Ever watch a movie and realize halfway through that the terrifying, gravel-voiced monster on screen is actually the guy who sang about being a "funky rhymesayer" in a New Zealand comedy duo?
It happens more than you'd think.
Specifically, it happened to a whole lot of people watching Jemaine Clement in Men in Black 3. He played Boris the Animal. Sorry—just "Boris." If you call him the Animal, he’ll probably try to launch a bio-organic spike into your forehead. Honestly, even for a franchise known for its weirdness, Boris was a massive departure. He wasn't the bumbling cockroach-in-a-suit from the first film or the Victoria’s Secret model-snake from the second. He was something much darker.
Who is Boris the Animal, Anyway?
In the world of Men in Black 3, Jemaine Clement plays the last surviving Boglodite. These guys are basically the locusts of the universe. They show up, eat everything on a planet, and move on.
Boris is a intergalactic convict who’s spent forty years rotting in a lunar max prison on the moon. When he escapes, he doesn’t just want to hide. He wants revenge. Specifically, he wants to go back to 1969 to kill Agent K (played by Tommy Lee Jones in the present and Josh Brolin in the past) before K can take his arm and deploy the "ArcNet" shield that wiped out the rest of the Boglodite race.
It’s a classic time-travel revenge plot, but Clement brings this weird, oily charisma to it. You’ve seen him in Flight of the Conchords or as the shiny crab in Moana, right? There’s usually a bit of a wink to the camera. Not here. He is genuinely unsettling.
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The Brutal Makeup Process
If you didn't recognize him, don't feel bad. Even die-hard fans of the Conchords were baffled. Clement spent a ridiculous amount of time in the makeup chair—we’re talking three to four hours every single morning. On the first day of shooting, it actually took eight hours. Imagine waking up at 2:00 AM just so a team of legendary artists led by Rick Baker can glue silicone spikes and "dreads" made of rubber and foam to your face.
The design is incredible. He has these goggles that look like they’re part of his skull. His "eyes" are actually tiny, vertical-slit contact lenses that made it almost impossible for him to see.
- The Weasel: Boris has a "pet" living inside his hand. It's a tiny, multi-legged parasite that shoots projectiles. In reality, that was a complex animatronic piece, not just CGI.
- The Teeth: His mouth is a nightmare of concentric circles of fangs. It’s very "industrial-strength horror," which is a big reason why the character sticks in your brain.
- The Skin: It looks like cracked leather or aged pavement. Rick Baker wanted him to look like a creature hardened by decades of lunar isolation.
Clement has mentioned in interviews that he spent most of his time on set half-asleep while the crew sprayed things onto his face. He’d wake up as a monster. Kinda a weird way to go to work, honestly.
Why Jemaine Clement was the Perfect Choice
Usually, villains in these big summer blockbusters are either scenery-chewing hams or totally forgettable CGI blobs. Clement found a middle ground. He used a voice that sounds like it’s being filtered through a bucket of gravel and broken glass.
But he kept the humor. It’s just... meaner humor.
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There’s a scene where he’s at a party in the 60s, laughing with some hippies. It’s one of the biggest laughs in the movie because it’s so absurd to see this "biker from hell" trying to blend in. He’s also got this catchphrase: "Let’s agree to disagree." He usually says it right before he kills someone. It's a very polite way to be a psychopath.
Critics actually loved it. While Men in Black 2 was kind of a letdown for many, the third one is often cited as a return to form, and a big part of that is having a villain who actually feels dangerous. He’s not just a obstacle for Will Smith to joke at; he’s a legitimate threat to the timeline.
Practical Effects vs. Digital Horror
One thing most people get wrong about Jemaine Clement in Men in Black 3 is assuming the character was mostly digital. It wasn't.
Sony and director Barry Sonnenfeld leaned heavily on practical effects for Boris. Rick Baker, who won an Oscar for the first Men in Black, came back specifically because he wanted to create a villain that felt tactile. The CGI was mostly used for "smoothing" the movements of the spikes or for the big action sequences, like the escape from the lunar prison.
The bike he rides? That was real, too. It was a custom-built, futuristic chopper that Clement actually had to sit on and "drive," though he’s famously admitted in interviews that he never actually learned how to drive a car in real life. Seeing him handle a massive, alien motorcycle is a testament to movie magic.
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The Secret "Double" Role
Since it’s a time travel movie, we actually get two versions of Boris.
- 2012 Boris: The bitter, one-armed convict who is obsessed with the past.
- 1969 Boris: The younger, "prime" version who still has both arms and hasn't yet failed his mission.
The scene where the two Borises meet is great because they absolutely hate each other. 2012 Boris berates his younger self for being a failure. It’s a weirdly deep character moment—showing that even a planet-eating alien can be his own worst critic.
Actionable Takeaways for Movie Buffs
If you're going back to rewatch this one, keep a few things in mind to really appreciate the craft:
- Look at the eyes: Those aren't goggles; they are sunken sockets. It’s a subtle bit of body horror that makes him look less human.
- Listen to the "pet": The clicking noises the Weasel makes were designed to sound like a mix of insects and machinery.
- The "Animal" Trigger: Notice how every time someone calls him "Boris the Animal," his posture changes. Clement plays him with a very specific kind of insecurity.
Honestly, it's one of the most underrated transformation performances in modern sci-fi. Clement went from a quirky indie musician to a legitimate monster, and he did it while buried under five pounds of latex and spirit gum.
If you want to see more of his range after this, jump from Men in Black 3 straight to What We Do in the Shadows. The contrast between Vladislav the Poker and Boris the Animal will give you a serious appreciation for what the guy can do. You'll never look at a Boglodite—or a New Zealand folk singer—the same way again.