifth Indiana Jones installment did just that, and he found a way to pay homage to his costar's work.
The visual architecture of a loathsome villain
According to the "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny" press materials, Holbrook patterned his meticulously sculpted haircut after Mikkelsen's cannibalistic character in "The Green Butchers." "I just wanted him to have something that put him out," said Holbrook.
It's certainly not a copycat haircut. Mikkelsen's butcher has a wildly receding hairline that parts at the top of his pate. It's a demented look for a demented freak. Holbrook's spiky coiffure is severe and tight; he must spend a solid hour in front of the mirror every morning pomading each strand into its right place. But both cuts serve their respective characters perfectly.
Holbrook took his preparation a step further, and applied a set of false teeth to help in get into character — not that you'd notice. "We made these teeth that actually aren't that present in the film," he said, "But for me it was kind of a good crutch to lean on."
It worked. Holbrook stole the film from Mikkelsen, and might rank as the most loathsome villain in an Indiana Jones movie since Amrish Puri's Mola Ram in "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom." The lesson here: Emulate Mikkelsen's commitment, not his style.