My father was a sound editor, so I was always around films. And I loved monsters. I started watching the Ray Harryhausen films and the Universal classics, especially Creature from the Black Lagoon.

Who inspired you?

Rick Baker (Star Wars, An American Werewolf in London) and Stan Winstone (Terminator, Jurassic Park) were, and still are, my role models. Stan’s shop was walking distance from my house. I used to go over and look at all the creatures on the walls.

You are now co-founder of your own make-up studio, KNB. What do you look for in an employee?

A sense of history, a tough skin and enthusiasm. They can hone their artistic ability, but they can’t develop enthusiasm.

How does the make-up process work?

We start with design. The KNB house style is extreme realism, so for Narnia we found parts of existing animals to incorporate into the creatures. The minotaurs were a mix of bull, buffalo and gorilla. After that we go into sculpture, then moulding, and then we create all the foam- rubber skins. The final stage is the painting — if you can paint well you can make anything look great.

And on set?

I’m involved exclusively with the application of the make-up. On Narnia my fellow make-up artists and I were with James McEvoy more than anybody. I would pick James up at three in the morning, do three and a half hours of make- up and spend the whole day by his side.

What’s your record?

The bride make-up in Bride of Reanimator (1990) took six and a half hours, and two and a half hours to take off. That was exhausting, but it was one of my all-time favourites.

Does horror still excite you?

Actually, I’m tired of doing all the gore stuff. You can only kill somebody in so many ways. There was a period last year when everybody was getting their Achilles tendons sliced. The first one we did was in Kill Bill, which was great. But then it came up in Hostel and we tried to talk Eli Roth (the director) out of doing it again.

How do you feel about CGI?

I’m not keen on something being completely CGI, because I’m a practical sort of guy. But CGI artists and make-up artists are learning to work hand in hand.

Favourite piece of movie make-up?

Every time I watch Legend I’m blown away by the Tim Curry demon. And the old-age make-up in Amadeus is brillant.

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is out to buy and rent on DVD. Interview by Ed Potton.