Robert Eggers turned Lily-Rose Depp into a mud-caked medieval farmer’s wife for “Werwulf,” complete with a prosthetic cleft lip, facial scars, and a head wrapped in a burgundy scarf. Depp was photographed in late November 2025 at Bourne Wood near Farnham, England, in a heavy wool costume, carrying a swaddled baby through a village of thatched houses.
It’s a hard turn from the role that earned her a wave of acclaim. In 2024’s “Nosferatu,” Eggers kept Depp luminous and porcelain pale as the possessed Ellen Hutter, with makeup designer Traci Loader building the look through planned pallor, subtle veining, and real eye blood rather than heavy prosthetics.
For “Werwulf,” a new hair-and-makeup team led by Christine Blundell and special makeup effects artist Chris Lyons went the other way, adding appliances, dirt, and period poverty. Depp plays Aaron Taylor-Johnson’s wife, a mother of several children and a farmer. Eggers says none of the characters have names except a dog.
He’s described the change as going deep. “Lily is truly transformative,” he told Esquire in June 2026. “There’s a very clear physical change in her body and her makeup, but she inhabits a very different person that’s very different from her and very different from any character she’s ever played.”
The look drew criticism when first-look images circulated: some coverage branded it “de-glammed,” and UK charity Changing Faces called for responsible, respectful reporting on how a prosthetic cleft lip was being framed.
