Bill Nighy’s ornate costume gives a bloodsucker the right look in ‘Underworld: Rise of the Lycans’

The bloodsuckers of “Underworld: Rise of the Lycans” skulk in the shadows of a gloomy medieval castle, but their leader, Viktor (Bill Nighy), sports a look best described as “vampire fabulous.” Goth rockers everywhere are pale with envy.

“Let’s face it, Viktor’s a pretty fabulous character,” said costume designer Jane Holland. Given the film’s habitual darkness, “the choice of fabrics and their interplay with light was very important. With Viktor’s main costume there was a three-dimensional embroidered brocade that gave it texture.”

Holland said much of the outfit’s effectiveness came from Nighy’s lanky physicality and how he bit into the role. Once he put on the ornate, fitted jacket and black robes, “everything about him transformed -- the way he moved -- he embraced it completely.”

The movie’s not a period piece but a fantasy set in medieval times, so they aimed for a shade of timelessness. “On his first filming day, he and [costar] Steven Mackintosh, they were high up on a stone balcony” blocking a scene, she said. “Then they looked at each other and started playing air guitar.”

-- Michael Ordona