Here's How Long It Takes To Become A Guardian Of The Galaxy

Becoming a Guardian of the Galaxy isn't easy. If you're not already an actual super-powered galactic being, you're going to have to get past hundreds of other actors in your audition, impress not only writer/director James Gunn but also the Marvel studio execs, and prove that you are able to carry a character who is quite literally out of this world. On top of all of that, you're also going to have to look the part– but, luckily for anyone who doesn't naturally have green skin, there are some make-up pros at Marvel who can help you do that. The cast of the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 recently revealed to Yahoo! Movies how long each of them spent in the make-up chair getting ready to film, highlighting the skill of everyone involved in Marvel's productions.

The characters who get stuck in the chair for the most time are the ones who require full body paint, most notably Gamora, Nebula, Drax, and Yondu. Zoe Saldana, who recently posted a video showing a time-lapse version of the make-up process, says that her time in make-up actually got cut down for Vol. 2, although not by much– it went down from five hours to four. "It sucks that you have to wake up at 2:30 in the morning and by the time we start shooting you feel like you've already lived half a day working really hard," she said. "But every time I would come to set I would forget about it and I would get enthralled into whatever scene we were doing, whatever discussions we were having, whatever music James Gunn was playing. It was just fun."

Karen Gillan, who plays Gamora's sister Nebula, said she spent a similar amount of time getting her blue skin done, although she had an additional hurdle to jump for Vol. 2. While the actress shaved her head to play the bald character the first time around, she decided to keep her hair for the second film, saying that while being bald was "liberating," she wanted to leave her locks. Michael Rooker's Yondu, another blue character, also spent a similar amount of time getting ready, and took even longer for the second film because they added another layer of paint. "In a way it got easier," he said. "There were already five, six layers of paint... It's just like real skin." While Dave Bautista's Drax is also colorful, the actor said he only took 90 minutes for the second film, down from three to five hours for the first. "I feel bad even complaining anymore, my process is so fast," he said, adding that during the first film, he even tried sleeping in the body paint at one point but realized it didn't work.

The easiest to make up, of course, was Chris Pratt, who said that he occasionally rubbed his simple costume in his co-stars' faces. "I'm not sure that they don't hate me," he said. "I show up on set and they've already been there for several hours... I'm wearing my robe and my slippers, and I'm like, 'Oh, hey guys. Been here long? That's crazy— I just got here.'" "We always felt bad for him too," joked Saldana, saying that Pratt would complain about having to get his beard meticulously shaven and his facial massage done.

Hopefully, Marvel will be able to cut down the make-up times for the dedicated actors (minus Pratt) for Gunn's Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is due out May 5.