MacReady, a helicopter pilot, leaves the Arctic station carrying a heat, fur-lines coat, a cotton hoodie, and sun shades. He additionally, maybe to maintain his head heat, typically dons a hat with a dangling leather-based strap. It isn’t a knit cap or a toque as one may count on, nonetheless. It is an outsized large-brimmed sombrero. Given the stoic nature of the character, audiences settle for the massive hat as a deliberate alternative made by MacReady, somebody who, in spite of everything, is aware of extra about dwelling within the Arctic than most of us within the viewers. If Russell had had his druthers, nonetheless, he would have nixed the hat. He stated:
“I went into wardrobe … and after I was in there, I observed, sitting over on this chair by itself, was this monumental sombrero. And eventually, in some unspecified time in the future, I stated to the wardrobe individual, ‘What is the cope with the sombrero?’ And so they stated, ‘Oh, that is your hat.’ I stated, ‘I am not f***ing carrying that hat! It is insane! What are you speaking about?! No!’ And so they stated, ‘Properly, John’s already been taking pictures some stuff with it.’ I stated, ‘What!?’ […] I by no means beloved the sombrero.”
Sadly, the hat couldn’t be modified, as John Carpenter had already been filming establishing pictures with Russell’s stand-in carrying it. It was established. Russell was caught with the hat.
When requested if he nonetheless hated the hat, Russell needed to make it very clear that he didn’t. Certainly, he felt that Carpenter had made an fascinating artistic alternative about MacReady’s character. The hat communicated quite a bit about who MacReady was, and Russell got here to understand the effectivity in conveying these traits.