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Zoe Saldana's convincing turn as the green-skinned alien assassin Gamora made her an immediate
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fan favorite in the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise.
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And the adopted daughter of Thanos plays a key role in the massive superhero crossover
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Avengers: Infinity War.
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It takes a lot of work to transform Saldana from All-American actress to otherworldly
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badass, and it begins well before she ever sits down in the makeup chair.
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The Gamora regimen
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There's always a certain amount of physical preparation involved for a major role in a
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Marvel film, but to reprise her role as Gamora in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Saldana
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had to go a little above and beyond.
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In November 2014, the actress gave birth to twins — and subsequently dropped 70 pounds
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after embarking on an exercise regimen that would make Drax cry.
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She had difficulty bouncing back at first, starting off with simply taking walks, and
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eventually working up to a brutal routine of squats, planks, lunges and Pilates combined
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with regular cardio.
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Although she's 80 percent gluten-free and leans heavily on eggs, vegetables and greens,
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she insists she doesn't follow a strict diet.
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As she put it in a 2015 Facebook post,
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"I am going to remove the word 'diet' from my life.
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I am going to remind myself that it is not about losing weight, it is about being healthy,
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feeling healthy, for the rest of my life."
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Head on
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Saldana famously played another colorful alien in 2009's Avatar, but in that case, she got
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off easy, since her entire character was digitally rendered.
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So it may have come as a bit of a surprise to Saldana the first time the makeup department
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working on Guardians of the Galaxy told her that they'd need to make a full cast of her
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head.
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The procedure looks pretty grueling, especially if you're claustrophobic.
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No CGI required
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The head-cast allows effects artists exercise great attention to detail when designing Gamora's
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facial "appliances" and makeup.
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This is necessary because, in contrast with her Avatar role, there are exactly zero computer
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generated elements to Gamora.
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According to Guardians 2 makeup designer David White, prosthetics made from silicone are
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sculpted for her cheeks and forehead, the latter of which gives her a new brow line.
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The pieces take two to three hours to apply, and about 30 to 45 minutes to remove.
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Her prosthetic forehead actually has a "scalp" piece that runs underneath her wig — that's
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right, she also has to wear a wig — so that even the edge of her hairline and her part
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line are green.
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Of course, the prosthetics are only the beginning.
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Five hour job
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As with any paint job, Saldana gets multiple complete coats of primer before makeup artists
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get down to the business of greening her up completely.
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A green base comes after the primer, followed by three more layers which are airbrushed
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on.
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This is done to get as close possible to a natural tone.
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It all meant a grueling five hours in the makeup chair for the first Guardians film,
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but only four hours for the follow-up…
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"We shaved off an hour from the first movie, so I appreciate that, um ..."
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Label check
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Surprisingly, virtually all of the brands used to turn Saldana into Gamora are mainstream,
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commercially available products.
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White and his team seem to be particularly fond of M.A.C., a popular brand that's used
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for both the initial layer of primer and for the green base that's applied before the airbrushing
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begins.
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Products from Skin Illustrator and Aqua are used for the airbrush job, and her eyeshadow
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is a careful blend of several M.A.C. products.
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Her nail polish is from Sinful Colours, and her green lipstick is from high-end brand
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Kryolan.
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Not easy being green
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Of course, it took a great deal of time and consideration to arrive at the right shade
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of green for a character that would also be spending a lot of time in front of green and
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blue screens.
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White and his team needed tons of tests to nail down the right tone, and then were tasked
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with using their array of products to faithfully recreate that exact tone day after day for
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the duration of the shoot — one he describes as "multilayered" with at least three complementary
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tones running through it, in addition to Saldana's natural skin tone.
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If it all seems like a lot of trouble, well, it is — but if Marvel Studios wants us to
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believe that a raccoon can talk, then it's certainly not about to cut corners to convince
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us that a stunning alien assassin can be green.
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