Where did inspiration for the mask come from?Our basic character was an urban guerilla fighter against a tyranny, but we needed him to be more theatrical and flamboyant and eccentric. It had been established that he would be an escapee from a medical experiment lab and mentally affected by that, so the craziness of having him adopt the persona the costume and the mission of the historic thwarted revolutionary, Guy Fawkes, seemed like a good way of giving us what we wanted for V. It was an insane brainstorm of mine that just fit into to what we needed. And I wanted his mask to be an ordinary one you could get in any store around November the 5th but we created V in the Summer so I couldn't get one anywhere, so I invented my own.
What is the meaning behind the expression on the mask?
The smile was an accident caused by my memory of the moustache on the regular masks that I couldn't find. But it was a happy accident. Meaning? Resonance, more. Smile on the face of the tiger. Smile in the face of adversity. Smile though your heart is aching. Laugh and the world laughs with you. Immovable, inviolable optimism...
I'm just glad I took the opportunity to dress up as V for Halloween years before the movie. For one thing it meant I avoided the fate of those who in subsequent years came as Rasputin (we had the original Hellboy comic book version, the movie version and the historical Russian mystic in the same room) and the Joker. I still have the mask I made somewhere (like Lloyd I was sure I should be able to find a Guy Fawkes mask in a store, but it proved elusive).