Sunday, March 21, 2010

Who Makeover

From dailyrecord.co.uk: ACTRESS Neve McIntosh will have a starring role in the long-awaited return of Doctor Who - but even her nearest and dearest might struggle to recognise her.

The Scots beauty appears as twin Silurian warriors opposite Matt Smith, who will make Time Lord small-screen debut at Easter.

Her transformation into a couple of reptilian aliens is convincing because Neve's gorgeous features are hidden under layers of prosthetics.

The 38-year-old said: "The whole process amazing and very different because my face covered by the make-up.

"But they didn't touch my eyes so anyone knows me well might still realise it's me." Neve, whose favourite commander of Tardis was Tom Baker, has been a Doctor Who fan since she was a schoolgirl.

The Paisley-born actress was so thrilled to in the hit series, she wasn't bothered about painstaking ordeal of having make-up applied for more than three hours every morning turn her into a lizard warrior.

She said: "I had never worn prosthetics like that before so it was the first time I to sit in the make-up chair for hours on end.

"Sometimes I'd get an itch and, course, I couldn't scratch it."

Getting the prosthetic make-up offthe worst part for her. Neve added: "Even after the make-up been carefully stripped away, you can spend the rest of the night picking bits of glue and rubber from your nose and ears."

Because she is cast as twin reptilian aliens who look the same, she had to find subtle ways to make each character a bit different.

She said: "That was a brilliant challenge but this was the type of job that made me want to become an actress in the first place.

"I get to have great make-up, funky costumes and run around pointing ray guns at people. It's just like being a kid again."

Neve is delighted to be part of the Doctor Who family but reckons her brother is even more pleased.

She said: "He was very excited when I told him I was in it. He has every Doctor Who book and all the DVDs."

Since she was a success in BBC fantasy series Gormenghast, Neve has appeared in a variety of small-screen dramas such as Trial And Retribution, The Hound Of The Baskervilles and Bodies.

She is currently starring on the big screen in horror film Salvage. In her most demanding role yet, she plays a mum fighting to save her teenage daughter from a mysterious killer.

Neve's first action-girl role has paid off because she has won Best Actress prizes at science fiction and fantasy film festivals.

She said: "It was great fun to do something that was so physical for a change."

After Doctor Who, Neve is filming TV crime series Inspector George Gently with Martin Shaw and will come home to Scotland to star in a four-part TV drama with David Tennant.

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