It’s Not Easy Being Green

When Lou Ferrigno portrayed one of the most revered characters in comic-book history, he began his day with three hours in make up. Between takes on The Incredible Hulk, he had to retreat to the solitude of an air conditioned trailer to best ensure his green visage would remain intact. He had to wear hard green contact lenses, that he could only keep in 15 minutes of the time. It took 90 minutes to get the make-up off.

It was the 1970s, and The Incredible Hulk was one of the most popular shows on television. Ferrigno split the role of Dr. Banner/Hulk with the late Bill Bixby. When someone inevitably made Dr. Banner angry, the Hulk came out, and Ferrigno was seen on screen, in green.

For Ferrigno, who was a two-time Mr. Universe bodybuilding champion before making it to the screen, it was worth it. And, while he follows the exploits of the Hulk in the Marvel Universe, he’s not a fan of how much CGI is used.

“The one thing I’d complain about, and this my personal opinion, is that CGI should not dominate the love and the courage of film,” said Ferrigno, who is in the city this weekend to meet fans at the Edmonton Expo. He was at the Art Gallery of Alberta Thursday night for a kickoff event. “CGI was great for Star Wars, for Avatar, those were great movies. But, when it comes to a character like the Hulk, you have a wonderful chemistry, don’t mess with it, keep it the way it is.”

He thinks the use of CGI has “changed the chemistry” of the Hulk character.

“And once you change the chemistry of the character, then it could go either way, you can flip a coin with the public.”

While Bixby and Ferrigno were TV icons, and were seen on posters and lunchboxes and t-shirts across the world, Marvel Studios struggled with the Hulk’s character. Three different actors — Eric Bana, Edward Norton and, currently, Mark Ruffalo — have played the character. Ferrigno says he has major respect for them all as actors.

Let’s just bring back the make-up, please.