'Building The Borg' Feature

Debora Fischer at StarTrek.com, the official Star Trek site, has written a new article on the Borg, which have always presented a unique challenge to the makeup and costuming departments of the Trek production staff. Apparently, not even Klingons take as long to be prepared, as Borg actors need to have both special makeup and cyborg costumes applied, forcing to show up at 4:30am each day of filming.

In the article, Manu Intiraymi, who currently has a recurring role on 'Voyager' as Icheb, describes the 'assimilation process':

"First they do a bald cap that has some Borg implants on it. Then they do the facial pieces and the eyepiece. After the makeup, you get into the suit which is a three-piece unit. It's like wet suit material and all the pieces are plastic even though they're painted to look like metal. For my character, because I was never fully assimilated, the suit has lots of parts that aren't developed yet where you can see skin sticking out.

"I had never gone through anything like that before. I've heard interviews with actors who talk about sitting in the makeup chair for four hours and I thought 'you whiny actor.' But the Borg outfit was uncomfortable, itchy and gross. You sweat inside it and when you move, parts scrape you. I knew so many had worn the Borg outfit before me, I was trying to whine as little as possible."

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