Cliff Notes – 28 Years Later director reveals ‘nightmare’ of shooting naked zombie scenes
- Director Danny Boyle faced significant challenges filming nude zombies due to the presence of a minor actor, which restricted actual nudity on set.
- To comply with legal requirements, the crew had to create prosthetic genitals for all zombie actors, complicating the shooting process.
- The decision for zombies to appear naked was justified by the film’s setting, suggesting that long-term infection would result in the disintegration of clothing.
28 Years Later director reveals ‘nightmare’ of shooting naked zombie scenes
28 Years Later director Danny Boyle has opened up on the challenges the crew faced while shooting nude zombies.
The third film in the franchise hit cinema screens 23 years after 28 Days Later was released, revolutionising the zombie subgenre in the process.
The film, starring Cillian Murphy and Naomie Harris, was followed by 2007 sequel 28 Weeks Later, but 18 years of silence followed, with rumours constantly swirling that a third film was coming.
Last year, Boyle and original writer Alex Garland confirmed 28 Years Later was in the works, and its eagerly anticipated release has been met with rave reviews from critics branding it ‘a masterpiece.’
The film has the same Rage-infected creatures we were introduced to more than two decades ago, with some interesting evolutionary changes upping the ante.
Many of the monsters in the film appear naked as they chase after the ensemble cast, featuring Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Alfie Williams, Jodie Comer, and Ralph Fiennes.
The decision to have the zombies running around in the buff was a natural progression for them, given the setting of the film, almost 30 years after the events of 28 Days Later.
‘I mean, if you’re recently infected, you’d have some clothes, but if you’ve been infected for a long time, the clothes would just disintegrate with the way that you behave,’ Boyle told People.
However, the presence of 14-year-old newcomer Williams on set meant that actors portraying the zombies could not actually be naked around the minor under the Child Sex Offences Act.
Boyle said the crew ‘never knew that’ when shooting, describing the process of creating a naked illusion as a ‘nightmare.’
‘Interestingly, because there was a 12-year-old boy on set, you’re not allowed for anybody to be naked, not really naked, so they look naked, but it’s all prosthetics,’ he explained.
The warning from intimacy coordinators meant that every zombie cast member had to have prosthetic genitals made for their scenes.
28 Years Later follows a group of survivors on an island who have managed to carve out a semblance of normality for themselves away from the mainland where the infected roam.
Jamie (Taylor-Johnson) takes his 12-year-old son Spike (Williams) to the mainland to bag his first kill and learn about the horrors of the modern world, with Spike stumbling onto a discovery that could help his sick mother Isla (Comer).
28 Years Later is in cinemas now.