If Heidi Klum is the queen of Halloween, then Mike Marino is the king. The prosthetic makeup artist and founder of Prosthetic Renaissance is the man who creates Klum’s iconic and over-the-top looks each year for her celebrity-studded Halloween bash. He gave her the cartoonish face of Jessica Rabbit in 2015, and rendered her a ghoulish Medusa just last year. Back in May, Klum entered Marino’s studio outside of Halloween season to transform into a living marble sculpture inspired by Raffaele Monti’s 1847 Veiled Vestal for the 2026 Met Gala. But when he’s not sculpting Klum into a statue, he’s aging up Bad Bunny and The Weeknd, turning Colin Farrell into The Penguin, or Sebastian Stan into a person with neurofibromatosis for A Different Man. Marino has never faced a challenge he couldn’t overcome with the help of some silicone and a good airbrush, even turning the supermodel into a slimy, bulbous worm in 2022. Below, he talks creating Klum’s costume every year, working with Bad Bunny for the Met, and the one brand he recommends to anyone trying to achieve a transformative Halloween look this year.
You are the king of Halloween makeup. Are you a big Halloween person in general, or does it come with the job?
Halloween is all year for me. It doesn’t ever stop, but it’s fun when it’s getting a little colder and decorations are up and other people are getting into it.
You’ve worked with Heidi Klum for years. Do you have a favorite costume of hers?
They’re all unique, but last year’s Medusa was pretty cool. I also really liked the worm, which was so goofy and crazy. ET was cool. That’s classic stuff. So is Shrek. But with Medusa, you can be more original. Same with the worm. I can’t tell you what we’re doing this year, but it’s definitely an original thing and should be really cool.
Can you give me a one-word hint to her costume for this year?
Halloween. It’s very Halloween.
What is the most difficult thing you two have executed together?
Everything is difficult in its own way. Jessica Rabbit had subtle prosthetics that had to blend in with her face and that’s hard. But when you have mechanical stuff and moving animatronics, that creates its own problems. You can prepare for months and months, but you don’t know how it’s going to turn out until you do it. So they all have incredible challenges. Each thing is really difficult.
Has Heidi ever had an idea that you were just like, “That’s not going to work”?
I don’t think so. I have the personality where I’ll say, “How can we make it work, even if it’s a different approach?” instead of simply saying no. But there are definitely things that we might not be able to do from a budget standpoint.
Is there one transformation or one character you’re dying to do?
To be honest, I’m a comic book nerd, so the fact that I’m working on [The Batman: Part II] is a dream scenario. We’re doing some really cool makeup in this new movie, so that’s the dream right there.
Is there a difference between creating looks for movies and TV versus for parties like the Met Gala?
Not really. I’m always thinking, how can we make this thing move and function? Is it lightweight? We always try to make everything as light as possible. When creating those crazy suits Heidi wears, we have to think about how it’s going to fit through doorways or how to ensure the tail doesn’t rip off. Or, how is Bad Bunny going to move his face? We can make it as mobile as possible, but the performer actually drives it. Bad Bunny actually barely moved his face, but I just think that’s how he is. He’s not like Jim Carrey, moving his face around like crazy.
Speaking of Bad Bunny, what was it like working with him on the Met Gala this past year?
He’s super patient and quiet. He was very cooperative. You never want someone who’s going to complain the whole time. There are definitely a bunch of complainers out there who need to check themselves.
What are some drugstore makeup products you recommend for people trying to up the ante with their Halloween looks this year?
A lot of stores have pretty decent makeup now, even some of the professional stuff that I use. There’s a company called Mehron Makeup that is all over; you can get the paint we use in Hollywood. I think primary colors are the best. The more pigment in them, the better because you can mix any color from them. If you learn how to mix colors, you can create anything. All you need is red, blue, yellow, white, and black.
What about you? Do you dress up for Halloween?
Yeah, I dress up as a really, really tired person. At the end of Halloween, I just want to collapse and maybe eat something. [Laughs] I wish I could dress up, but I’m so exhausted that I never do.
