While the debate rages on as to whether the elusive cryptid known as Bigfoot even exists, the new film from directors David and Nathan Zellner, Sasquatch Sunset, is looking to change Hollywood’s perception of the creature. In the past, Bigfoot has often been portrayed as a savage beast out for blood, with a few exceptions, such as Harry and the Hendersons in 1987. Now, he has an entire family to support, has to deal with a pubescent child, and has to worry about where his next meal will come from. Welcome to the real world, Bigfoot.

The quirky film stars Jesse Eisenberg, Riley Keough, co-director Nathan Zellner, and the amazing Christophe Zajac-Denek, who’s no stranger to prosthetics. As a nearly 20-year veteran in Hollywood, the 4’4” actor has portrayed everything from a menacing devil to a Troompa Loompa on Jimmy Kimmel Live. He’s also noted for his role as Ike ‘The Spike’ Stadtler in the revival of David Lynch’s Twin Peaks in 2017.

With Sasquatch Sunset, we’re treated to an entire year in the life of a unique family of wild Sasquatches, where nothing is off-limits. MovieWeb caught up with Zajac-Denek to discuss his role in the film, and what the process was like for becoming Bigfoot. Along the way, we also discussed what it was like to be directed by David Lynch in Twin Peaks.

It All Started with a Look (Book)
For Zajac-Denek, his role in Sasquatch Sunset all started with a lookbook, and from there he knew he had to land the part. Though he tried hard not to get his hopes up, the appeal of being in the film was just too exciting for him. Once he got the chance to meet with co-directors David and Nathan Zellner, it was the mutual understanding of what everyone was going for that ultimately led to him being cast.

“I don’t remember if they sent me a part of the script, but they sent the lookbook, and as soon as I saw the lookbook I’m like, ‘I’m going to work so hard to not get my hopes up. Because if I don’t get it, then I just need to forget about it.’ That’s the truth. I wanted it so badly. I was so stoked to get called.
“And then we did the audition, which essentially was a conversation with just the three of us. I felt like I understood what they were going for. I felt like I understood the tone. And it sounds like on their end that’s really what they wanted, was somebody who understood that it’s supposed to be played as true as possible.”

When asked what was inside the lookbook that appealed to him so much, Christophe said that it was “five or six pages” that featured images of “redwoods and trees and landscapes,” but really it was the images of Jesse Eisenberg and Nathan Zellner in their prosthetic molds that won him over.

“Jesse was the first one that was signed on. And I think Nathan also went through life casting, and they had already made the the prosthetic molds and the creature costume molds. So they sent me photos of Nathan and Jesse and I was like, ‘yes, that’s super.'”

Sasquatch School is In Session
Bleecker Street

While most people relish the chance to be done with school in all its forms and get out into the real world, Christophe found himself in the unique position of having to go back to school to learn how to become a Sasquatch. This included collaborating with his co-stars and directors on how to approach the mannerisms and vocalizations of the cryptid and watching videos of apes. He said practicing for the film was something they all did daily.

“David and Nathan [Zellner] are both just encyclopedias of knowledge about Sasquatch and Bigfoot and apes and all things that go bump in the woods. So they came with a lot of information, and when we started to talk about how to approach the movements and the mannerisms and the walk and vocalizations, they sent me a dozen videos of apes. We know how to be the human side of the Sasquatch because we’re walking around all the time. They really wanted us to get comfortable with more of the ape-like movements in our acting, and even practicing on a daily basis.”

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When it came time to put everything into practice, an unlikely ally was brought on board by way of Lorin Eric Salm, a movement coach that Eisenberg worked with previously, who was trained by the famed French mime artist Marcel Marceau. Training included learning how to eat, and even something as minuscule as carrying a stick. For Zajac-Denek, it was some of the most fun he’d ever had for a role.

“Jesse had worked with Lorin Eric Salm prior, he’s a movement coach that was trained by Marcel Marceau. The guy was a genius. We did a couple of Zoom calls with him, and then he also came up to Eureka and taught us how to eat berries and arugula and carry sticks around an office building. I don’t know if I’ve had more fun in my life. That was so much fun, just kind of destroying an office room in a building. It was amazing.”

Emoting Through Prosthetics

Throughout the course of his career, Christophe has had a lot of prosthetics glued to his face, but for Sasquatch Sunset, the real challenge came in learning how to show emotions through the prosthetics. While he’s had to do that in the past, for this film, finding that balance was a challenge thanks to there being absolutely no dialogue.

“I’ve done a lot of stuff where a lot of times the foam is in front of my face. So nothing is even coming through. And then I’ve also had a ton of stuff glued to my head and my face. This was the highest quality prosthetics, and then also the most I had to emote through the most amount of prosthetics. And I think that was the biggest challenge. When you’re acting for film you want to be subtle. There’s so much that is said through the eyes and subtle movements. You can’t be as subtle with all the prosthetics and glue and paint and everything on your face.”

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He would go on to talk about the various difficulties, adding, “I had to learn how to isolate different muscles on my face to move certain parts of the prosthetics and stuff like that. They would call ‘cut,’ and I’d say ‘are you gonna use that, was that okay?'” He continues, “You can’t tell as an actor with all that going on. At least for the first week. We kind of got the feel for it going forward. But that was challenging.”

On Working with David Lynch
Showtime

As someone who has been around Hollywood for a long time, Christophe Zajac-Denek isn’t one to get starstruck, but even he couldn’t help but be a little nervous working with legendary filmmaker David Lynch on the revival of Twin Peaks in 2017. Christophe portrayed Ike ‘The Spike’ Stadtler, a hitman for hire, for four episodes, and said that it was an “incredible experience,” calling Lynch “easy to work with.”

“He is amazing. Honestly. He’s really laid back, he’s really chill and easy to work with. I don’t really get so starstruck, but I was definitely nervous to show up on set. I had worked with my friend Nancy, who was the wardrobe supervisor on Twin Peaks, and she sneakily found out that I was going to be there, and when we went over to set she got me all dressed up in Ike’s gear, and we hopped out of the van, and she took my hand, and she walked me over to meet David, and he just saw me and he got this smile on his face, and he said, ‘Ike,’ and after that…it was such an incredible experience.”

Sasquatch Sunset made its world premiere at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival on January 19 and will see a limited theatrical release on April 12, 2024, before going nationwide a week later.