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Barrie Gower

Barrie Gower

Costume & Make-Up

Biography

Barrie Gower is a five-time Emmy-winning prosthetics designer. Gower grew up in the north of England, where his father managed a cinema. As he became a teenager, he became heavily involved in art—mostly drawings and sculpture. Still, in those early days, his mission felt like more “of a pipe dream.” With the support of his mom, Gower applied for art programmes, stumbling upon one promising option at the London College of Fashion. He didn't get into the university in the first year, as he didn't have any evidence of doing any hairstyling or makeup (although he had a portfolio). His mother enrolled him in a hairdressing course, and the following year he was accepted at LCF, where he “managed to meet quite a lot of industry professionals.” Barrie began his career in the film industry in 1996 after graduating from the London College of Fashion with a HND in Specialist Make-up. His first role was at the BBC Visual Effects Department on projects including ‘Red Dwarf’ and ‘Silent Witness’. The following year, Barrie was employed on his first major feature film, Steven Spielberg's 'Saving Private Ryan'. Barrie has since worked for industry-leading companies and individuals such as Weta Workshop and multi-award winner Rick Baker. Barrie contributed to the Academy Award-winning prosthetics for 'The Wolfman' (2011) and 'The Iron Lady' (2012). After 10 years working in the Harry Potter film world and then freelancing on other large-scale projects, Gower decided to start his own company, BGFX, with his wife, Sarah, also a prosthetics designer. They’d met working on a film in Budapest. At that time, she was part of the CGI visual effects department. BGFX began as an at-home studio but quickly launched into the big leagues when it received its first major opportunity: designing prosthetics for season four of HBO’s Game of Thrones. Thrones was the beginning of a fruitful relationship with HBO, one that has seen the couple spearheading designs for many more of the network’s biggest hits, among them House of the Dragon and The Last of Us. For the former, the job primarily centred around the ageing and decay of Paddy Considine’s character, the doomed king Viserys Targaryen. Simultaneously, BGFX was handling The Last of Us, which Gower is quick to describe as “the biggest thing we’ve ever done.” For that series, the company was tasked with designing and executing a whole world consumed by a fungus, plus the resulting zombie-like creatures that are born out of those spores. They didn’t have to start from scratch, however, relying on the catalogue of work created for the original 2013 video game by developer Naughty Dog.

Known For

Game of Thrones
8.5

Seven noble families fight for control of the mythical land of Westeros. Friction between the houses leads to full-scale war. All while a very ancient evil awakens in the farthest north. Amidst the war, a neglected military order of misfits, the Night's Watch, is all that stands between the realms of men and icy horrors beyond.

Game of Thrones

2011
House of the Dragon
8.3

The Targaryen dynasty is at the absolute apex of its power, with more than 15 dragons under their yoke. Most empires crumble from such heights. In the case of the Targaryens, their slow fall begins when King Viserys breaks with a century of tradition by naming his daughter Rhaenyra heir to the Iron Throne. But when Viserys later fathers a son, the court is shocked when Rhaenyra retains her status as his heir, and seeds of division sow friction across the realm.

House of the Dragon

2022
The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power
7.2

Beginning in a time of relative peace, we follow an ensemble cast of characters as they confront the re-emergence of evil to Middle-earth. From the darkest depths of the Misty Mountains, to the majestic forests of Lindon, to the breathtaking island kingdom of Númenor, to the furthest reaches of the map, these kingdoms and characters will carve out legacies that live on long after they are gone.

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power

2022
Masters of the Universe
9.2

After being separated for 15 years, the Sword of Power leads Prince Adam back to Eternia, where he discovers his home shattered under the fiendish rule of Skeletor. To save his family and his world, Adam must join forces with his closest allies, Teela and Duncan/Man-At-Arms, and embrace his true destiny as He-Man — the most powerful man in the universe.

Masters of the Universe

2026
The Last of Us
8.4

Twenty years after modern civilization has been destroyed, Joel, a hardened survivor, is hired to smuggle Ellie, a 14-year-old girl, out of an oppressive quarantine zone. What starts as a small job soon becomes a brutal, heartbreaking journey, as they both must traverse the United States and depend on each other for survival.

The Last of Us

2023
Chernobyl
8.7

The true story of one of the worst man-made catastrophes in history: the catastrophic nuclear accident at Chernobyl. A tale of the brave men and women who sacrificed to save Europe from unimaginable disaster.

Chernobyl

2019
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1
7.7

Harry, Ron and Hermione walk away from their last year at Hogwarts to find and destroy the remaining Horcruxes, putting an end to Voldemort's bid for immortality. But with Harry's beloved Dumbledore dead and Voldemort's unscrupulous Death Eaters on the loose, the world is more dangerous than ever.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1

2010
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
8.0

Harry Potter's life is in danger once more as dangerous wizard Sirius Black has escaped from Azkaban Prison and is heading to Hogwarts.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

2004
Troy
7.2

In year 1250 B.C. during the late Bronze age, two emerging nations begin to clash. Paris, the Trojan prince, convinces Helen, Queen of Sparta, to leave her husband Menelaus, and sail with him back to Troy. After Menelaus finds out that his wife was taken by the Trojans, he asks his brother Agamemnon to help him get her back. Agamemnon sees this as an opportunity for power. They set off with 1,000 ships holding 50,000 Greeks to Troy.

Troy

2004
The Fantastic 4: First Steps
7.0

Against the vibrant backdrop of a 1960s-inspired, retro-futuristic world, Marvel's First Family is forced to balance their roles as heroes with the strength of their family bond, while defending Earth from a ravenous space god called Galactus and his enigmatic Herald, Silver Surfer.

The Fantastic 4: First Steps

2025
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
8.1

Harry, Ron and Hermione continue their quest to vanquish the evil Voldemort once and for all. Just as things begin to look hopeless for the young wizards, Harry discovers a trio of magical objects that endow him with powers to rival Voldemort's formidable skills.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2

2011
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness
7.2

Doctor Strange, with the help of mystical allies both old and new, traverses the mind-bending and dangerous alternate realities of the Multiverse to confront a mysterious new adversary.

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness

2022
The Great
8.1

A genre-bending, anti-historical ride through 18th century Russia following the rise of Catherine the Nothing to Catherine the Great and her explosive relationship with husband Peter, the emperor of Russia.

The Great

2020
Not Going Out
7.4

Lee is a childish northerner who lives in a fancy penthouse apartment in London who goes through a variety of jobs such as a janitor and ice cream man, as well as attempting relationships with female flatmates. His best mate, Daily Mail reading, middle-class citizen Tim is always there to stop Lee from getting in trouble, or not? Mayhem is never far away with cleaner Barbara who has never done an honest day's work in her life.

Not Going Out

2006
28 Days Later
7.2

Twenty-eight days after a killer virus was accidentally unleashed from a British research facility, a small group of London survivors are caught in a desperate struggle to protect themselves from the infected. Carried by animals and humans, the virus turns those it infects into homicidal maniacs -- and it's absolutely impossible to contain.

28 Days Later

2002
Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones
6.6

Following an assassination attempt on Senator Padmé Amidala, Jedi Knights Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi investigate a mysterious plot into the heart of the Separatist movement and the beginning of the Clone Wars.

Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones

2002
Midsommar
7.1

Several friends travel to Sweden to study as anthropologists a summer festival that is held every ninety years in the remote hometown of one of them. What begins as a dream vacation in a place where the sun never sets, gradually turns into a dark nightmare as the mysterious inhabitants invite them to participate in their disturbing festive activities.

Midsommar

2019
Life of Pi
7.4

The story of an Indian boy named Pi, a zookeeper's son who finds himself in the company of a hyena, zebra, orangutan, and a Bengal tiger after a shipwreck sets them adrift in the Pacific Ocean.

Life of Pi

2012
Britannia
6.9

An epic drama set in 43AD as the Roman Imperial Army – determined and terrified in equal measure - returns to crush the Celtic heart of Britannia - a mysterious land ruled by warrior women and powerful druids who can channel the powerful forces of the underworld. Or so they say.

Britannia

2018
Annihilation
6.4

A biologist signs up for a dangerous, secret expedition into a mysterious zone where the laws of nature don't apply.

Annihilation

2018