StarWars.com recently sat down with Tom Spina who designed the Saturday Night Live set for the skit “UNDERCOVER BOSS: STARKILLER BASE” which made Matt the Radar Technician an overnight internet success…
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Tom Spina of Tom Spina Designs was brought on to Saturday Night Live to design the set for “Undercover Boss: Starkiller Base”, which saw Adam Driver’s Kylo Ren go undercover as Matt the Radar Technician to see what the workers in the First Order thought of him. Of course, the skit was a huge success and Matt the Radar tech became an internet meme and household name, and it was all brought together by Tom Spina and his company.
SW.com asked Spina if he was allowed to use the actual Kylo Ren costume from The Force Awakens, and suprisingly, with the exception of the lightsaber (apparently it was a toy…a really good toy), he was.
"“Yeah, you know anytime there’s a costume or a prop made for a movie, there’s almost always multiples. But yeah, this was one of the costumes used in the movie and worn by Adam.”"
Spina goes on to comment on how heavy the actual Kylo Ren costume was.
"“It’s a LOT of layers. Two, it’s very heavy — it’s a surprisingly heavy costume. One of the layers felt like one of those vests that you get at the dentist, like the lead smock they put on you when you get the x-ray.”"
He then talks about the darkness of the fabric and outer cloak.
"“It absorbs a lot of light. If it was black it would almost look like pajamas; like if you took a picture of it you wouldn’t even see it. Anyway, the treatment that they did on it has a little bit of shine to it and it’s really cool because it makes it show up on film great, and you notice that there’s some interesting detail to it.”"
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Sounds like what Adam Driver says in The Force Awakens Blu-ray extras during the commentary, about how he got into character and got angry for Kylo Ren through getting dressed into the costume. I guess with all that fabric and heavy cloak, I would be angry, too. SW.com did as Spina about the Matt the Radar Tech. outfit design:
"“No, that was all SNL and all awesome! We were there for one cool moment though, when the costumer brought out a tray of glasses, and kind of just held them up to Adam and went, “Ok, which are the most Matt?” [Laughs] And he picked his choice from about a dozen awful, very bad glasses.”"
Sounds about right! A pair of glasses, a funny blonde wig, and a gray/orange jumpsuit, and you’ve got yourself an internet sensation. Well done, SNL and Mr. Spina, you made magic that fateful Saturday night, and we all thank you for it. You can read the full interview from StarWars.com with Tom Spina at the provided link.