'Not gory just silly': The man behind the Netflix 'Sexy Beasts' masks

Kristyan Mallett, who grew up in Cromer and studied a diploma in media make-up at King's Lynn College, made the big-time in movies and TV after being an apprentice on one of the Harry Potter films.

Since then he's worked on movies such as Mission Impossible, Star Wars, The Mummy and Paddington as well as starting up his own special effects firm.

But he's just finished on a project with a difference - creating 48 different masks for the Netflix answer to TV's Blind Date.

In the new six part show Sexy Beasts, which has just started - described as a cross between Love is Blind and The Masked Singer - couples meet for dates wearing outlandish masks. The idea is to see if they hit it off before they actually know what each other looks like.

The new Netflix Sexy Beasts dating show (Image: Netflix/PA)

The weird and wonderful head creations - ranging from a witch-like old lady to a demon, scarecrow, rooster, alien, panda, frog, dolphin and a beaver - fell to Mr Mallett to come up with.

It meant making 144 individual pieces for 12 episodes, six of which are now available to view on Netflix, with six more to come later.

Kristyan Mallett (Image: Supplied)

But three identical prosthetics had to be created for each character, because each would only last for one wear - and Mr Mallett and his team didn't know which person was going to get picked.

"Simon, the producer, and I discussed what the characters were going to be.

‘They had to be friendly and silly — we couldn’t have anything too gruesome or gory, and nothing offensive."

Would you date a demon? One of the special effects masks in Netflix' Sexy Beasts (Image: Netflix/PA)

Mr Mallett, who also went to Fakenham High School, now runs KM Effects in Hertfordshire.

A spokeswoman said: "Kristyan is incredibly talented, he is an artist and a sculptor. He still comes back to Norfolk, he has family there."

.