Fake blood and lots of mud: The designer bringing costumes to life

A costume designer has said she is living out her "dream" after landing work on the sets of some of her favourite shows.

Roxanne Warren, from Blackpool, was a fan of TV series Peaky Blinders before getting a job on its upcoming film, The Immortal Man. She said: "When I got the call to do the film, I was so excited!"

Working alongside Oscar-winning actor Cillian Murphy, Warren said he was "a gentleman" and "such a lovely man to work with".

Despite being a fan of Murphy's, she added: "No matter how you feel about the actor you have to hold it in because this is work!"

Her role as a costume breakdown artist involves "putting the character into the costume" by ageing or adapting clothes to fit the story, and can involve staining and splattering them with fake blood or mud. It proved a much-needed skill on The Immortal Man, which is set during wartime Britain in the 1940s.

Growing up, Warren said she loved watching films with her mum and was drawn to what went on behind the scenes. It led her to study filmmaking and then to her first costume job on a production called Sequins, which was set in Blackpool.

Working from her garage at home, Warren said she researches characters before altering their clothing, using chemicals and dyes to age fabrics and even sanding down shoes.

On one occasion, she said, fake blood spilt and started to seep out of the garage. She said: "I had to knock on next door to say, 'By the way, that's fake'!"

She told BBC Radio Lancashire: "I sometimes have to create a look of something that hasn't happened yet" because productions are not always filmed in chronological order.

Recalling her work on The Third Day, she said: "Jude Law's character goes through a bit of a time and he does someone in. And I had to do the blood splatters."

"I had to work out how he was doing it and how many weapons he was using. We didn't know yet, so I had to guess," she said.

For Warren, who has also worked on Netflix sci-fi horror film The Last House and BBC series The Gallows Pole, seeing her name in the credits of The Immortal Man was a hugely proud moment. She said she shed a "little tear".

She is now busy working on future projects and, when asked which set she would most like to work on, the answer comes in a flash.

"Lord of the Rings! It's the film that got me into all of this."

Listen to the best of BBC Radio Lancashire on Sounds and follow BBC Lancashire on Facebook, X and Instagram. You can also send story ideas via Whatsapp to 0808 100 2230.