The Thing: Kurt Russell wasn’t a fan of MacReady’s sombrero

Kurt Russell has confessed that he “never loved” having to wear MacReady’s sombrero in John Carpenter’s The Thing

Kurt Russell has been doing the press rounds for the Godzilla series Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, and if there’s one thing that this press tour has made very clear, it’s the fact that people loves to talk to Russell about John Carpenter’s 1982 classic The Thing (watch or buy it HERE). The latest ones to bring up The Thing him were the folks at GQ, and this time Russell took the opportunity to reveal that he wasn’t a fan of the sombrero Carpenter had his character MacReady wear.

Russell told GQ (with thanks to Syfy Wire for the transcription of the video), “I went into wardrobe … and when I was in there, I noticed, sitting over on this chair by itself, was this enormous sombrero. And finally, at some point, I said to the wardrobe person, ‘What’s the deal with the sombrero?’ And they said, ‘Oh, that’s your hat.’ I said, ‘I’m not f—ing wearing that hat! It’s insane! What are you talking about?! No!’ And they said, ‘Well, John’s already been shooting some stuff with it.’ I said, ‘What?’ They said, ‘Yeah, just [establishing shots].’ I said, ‘That hat was established?! With what?!’ They said, ‘You’re flying the helicopter, they’ve already got some helicopter shots.’ I went, ‘Aw, come on!’ … I never loved the sombrero.“

Russell went on to admit that the hat was actually perfect for MacReady. “Sometimes, there’s a lot of things that somebody else sees that you don’t see. You have to be open for these things. That’s a tough one because it’s just you wearing this big-ass goofy thing on your head. But that’s where John had no fear because he knew how he was going to shoot it. I started laughing at it and saying, ‘Yeah, [MacReady’s] a drunk, he doesn’t give a sh**, so he’s got that sombrero on.“

You can see and hear Russell talk about his The Thing wardrobe at the GQ link.

Carpenter directed The Thing from a screenplay by Bill Lancaster, which was based on John W. Campbell Jr.’s 1938 novella Who Goes There? (You can find out more about the adaptation HERE.) The film has the following synopsis: In remote Antarctica, a group of American research scientists are disturbed at their base camp by a helicopter shooting at a sled dog. When they take in the dog, it brutally attacks both human beings and canines in the camp and they discover that the beast can assume the shape of its victims. A resourceful helicopter pilot and the camp doctor lead the camp crew in a desperate, gory battle against the vicious creature before it picks them all off, one by one.

Russell is joined in the cast by Wilford Brimley, T.K. Carter, David Clennon, Keith David, Richard Dysart, Charles Hallahan, Peter Maloney, Richard Masur, Donald Moffat, Joel Polis, and Thomas G. Waites.

Are you a fan of MacReady’s sombrero in The Thing? Share your thoughts on this one by leaving a comment below.