The Mother in “Barbarian,” played by actor Matthew Patrick Davis, is a silent, imposing presence standing at six feet, eight inches, which makes him a wonderful canvas for creature and makeup effects on film. Extensive goop and prosthetics permit the actor to use parts of himself that more conventional roles don’t, but becoming The Mother had its fair share of complications.

Portraying The Mother had nearly every inch of Davis' body covered in prosthetics because the character remains naked whenever she is on screen, which means there was no place for Davis' real body to hide. Davis had to remove all the hair from his body in order for the prosthetics to stick.

Since an actor's face needs to communicate a range of emotions, and The Mother reveals so much about her pain through her face, Davis explains, "her nose is my nose, and her mouth is my mouth." Davis' backside was also supposed to receive coverage, but it never looked right, so they had him be au naturale.

Since prosthetics are inanimate objects that wear and tear, how they look at the start of the day will not be the same as how they look at the end, requiring the filming of The Mother's scenes first. According to Davis, the seams become visible when individuals move or start sweating, so it was ideal to film close-up content first and wide shots last.