Following the death of the actor, this is the opportunity to tell you behind the scenes of one of the most significant scenes (literally and figuratively) of his career.
This Saturday, November 9, we learned of the death, at the age of 69, of actor Tony Todd. In addition to his very long career in cinema and on stage, he was best known to horror fans for his role in the 90s trilogy Candymanwhich was entitled to a sequel in 2021, directed by Jordan Peele and in which Tony Todd reprized his legendary role.
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He played the title role, that of the ghost of a black artist, Daniel Robitaille, who lived in the 19th century, the son of a slave, who was lynched and brutally murdered (technically, by a swarm of bees while he was tried to take refuge near beehives) for having had a romantic relationship with a white woman. More than a century later, a Chicago student named Helen (played by Virginia Madsen) becomes interested in his urban legend. It says that if you say his name, Candyman, five times in front of a mirror, he appears to take revenge.
In one of the most iconic scenes from the first film, directed in 1992 by Bernard Rose, Candyman approaches Helen to kiss her. It is then that a cloud of bees comes out of its mouth and covers it almost entirely. A scene that left its mark, literally and figuratively: no special effects were used here, all the bees (200,000 in total!) are real and alive.
The director therefore asked Tony Todd to house hundreds of these critters in his mouth. The actor was obviously not a fan of the idea, not to mention that his on-screen partner, Virginia Madsen, was deathly allergic. Safety measures were still taken to avoid a serious accident (and the complete shutdown of the film): first aiders were obviously on set, the production used “baby bees” whose sting is less virulent, and Tony Todd wore a sort of wall inside his mouth so that nothing would get into his throat.
The actor still obtained, thanks to his lawyer, to be paid $1000 per bee sting. And he had flair, because on the day of filming the famous scene, he was actually stung 27 times. We’ll save you a calculation: he thus pocketed $27,000, enough to ease the pain a little. Virginia Madsen was fortunately completely spared.
