The Genius Behind TV’s Freakiest Clickers, Bloaters and More
The moment you first hear that distinct clicking echo in The Last of Us, your pulse does a little backflip. The fungi, the snarling echo, the jaw – dropping look – these monsters don’t feel pixelated or floaty. They hit with weight, sweat, and squish. And no, the wizard behind these nightmares isn’t some mysterious VFX gremlin hidden in a server farm. Say hello to Barrie Gower: prosthetics maestro, king of creature goo, and the lovable British mad scientist you absolutely want on your apocalypse team.
Jumping From Ice to Fungi – Gower’s Wild CV
You’ve probably gasped at Gower’s work and never even realized it. He sculpted the White Walkers’ chilling menace on Game of Thrones and created the jaw – dropping, oozing radiation injuries in Chernobyl. Each creature he crafts comes with the same guarantee: Holy crap, that thing looks real.
Here’s a quick hit list:
- Gower launched his FX career back in ’97, learning his trade at Animated Extras.
- He masterminded the White Walkers, the greyscale disease, and even zombie – Mountain for Thrones’ later epic seasons.
- Next up, he swapped frosty undead for red – hot radiation pustules in HBO’s Chernobyl, earning plenty of nightmares – and awards – for that ghastly feat.
- And when HBO brought The Last of Us to TV glory, prosthetic fans everywhere cheered. Because directors Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann wisely thought: “Let’s make monsters out of actors, not pixels.”
Why Not Just CGI Everything?
We live in a world of digital giants, but The Last of Us team wanted real actors wrestling real monsters. Mazin summed it up perfectly for IndieWire: “If actors stare at tennis balls on sticks, we lose truth.” So, they dialed Gower’s crew. If anyone could make nightmare fungi come to life with pulsing, oozing flair, it was them.
Naughty Dog sent over game models, sculpts, and concept art by the digital truckload. Gower’s crew, led by sculptor Duncan Jarman, built mini clay busts to figure out how Cordyceps actually “claims” its victims. They pulled up gory reference photos – real ant cadavers threaded with forest fungus, and gills from Ophiocordyceps sinensis – to nail the science behind the scares.
How to Build a Fungi Freakshow
Every transformation needed a tight plan. So, first step: slather your actors in so much alginate and plaster you could cast them for Madame Tussauds. That scan let BGFX’s artists print hyper – detailed, life – size busts – basically action figures for serious grownups.
- Runners: These newbies show the first flush of infection – flaky, veiny, veering close to human. Each actor rocked prosthetics so subtle you might miss them. Red – splattered veins, angry splotches of fungal color, just enough gore to unsettle a stomach. On set, 90 minutes in the chair and you’d start twitching like the world’s grumpiest flu victim.
- Clickers: It gets gnarly quick. Mushroom plates crawl out where faces once lived. Gower’s team designed four – part silicone rigs: head, jaw, neck, wild frilled crown. They kept each piece under two kilos – just enough to balance, but not turtle your actor. Airbrush teams went wild with base pinks and punk – bruise greens. Top it off with enough glycerin goo to give the creature that fresh – out – of – a-basement vibe. Three hours later, a fully evolved clicker would twitch down the corridor, ready to haunt your dreams.
- Bloaters: The big bad boss. To stomp this legend onto TV, Gower needed a tank. Enter Adam Basil – stuntman, 6’6″, rugby size, with nerves of steel. They built a foam rubber exosuit weighing 88 pounds, coated in layers of monster latex, fake fungus, and slime. The armor plates snapped off with magnets, primed for heroic shotgun blasts. And because the suit would sauna anyone into delirium, Basil rocked an ice – cool vest with a discreet tubing system. Life goal: never swap places with him, no matter how big your cosplay dreams are.
Real Monsters, Real Reactions
Practical monsters mean you get honest, on – edge acting. Pedro Pascal – yes, the Pedro – admitted to The Wrap he straight – up blanked his lines after a Clicker lumbered past him for the first time. Lighting designers wanted in on the fun, too. Instead of faking everything in post, they bounced flashlights off silicone heads and fungal crevices, playing up every slimy, mottled highlight. The result? You could almost smell the musty spores.
Set stories? The clicks and shrieks in episode two – the unforgettable museum scene – were pure prosthetic gold. Sam Hoeksema and Phillip A. Kovats, deep in full cranial rigs, barely saw a thing. Crew members spoke in whispers to keep tension electric. Director Eben Bolter dimmed the lights as low as his camera would allow, letting those practical effects do their shadowy thing.
And then there was the Kansas City cul – de – sac horde in episode five. Sixty practical Infected, made – up from afternoon through dusk. The most viral star? Nine – year – old contortionist Skye Belle Cowton. She twisted through a car window in one take, haunting the internet as the scariest kid on prestige TV.
Not Just Monsters – This Is Human Art
Barrie Gower doesn’t do the work alone. Sarah Gower – his partner and creative right hand – watches over the application trailers and busts out color continuity fixes during chaotic changeovers. Credits should always roll for the 70 – strong BGFX crew, schlepping 5,000+ molds, prepping gallons of faux – slime, and dragging pounds of coffee grounds (for dead spore crust) to Canada’s frostbitten woods.
Numbers? Oh, the numbers:
- 5,000 fresh silicone molds over the course of shooting.
- 300 whole gallons of (fake) KY jelly just for the signature wet look.
- 400 pounds of coffee grounds, sprinkled generously for earthy decay.
Turns out, even a fungus apocalypse runs on caffeinated ambition.
Clickers Beat Pixels and Win the Awards
Ever wondered if all this effort paid off? Look no further than the trophy shelf. The Last of Us won the 2023 Emmy for Outstanding Prosthetic Makeup. The BGFX shop snagged the Make – Up Artists & Hair Stylist Guild honors, too. They nabbed a BAFTA TV Craft nomination, though dragon burns beat them out in the final round. Trolls were happy, but the voters still gushed about Gower’s “haute couture” mushrooms. Fan response? Utter devotion. TikTok’s #ClickerMakeup tag smashed 120 million views by spring 2024. Some tried to DIY it with snack mushrooms and face paint. Others just marveled at the on – screen authenticity.
The Road Ahead – Spores in Our Dreams
Season 2 is coming, and Gower’s fungus fever isn’t cooling off. In press for the 2025 launch, he teased clay models the size of car hoods. On deck: The towering Shamblers, a custom “Brute” variant, and perhaps even nastier secrets. Just like before, they’re aiming for practical first, digital only when absolutely needed.
The real win here? Gower and his team set the standard for what TV monsters could be in the era of endless streaming effects. No tennis balls. No green screens where actors must “imagine” horror. Just sweat, fungus, and brilliant warped artistry – right there in your living room. So when the Clicker’s call echoes next, remember: every hair – raising second comes from a workshop, not a server. And somewhere, Barrie Gower probably still has clay under his fingernails, dreaming up the next nightmare.
Sleep tight. Or at least, don’t fall asleep with your mouth open. You never know what’s sprouting these days.
