DURING his childhood in Warrington, Mike Hill probably never anticipated that one day he’d become an Oscar winner for his outstanding work on a feature film.
But yesterday, Sunday, the 56-year-old did just that.
His success didn’t happen overnight, however, having spent years honing his craft.
Mike’s passions stretch back to his childhood in Dallam, where he would collect clay from the canal bank and dry it out to make models, rather than buy plasticine.
These models would take the shape of iconic monsters, such as King Kong and even Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein.
“After leaving school, I couldn’t find anything in Warrington I wanted to do that appeased my creativity,” he said.
“I would always end up doing the same jobs – roof laying, tarmacking, whatever it was to make money.”
Mike continued to sculpt in his spare time and eventually decided to start door knocking with his work in Manchester, where he landed his first job on a TV series.
“I started sculpting and that’s how I became friends with people in the United States and they became aware of my work,” he said.
“I would visit for conventions a lot and eventually started to ask me to work on films. It made sense that I should be there and not in Warrington, so I made the move with £1,000 and a suitcase and that was it.
“I had no idea where I was going to live, but I just went anyway.
“I think we can all be a bit claustrophobic in where we feel we have to belong.
“The world is a big place, and I always say to my sons who have both moved out of Warrington that it’s not a one-way ticket. You can come back when you want, everything is worth a shot.”
It was at one of these conventions where Academy Award winning director, Guillermo del Toro, first came across his work while Mike was elsewhere.
“Somebody said, ‘Guillermo del Toro came by and as looking at your stuff – he wanted to meet you,” said Mike.
“A few weeks later I got an email from him – he’d done a fair bit of work to find me – and he wanted to buy one of my sculptures. Ironically, it was Frankenstein.
“From there we became good friends and then he hired me on The Shape of Water to help build the fish man.
“I was part of the core group, working as a designer and sculptor and then that was it, every project after that he gave me the job.”
The pair have formed a close relationship, bonding over their love of monsters – particularly Frankenstein.
So, when the opportunity came about for them to make the film, it was something they couldn’t refuse.
“He invited me for breakfast and said, ‘we’re doing Frankenstein and I want you to do the creature – if you don’t do the creature, I’m not making the movie,” said Mike.
“I was so excited.”
Mike worked for 10 hours a day to transform leading man, Jacob Elordi, into the iconic monster for the project.
“The first thing was, what was extremely important for me was, I wanted this character to look like he stepped out to the 1800s,” he said.
“I did not want it to look like a modern-day movie monster. That young man never complained once and we applied that make up over 56 times.
“[Reimagining the monster] was a lot of weight to carry, but thankfully people seem to have really accepted it and I’m very pleased.”
His hard work has not only been accepted, but it’s been praised by the industry earning him his BAFTA and now an Academy Award.
“[Winning the BAFTA] was a bit of a blur,” said Mike.
“You get on that stage, and you can’t see much because of the lights, but you know there’s a lot of people there and a lot of people worldwide watching.
“You don’t even have time to absorb it because you’re rushed to backstage to do interviews and pictures. I don’t think I’ve come down just yet.”
At the star-studded Academy Awards yesterday, Mike Hill took to the stage to accept the gong for Best Makeup and Hairstyling.
“While we were making this film, we had this sense that we were part of something very special, and tonight really confirms that, so thanks,” he said.
“Thanks to Oscar Isaac, the most beautiful Mia Goth, and of course my mate Jacob Elordi who sat for 400 hours in the makeup chair during filming.
“A personal thank you to my dear Meg, and to our friend Guillermo del Toro – you did it mate.
“You brought our beloved Frankenstein back and we want to thank you for allowing us to help make your dream project become our dream project.”
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