For the bulk of his career in film and television, Javier Botet has worked as a specialized type of actor known as a creature performer. As the name implies, that means he more often than not portrays inhuman or monstrous characters that require a lot of preparation in the way of prosthetics and makeup. In addition to Dracula, Botet has played some of the most terrifying horror movie villains out there. He has appeared as the Crooked Man in “The Conjuring 2,” a Xenomorph in “Alien: Covenant,” various forms of It in 2017’s “It” and 2019’s “It Chapter Two,” and Slender Man in “Slender Man,” just to name a few. Suffice to say, he knows his way around horror.
Interestingly enough, Botet has the unique capacity to physically manipulate his body — something which he uses to great effect in his creature roles. “”I have a disease called Marfan syndrome. It makes people skinnier, taller, and very flexible,” the actor explained in an interview with the BBC. “So I was all my life very flexible, all my life doing weird tricks and things to enjoy with my friends [using] very creepy movement.” In the same interview, Botet described himself as “born to perform.”
While many of Botet’s biggest roles are scare-filled creature flicks, he has also amassed credits in non-horror productions — some of which have him in prosthetics, while others don’t. Over the span of his work, Botet has appeared in all manner of Spanish TV shows and films. Recent years have also seen him cross over to mainstream sci-fi and fantasy franchises, appearing as an undead wight in “Game of Thrones” and the alien Ba’ul in “Star Trek Discovery.”
