The Death Cure

I'm absolutely thrilled to have had the opportunity to contribute to all the films in the Maze Runner trilogy. For the third installment, director Wes Ball entrusted me with the task of designing the menacing character, Lawrence, portrayed by the talented actor Walton Goggins. Upon completing the character design, StudioADI and Weta Digital skillfully employed my work for the makeup effects and digital nose removal.

The Death Cure

In the epic finale to the Maze Runner saga, Thomas leads his group of escaped Gladers on their final and most dangerous mission yet. To save their friends, they must break into the legendary Last City, a WCKD-controlled labyrinth that may turn out to be the deadliest maze of all. Anyone who makes it out alive will get answers to the questions the Gladers have been asking since they first arrived in the maze.

The Death Cure | Trailer

Young hero Thomas embarks on a mission to find a cure for a deadly disease known as the "Flare".

THE DEATH CURE - Lawrence Character Designs!

Collection of character designs I did for THE DEATH CURE.

Lawrence Sketch

It’s always exciting to design a character from scratch. Wes wanted to hint at what the book fans missed in the second movie, a noseless Crank called “Mr. Nose”. Lawrence is basically a "talking" Crank and kind of insane but able to make conversation. The evolution of the design changed heavily throughout the process. This was the first sketch I sent to Wes.

Lawrence Face V01

The constant injections of the immune serum enables Lawrence to live longer than a regular infected person. I tried to visualize how his body is literally decomposed from the virus over the years. This 3D concept felt a bit too scary and grotesque, but Wes liked the idea of clipped growths which we developed further in following concepts.

Lawrence 3D Maquette

Some Keyshot renders of a 3D maquette I sculpted in ZBrush.

Lawrence Face V02

Another 3D concept I did of Lawrence. At first we only see him in the dark, not sure what’s wrong with him yet… hence the task was to come up with an interesting and unique shape.

Lawrence Face V03

Then he steps into the light to reveal; the guy is a monster... I imagined half of his head has been eaten away from the virus. Although the goal was to make him look like a monster, this version still felt a bit too scary and distracting.

Lawrence Face V04

The challenge was to make Lawrence look monstrous, but not to go too distracting with the gore. Wes loved this version as it was less gross and it holds more onto the humanity of the character.

Lawrence Clothing V01

Lawrence is a leader and has followers, he is almost priest-like for them. I tried to convey that with this outfit. Also, I made his body heavily crippled to show the side effects of the immune serum and virus.

Lawrence Clothing V02

Lawrence in his bathrobe. I tried to come up with a functional way to fixate his IV bag, without the need of a stand.

Final Lawrence Make Up Concept 01

After actor Walton Goggins was cast to play Lawrence, Wes asked me to create a final concept for the make-up. The end result in the film was a combination between practical make-up by Studio ADI, and digital vfx done by Weta Digital.

Final Lawrence Make Up Concept 02

Side view of his ugly side.

Crank Arms

Infected arm.

Lawrence Clothing V04

Final Hero Design.

Crank Girl

The infected girl that Teresa is trying to cure, had to look human but at the same time sort of scary. It was important for Wes that we feel bad for her.