Throughout the promotional cycle for After Hours, The Weeknd has blurred the lines between reality and fiction with his videos and public appearances, which have seemed to exist in the same narrative realm. He took things to a new level this week, though, when he released his “Save Your Tears” video. In the clip, we see The Weeknd after having had an extreme plastic-surgery makeover, as a lot of his features were comically exaggerated. Of course, The Weeknd didn’t really get plastic surgery, but now the person behind the new look has shared some insight about how it was created.
Prosthetic Renaissance Makeup-FX Studio designer Mike Marino was the one who created the look, and after the video debuted, he took to Instagram to share some behind-the-scenes photos of how he altered The Weeknd’s face. The process began by creating a rough sculpture of The Weeknd’s modified face, and once Marino and The Weeknd knew how they wanted to proceed, Marino created the prosthetics. There were four main prosthetic components involved: one for each lip; one for the nose, eyebrows, and forehead; and one for the cheeks and chin. Presumably, those were all attached to The Weeknd’s face, makeup was used to make them blend in, and that was that.
Aside from The Weeknd’s wild look, the “Save Your Tears” video also made headlines for what some perceived to be a shot at the Grammys.