- "Matilda the Musical" star Emma Thompson said it took "three hours" each day to get into costume.
- Thompson wears prosthetics underneath a military uniform for her role as Miss Trunchbull.
"Matilda the Musical" star Emma Thompson said that a team of "six people" were needed to carry her costume to set because it was so heavy.
Thompson stars as the iconic villain Miss Agatha Trunchbull in the upcoming Netflix movie, based on a Broadway musical of the famous Roald Dahl book.
Thompson had a big transformation for the role, which included a military outfit with heavy prosthetics underneath to give her the bulky, athletic physique of Miss Trunchbull.
During a press conference for the film at London Film Festival Wednesday, which Insider attended, Thompson admitted she was "worried" her costume would be too heavy to act in and she wouldn't be able to live up to past versions of the character.
"It took six people to get that woman to set every morning," Thompson said. "Six people, three hours, and I'm just one of them. You were part of this Trunchbull team."
Thompson said that she tested out the costume by attempting to frighten the movie's director, Matthew Warchus.
"So, I got into it for the first time, all of it. And I said: 'Let's test it out on Matthew. Let's see if I can frighten him,'" the "Nanny McPhee" actor continued. "But he came up and I kind of marched, barrelled toward him really fast and heavy and everything."
Warchus, who also participated in the press conference, added: "It was quite effective."
Thompson said in the press conference that she was confused when she was first cast in the role because Miss Trunchbull is played by male actors on stage. However, the director explained that he and the producers were trying to make the character feel more "real."
Thompson also explained that the outfit was inspired by the Broadway production.
"[Rob Powell, the costume designer] got an old pair of diving boots from people who used to go and mend the piles of bridges underwater in Chicago in the 1920s," she recalled. "That's fantastic because, the heavy heavy boot, which is a little bit Frankensteinian. She's a monster."
"Matilda the Musical" premieres on Netflix on December 25.