The ‘X-Men’ star appeared at Comic Con to promote her role in the upcoming season of ‘Star Trek: Strange New Worlds’
The Funny Reality of Rebecca Romijn's 'X-Men' Body Paint
"Skin Wars" host Rebecca Romijn tells us the truth about her body-paint pics from the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, as well as the funny story behind her "X-Men" makeup.
Rebecca Romijn is now part of two major pop culture universes, "X-Men" and "Star Trek," and she’s noted a key difference between the two.
Romijn was at Comic-Con over the weekend to speak about her role in Paramount+'s "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds," returning next year for its third season.
The model turned actress previously starred as Mystique in 2000’s "X-Men," based on the Marvel comics, and its sequels, "X2: X-Men United," "X-Men: The Last Stand," and a cameo in "X-Men: First Class."
Comparing the two fandoms, Romijn told Entertainment Weekly that Marvel’s fans are "kind of intimidating," adding, they’re "really intense."
‘STAR TREK’ STAR REBECCA ROMIJN ADMITS HER KIDS ARE HER TOUGHEST CRITICS
Rebecca Romijn said between the Marvel and "Star Trek" fandoms, the Marvel fans are "really intense." (Michael Kovac/Getty Images for IMDb)
"You don’t want to get it wrong, you want to please everybody."
She continued, "It was scarier with the Marvel fandom than with the Trekkies. The ‘Trek’ fandom feels — they call it Trek family — very supportive and a loving environment as opposed to scary."
Romijn did say "it’s been amazing to be part of both of those franchises."
The 51-year-old noted her husband, Jerry O’Connell, is also part of a comic book universe, providing the voice of DC comics Superman in "Justice League Dark: Apokolips War," in which she also voiced Lois Lane.
Romijn, in a scene from "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds." The actress said the "Star Trek" fandom is a "very supportive and a loving environment." (Michael Gibson/Paramount+)
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"So I get to play some iconic roles," she said.
For her role as Mystique in the "X-Men" franchise, Romijn had to go almost entirely nude and be covered head to toe in blue body paint and a few prosthetics.
"You don’t want to get it wrong, you want to please everybody."
— Rebecca Romijn
"The first time I was painted for Sports Illustrated was a 13-hour paint job, [and] the first time they tested my makeup for 'X-Men,' as Mystique, was a 12-hour paint job," Romijn told Fox News Digital in 2016. "Eventually, we got it down to nine hours, which meant that, my call time would typically be midnight to get ready for a 9am shoot. So I would get there at midnight and be painted all night long."
To play Mystique in the "X-Men" films, Romijn had to spend anywhere from nine to twelve hours having her body covered head to toe in blue paint. (20th Century-Fox/Getty Images)
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"And it wasn’t like I could sleep through it, I had to really collaborate with the painters and really help out a lot, it was exhausting!" she added.
The body paint also had another downside.
"I couldn't keep any secrets on 'X-Men,'" Romijn said with a laugh. "I left a lot of blue toilet seats behind."
