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Janelle Monae was unrecognizable in a terrifyingly accurate, slimy-skinned costume just in time for Halloween.
On October 30, the 38-year-old Hidden Figures star immersed herself into the otherworldly character ET from Steven Spielberg’s 1982 classic E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, with a textured suit that fully covered her from head to toe.
Next to an image of her in the realistic, wide-eyed costume, Monae wrote: “You finally came home. Welcome back E.T. Thank you Google Maps.” In the picture, Monae, or rather ET, is seen sitting at a breakfast table with her glowing finger angled up at a hovering croissant.
The performer was entirely hidden inside the freaky foam latex prosthetics, which she also debuted on The Jennifer Hudson Show Halloween special. On sets designed identical to those seen in Spielberg’s movie, Monae waddled, batted her eyelids, and directed her left index finger with “healing powers” around.
Speaking to Vogue, Monae detailed the logistics behind her transformation and why she chose to dress up as the legendary alien that Spielberg described to be “more like a plant or a vegetable.”
The nostalgic character, who lands on Earth and befriends a young boy named Elliot in the original score, has resonated with the “I Like It” artist for years.
“ET has lurked in my mind since I was a baby,” she told the outlet. “From Spielberg’s writing to the cinematography, the story of ET and Elliot has touched my heart deeply. This movie always leaves me in tears.”
“Since the movie came out 42 years ago, I thought it could be cool for the world to see what ET has been up to now,” she explained. “What kinda things is ET into now? I thought it would be even cooler if he invaded my world; a day in the life of ET in this timeless space.”
The A-lister tapped Autonomous FX, a special makeup and animatronic company, last year to help execute her vision.
Monae’s rendition of ET sparked a myriad of reactions online, some impressed, some disturbed.
“There’s no way her body is in this costume,” one person argued on TikTok. Another curious viewer asked: “Is she on her knees? Like how is she moving?”
Another admitted: “The nightmare of four years old me.”
“This is highly disturbing,” a second fan confessed, while another agreed: “This is scary. Why would she do this???”
Whether fans like it or not, Monae will be dressing up as ET again for her annual Wondaween celebration held at the Wonderland Arts Society in Los Angeles a – party that continuously rivals Heidi Klum’s famous Halloween event.
