Part of that new spin comes from the new make-up costume designed for the film, which emphasizes Hellboy’s more human elements, especially compared to the monstrous version that Harbour had. “So much of the work is done for you… The suit is made for you. There’s a pre-designed look for Hellboy that they try to try to tweak a bit,” Kesy explains. “The physicality is a little bit tricky in the costume, but I got the hang of it. I got to bring out my own personal demons, and make a hybrid.”
While the trailer for The Crooked Man suggests that the story is a Hellboy solo mission that others happen to join along the way, Rudolph says it’s actually the opposite. “We’re on a mission,” she says of her character’s connection to Big Red in the movie. Rudolph plays Bobbie Jo Song, an agent of the Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense. “We’re on a job, the job goes rogue, and we pick up people on the way.”
Fans of the Hellboy comics and movies won’t recognize the name Bobbie Jo Song, and with good reason. She’s a new character to the mythos, original to the film. “She’s a rookie BPRD agent that works with Hellboy. They do this trips, and it’s her first into the field,” she teases. It just so happens that trip leads to an Appalachian town haunted by the film’s titular monster—a grotesque monster from Hell—and a coven of cannibal witches.
Although Bobbie Jo Song is a new addition to this classic tale, the movie largely sticks to the source material, the 2008 comic story by Mignola and artist Richard Corben. Mignola serves as a producer and co-writer on The Crooked Man, along with co-writer Christopher Golden and co-writer and director Brian Taylor, the latter best known for the Crank movies he made with Mark Neveldine.
In fact, Mignola had strong influence on the production, even if he didn’t work directly with the actors. “We were told how supportive he was, which helped. He was exciting for what we were doing, so that was definitely inspiring,” Kesy says.
“What was so great about having [Mignola] be a part of this movie was that it follows the comic so closely that even the source material was a great place to start because we’re immersing ourselves into this world,” adds Rudolph.