Marino and his team of 30 artists began this laborious process by taking digital scans of Klum and Kaulitz’s bodies and faces. “We started by digitally printing their bodies and digitally sculpting the different parts of ET: arms, legs, feet,” explains Marino. “Then we put everything together to make sure they lined up and fit together. We 3D printed all the sculptures, molded them, cast them in latex foam, and reinforced them with spandex. We then glued the pieces onto their faces and blended them into the body. The team designed every detail from scratch, down to the otherworldly eyeballs, teeth, tongue and nails. “Everything was finished with a full airbrush job,” says Marino.

The main challenge, of course, was determining the exact scales of the ETs, which are meant to be mini-sized. “ET is much smaller than a regular human, so we had to create an illusion to position his body over both mine and Tom’s,” Klum explains. “It was tricky, but we figured it out.” To make things even more difficult, Marino and his team had the added challenge of creating both fully animatronic looks as well. “We had to design a head support that balances on their head without being too heavy,” says Marino. For Klum, this proved to be the hardest thing to deal with in costume. “Balancing the helmet was one of the biggest challenges,” she says. “It had to be secure without being too heavy because I was carrying it for hours. We also used detailed airbrushing to blend the costume perfectly with our faces. It was a long and painstaking process, but it was worth it.

Heidi KlumPhoto: Getty Images