Though we had seen glimpses of White Walkers well before this past season of Game of Thrones, it wasn’t until the eighth episode of season five “Hard Home” that we really got to see what they were all about. The Night’s King (the White Walker leader) appeared out of nowhere, and had Jon Snow, his brothers in Black and the Wildlings terrified AF. After all that’s been going down in Westeros, it looks like we’re going to be seeing a whole lot more of the White Walkers when the sixth season of GoT premieres next April.
Because these snowy zombies look so creepy, one would assume that they were computer animated. However, the Walkers are actually played by actors who are wearing a crap ton of makeup and prosthetics. (Somehow the fact that they have these human like qualities and features makes them scarier.) Actor Ross Mullan played the the White Walker who was eventually killed by Jon Snow in seasons 2-4 of the series. He told The Verge “Working with masks taught me how to bring things to life using something other than my own face.”
It actually took six hours of makeup in order transform Mullan into the White Walker, and the prosthetics involved were equally as intense. They were sculpted from a full-body cast of the actor, broken down and then reapplied piece by piece. Since we all don’t have hours to spare in the makeup chair, here is a step-by-step guide to becoming a Game Of Thrones White Walker.
1. Be a guy
Though video of actors being made-up as White Walkers reveals that some are actually played by women, in the World of Westeros is looks like all of the Walkers are male.
2. Have Craster as a daddy
Luckily Craster is long dead and can no longer father any more children. However, if you were born a male to Craster and one of his daughters (DISGUSTING) your chances of being a Walker were super ridiculously high.
3. Give up your soul to a blue eyed-gal
YASSSS, we love when woman have all of the REAL power. Legend has it that The Night’s King fell in love with a blue-eyed, moon-white woman. Their union was apparently “super unholy” and when he gave her his seed, he also gave up his soul which is how he became a Walker. If you’re looking into becoming a Walker, perhaps you should look into adjusting your preferences on your online dating profiles.
4. Learn to speak Skorth
It probably won’t be taught at your local university, but Skorth is the language of the White Walkers. Apparently, GoT’s sound engineers developed it to sound like ice breaking.
BONUS: Be sure to avoid Dragon glass and Valyrian steel.
They are not your friends.
If these steps seem far too difficult to follow, you can always find a kick ass makeup artists to give you the White Walker look.
Check out how they transform actors into White Walkers on GoT below:
