Video: 10 steps to becoming Shrek

Watch as Dean Chisnall goes through the lengthy process of becoming everyone’s favourite ogre.

1 I had a mould made right at the start. They sat me in a chair and put a very wet silicone product on and then layer upon layer of plaster of Paris from my breastbone upwards. It takes about 20 minutes and if you’ve ever had a plaster on a broken leg or arm you’ll know how heavy it can be. Someone has to stand behind to pin your shoulders back as your body is collapsing. It’s unbelievably claustrophobic and quite scary. By the end you are in complete darkness and can’t see or hear. You breathe through two straws stuck up your nostrils. When the silicone has dried they take it off and get the face and head mould from that. I had to have it all done again at the start of the tour to make sure none of my measurements had changed.

2 I have to get into work at 4pm for an evening performance and don’t get out of the make-up chair until 6.30pm.

3 The bald cap goes on first and then a cowl right over the top of my head which has the green ears we all know and love as Shrek’s.

4 Then it’s my chin-piece and my cheeks. Everything is silicone and has to be glued on. By the time I’m finished the only things that’s real are my eyes and lips.

5 Everything is made in America and flown over. Even the shade of green paint is special and that comes from America too.

6 The big forehead piece is next. It’s precisely measured for my face and the detail is amazing.

7 The nose is the thing that really makes Shrek come alive and transforms what still looks a human face until then.

8 I get a bottom lip on and then everything is painted green. My eyes get a green grease.

9 Then the costume goes on. I have to be helped into it. Once your fat legs are on I can’t bend down.

10 At times the heat during a performance is unbearable. Sweat floods out and I have to drink more than 12 pints of water a show. I’ve only needed the loo once!