Christopher Abbott Says Chewing on His Leg in Wolf Man Was ‘Gross’ but ‘Delicious’

For Christopher Abbott, chewing on his prosthetic limbs in Wolf Man wasn’t all that bad.

The actor, 38, transforms into the iconic movie monster in the new reboot also starring Julia Garner and newcomer Matilda Firth. Taking on the title role meant hours in the makeup chair for Abbott, who also has to take a bite out of his bloody arm and leg for different scenes.

“There’s a lot of sugar in that blood stuff,” Abbott explained in an interview with Mama’s Geeky. “There’s one scene … where I’m gnawing on my leg. It was gross but it was kinda delicious. Like, the blood is sugar, and I think — I swear to God, I think the bone part was, like, white chocolate or something like that. Something with white chocolate on it.”

“I mean, it’s not like I want it, but it wasn’t horrible,” the star added.

Abbott said he “laughed immediately” when he saw himself in the full werewolf makeup for the first time. “It’s scary and all that stuff, but it’s so ridiculous.”

Preparing for the animalistic role, “Research-wise, it’s the first time I’ve had to research more National Geographic–type stuff than other movies,” Abbott told ComicBook.com. “There’s different levels as the process is happening. There’s maybe 80 percent human, 20 percent animal, and then that shifts.”

“So to track how a human would react to something as opposed to an animal; a human reacts one way, if it feels ill or if it’s scared, as opposed to how does an animal act, how, if it feels ill, all its little levels,” he explained.

Wolf Man is from writer-director Leigh Whannell (2020’s The Invisible Man). Abbott plays Blake, a San Francisco man who inherits a rural Oregon farmhouse after his dad vanishes.

“With his marriage to his high-powered wife Charlotte (Garner), fraying, Blake persuades Charlotte to take a break from the city and visit the property with their young daughter Ginger (Firth),” teases a synopsis.

Eventually, they’re attacked by an animal and barricade themselves inside the remote house. “As the night stretches on, however, Blake begins to behave strangely, transforming into something unrecognizable,” the synopsis adds.

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Garner, 30, told ScreenRant that the first time she saw Abbott in the “incredible” prosthetics “I could not stop looking at him. It was very weird and bizarre. And I was just like, ‘Oh my God, this is terrifying.’ And then I got used to it after like, three days.”

She added, “I think, actually, it’s more scary when it is a slower transition, because I still recognized little elements of Chris. His skin and his hair were changing, but he still had his eyes. And I think if you want to make anything scarier, just go with something familiar.”

Wolf Man is in theaters now.