Tron: Legacy’s costumes weren’t just uncomfortable

Sci-fi and superhero costumes have a long history of being somewhat uncomfortable, but only a few have had the distinction of being legitimately dangerous. Sure, stretchy One-piece jumpsuit in the first season of “Star Trek: The Next Generation.” They were so restrictive that they gave Patrick Stewart back pain, but according to “Tron: Legacy” star Michael Sheen, those cool light suits from the 2010 “Tron” sequel were even more dangerous, and even electrocuted the film’s hero, Garrett Hedlund. Uncomfortable fashion is one thing, but being uncomfortable with your clothes is a whole other thing, and it sounds like a really bad time at work. (Unless that’s your thing. No judgement.)

In an interview with eagleSheen shared all the ins and outs behind the making of “Tron: Legacy,” and while his clothes were so restrictive that he had to be transported on a hand truck between scenes, he felt bad for Hedlund, who apparently kept getting bumped out of his suit whenever he sweated. When you take into account the heat from the studio lights and how hot those costumes are anyway, this creates a great deal of unexpected electricity. “Tron: Legacy” helped pave the way for our modern cinematic landscapeFor better or worse, Hedlund probably deserves more love because he went through such a lot of pain to end up like this He was excluded from the sequel “Tron: Ares”.

In “Tron: Legacy”, Shane played the prospect Castor, who ran the End of the Line Club. Castor’s costume is kind of a wild white-and-gray mix of David Bowie and a pop star from the “Star Wars” universe, but his light-up elements are pretty cool. Unfortunately, the whole thing was very uncomfortable to wear. As Shane explained:

“The costume I had on was incredibly uncomfortable but also kind of amazing. We all had to sew these clothes. Once you had them on—my clothes, of course, anyway—you couldn’t sit down. They had to bring us these special things, like the thing that Hannibal Lecter rolls over. When you wanted to rest on set, you had to lean against these things that you were kind of restricted to. And this It tells you what the outfit looked like. Electricity was running through it. It was capable of lighting, and it had all these wires. I remember that poor Garrett was constantly being electrocuted during the fight scenes. “His body was burning because he was sweating from the fight scenes, and this thing was just electrocuting him.”

While these days this kind of effect can be achieved through digital solutions or using low-wattage LEDs that require much less power (and therefore won’t shock Hedlund, at least not as bad), real light strips were unfortunately the best way to create the effect around the late 2000s when “Tron: Legacy” was filmed. At least it still looks great 15 years later, and things have evolved enough that the most annoying part of filming “Tron: Ares” was just… Forced to share the group with Jared Leto. This is better than getting electrocuted… right?