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Watch ‘The Secret Agent’ Director Kleber Mendonça Filho Tell Guillermo del Toro the Story Behind the Film’s Hairy Leg
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Watch ‘The Secret Agent’ Director Kleber Mendonça Filho Tell Guillermo del Toro the Story Behind the Film’s Hairy Leg

#The Secret Agent #Kleber Mendonça Filho #Guillermo del Toro #stop-motion animation #hairy leg #urban legend #Brazilian cinema #Oscar nominations

📌 Key Takeaways

  • Mendonça Filho chose stop-motion animation over CGI for the hairy leg effect
  • The hairy leg was inspired by an urban legend from 1970s Brazil
  • The legend was created by a journalist to address police brutality and homophobia
  • The film received four Oscar nominations including Best Picture
  • Mendonça collaborated with Dutch studio Holy Motion to create the effect

📖 Full Retelling

Director Kleber Mendonça Filho revealed the origins of the fantastical hairy leg in his award-winning film 'The Secret Agent' during an exclusive IndieWire featurette conversation with Guillermo del Toro on March 2, 2026, explaining his choice to use stop-motion animation rather than CGI for the peculiar element inspired by childhood urban legends from 1970s Brazil that were created to address police brutality and homophobia. In the featurette, Mendonça detailed how he first encountered stories about the disembodied hairy leg while growing up in fascist Brazil, later discovering that these tales were intentionally fabricated by a journalist as a metaphor for societal issues. 'When you look back to the newspapers in the archives, you can find the original articles about the hairy leg, and they were written with a straight face,' Mendonça explained, noting how these reports presented the leg as a perpetrator of violent acts, creating a cultural sensation. To bring this bizarre element to life, Mendonça collaborated with Dutch stop-motion animation studio Holy Motion, who worked extensively to achieve the desired slimy, hairy appearance that rejected the CGI approach many had suggested. 'I really love the way it moves, because the first thing many people suggested was do it in CGI,' Mendonça stated, emphasizing his preference for tangible animation techniques that depart from reality to represent psychological states. The conversation with del Toro also touched on Mendonça's approach to filmmaking that blends international cinema techniques with deeply Brazilian contexts, with del Toro praising the 'absolutely beautiful mixing of imaginations' in his work. 'The Secret Agent' has garnered significant critical acclaim, receiving four nominations at the 2026 Oscars for Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Casting, and Best International Feature Film.

🏷️ Themes

Filmmaking techniques, Cultural inspiration, Animation methods

📚 Related People & Topics

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Guillermo del Toro

Guillermo del Toro

Mexican filmmaker (born 1964)

Guillermo del Toro Gómez (Spanish: [ɡiˈʝeɾmo ðel ˈtoɾo]; born 9 October 1964) is a Mexican filmmaker, author, and artist. His work has been characterized by a strong connection to fairy tales, gothicism and horror, often blending the genres, with an effort to infuse visual or poetic beauty in the gr...

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Academy Awards

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The Secret Agent

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Mentioned Entities

Cinema of Brazil

Cinema of Brazil

Cinema of Brazil refers to the film industry based in Brazil. The Brazilian cinema was introduced ea

 Guillermo del Toro

Guillermo del Toro

Mexican filmmaker (born 1964)

Academy Awards

Annual awards for cinematic achievements

 The Secret Agent

The Secret Agent

1907 novel by Joseph Conrad
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Newsletters Open Menu Close Open Search Close Read Next: ‘Industry’ Finale: Inside the Last Shot and That Weird Flash Frame Newsletters Close Open Menu Close Open Search Search for: Search for: Close Menu Follow Us Facebook X Instagram Pinterest YouTube Alerts & Newsletters Email address to subscribe to newsletter. Subscribe By providing your information, you agree to our Terms of Use and our Privacy Policy . We use vendors that may also process your information to help provide our services. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA Enterprise and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. IndieWire is a part of Penske Media Corporation. © 2026 IndieWire Media, LLC. All Rights Reserved. Exclusive Watch ‘The Secret Agent’ Director Kleber Mendonça Filho Tell Guillermo del Toro the Story Behind the Film’s Hairy Leg In an exclusive featurette, Mendonça spoke about wanting to use stop-motion instead of CGI to create the film's most fantastical moment. By Wilson Chapman Wilson Chapman More stories by Wilson Watch ‘The Secret Agent’ Director Kleber Mendonça Filho Tell Guillermo del Toro the Story Behind the Film’s Hairy Leg Read more ‘Hoppers’ Review: ‘Avatar’ + Beavers = Pixar’s Freshest, Funniest Movie in Years Read more The Surprisingly Long Shelf-Life of ‘American Dad!’ Read more March 2, 2026 4:30 pm Share Share on Facebook Post Google Preferred Share on LinkedIn Show more sharing options Share to Flipboard Submit to Reddit Pin it Post to Tumblr Email Print This Page Share on WhatsApp There’s a tangle of peculiar storylines on the periphery of Kleber Mendonça Filho’s “The Secret Agent,” but maybe none as strange as the disembodied hairy leg that pops up throughout, eventually coming to life to stalk the streets of Recife. It’s an odd, fantastical moment in what’s otherwise a very grounded film , but for Mendonça, it’s also deeply connected to his own childhood. Explaining the origins of the leg in a new featurette that IndieWire exclusively premieres, Mendonça sa...
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