Lord Voldemort’s make-up artist to open prosthetics school

Make-up artist Shaune Harrison, the man responsible for the prosthetic make-up of such characters as Lord Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes) and Mad-Eye Moody (Brendan Gleeson) on the set of the Harry Potter films, has announced that he will be opening his own make-up school – the Shaune Harrison Academy – in Greater Manchester, where he is currently accepting applications.  He was recently interviewed by Mancunian Matters, in which he discussed his career change.  With 25 years of experience, it was during Harrison’s work on Harry Potter that he first realized he enjoyed teaching his craft to others.

On ending his own career to help nurture those of others, he said,

For me personally it’s more of a younger person’s job, doing prosthetics. I could carry on and carry on until I hit my 50s, but this felt like the right time to take a break.

On the official Facebook page of the Shaune Harrison Academy, Harrison has uploaded photos from his work over the years, including some from the Harry Potter films.  Check out some of them in the gallery below:

Harrison himself adds that he had no formal training on prosthetics, saying,

I was from a normal background, and I didn’t know how to get into prosthetics.  I had no one to help me, so I just started making stuff.

He cites Return of the Jedi for having inspired his foray into prosthetic make-up:

It catapulted me through from making spaceships to ‘I want to make cool creatures!’

Over the next few years, Harrison plans to expand the Shaune Harrison Academy so that he can educate those aspiring to careers in make-up artistry and prosthetics.

To read Harrison’s full interview with Mancunian Matters, click here.

For more information on the Shaune Harrison Academy – including how YOU can apply – visit the official website here.

Would you like to learn how the looks of the Harry Potter characters were created?  Do you plan on applying to the Shaune Harrison Academy?  Let us know in the comments!