Spoilers for Suspiria follow.
Tilda Swinton plays Madame Blanc, Dr. Josef Klemperer, and Markos in Luca Guadagnino’s Suspiria. The finale did not put three versions of Swinton in front of the camera at once. Makeup artist Mark Coulier told Rue Morgue that the production filmed Markos on one day, Madame Blanc on the next, and Klemperer on another day. The scene was then assembled from those separate performances.
That production detail answers the practical question behind the film’s strangest casting choice. Swinton had to arrive as a different character for each shoot, with separate prosthetic work and different physical demands. Coulier described the ending as a large makeup-effects sequence involving many performers and full-body prosthetics, not a simple case of one actor changing clothes between takes.
The three roles
Madame Blanc is the dance academy’s headmistress. She is the role audiences knew Swinton would play before the film arrived.
Dr. Josef Klemperer is the elderly psychotherapist investigating events connected to the academy. During the film’s promotion, the role was credited to “Lutz Ebersdorf,” presented as a first-time actor. Swinton later gave what W Magazine described as “an equivocal yes” when asked whether she was playing Ebersdorf.
Markos appears in the finale. Coulier identified Markos as another role played by Swinton when he discussed the logistics of filming that sequence. The character’s arrival is meant to be a late reveal, so the film kept the casting detail partly hidden before release.
Those three characters share an actor, but they do not share the same screen identity. Madame Blanc moves through the academy with authority and restraint. Klemperer is an older man outside its inner circle. Markos belongs to the final revelation. The film uses Swinton’s presence in sharply different ways, while the makeup and shooting schedule kept those performances separate on set.
Josef Klemperer and the “Lutz Ebersdorf” credit
The Klemperer credit was part of the film’s public misdirection. W Magazine reported that Guadagnino had maintained that Lutz Ebersdorf was a first-time actor, while Swinton publicly supported that account during the promotional period. The outlet also reported that Swinton wrote a biography for Ebersdorf on IMDb, presenting him as a retired Berlin psychoanalyst making his first and only acting appearance.
The point is easy to miss if viewers only look at the cast list. “Lutz Ebersdorf” was the credited name attached to Klemperer, while the role itself was performed by Swinton. The credit was not evidence of a separate performer hidden under the makeup. It was part of the ruse surrounding the role.
Swinton later described the reason for taking on the part in terms of fun. That is her stated reason, not proof of every creative intention behind the casting. The supplied accounts do not establish a single definitive motive shared by Swinton, Guadagnino, and the rest of the production. They do establish that the deception was deliberate and that Swinton took part in maintaining it.
The Klemperer role also connects with a familiar screen transformation from Swinton’s career. Coulier had previously worked with her on The Grand Budapest Hotel, where he transformed her into an older character. For Suspiria, the work had a different target: an elderly male psychotherapist.
Four hours of prosthetics for Klemperer
According to W Magazine, Coulier spent four hours each day covering Swinton’s facial structure with prosthetics for Klemperer. The work built out the jaw and thickened the neck. Coulier told the magazine that Swinton’s feminine bone structure shaped the challenge of the transformation.
That detail matters because Klemperer was not created through a single old-age appliance. The reported work altered several visible areas to build a different face and body outline. Swinton also requested a temporary mustache for a fake headshot used in the Ebersdorf IMDb project.
The transformation extended below the face. W Magazine reported Coulier’s account that Swinton requested prosthetic genitalia, which she used to help feel the character physically while performing. The article presents this as part of the actor’s preparation for the role. It does not prove what every viewer sees in the finished film, nor does it turn an on-set detail into a full explanation of the performance.
That distinction is worth keeping. Prosthetics can change a face, neck, silhouette, and movement, but the supplied sources do not break down every acting choice Swinton made as Klemperer. They document the materials, the time involved, and the reported effort to make the transformation convincing for the camera and for the performer.
Why the finale needed separate filming days
Coulier gave the clearest account of the finale’s schedule in his Rue Morgue interview. He said that Markos was shot on one day. Swinton’s Madame Blanc material followed on the next day. Her Klemperer material, with the character as a witness on the floor, was filmed on another day.
The order described by Coulier can be set out plainly:
| Character played by Swinton | Finale filming detail reported by Mark Coulier |
|---|---|
| Markos | Filmed on one day |
| Madame Blanc | Filmed on the following day |
| Dr. Josef Klemperer | Filmed on another day as the witness on the floor |
Coulier said that having Swinton play all three characters in one scene created “a whole set of problems.” His interview places that issue inside a much bigger effects workload. The sequence also involved Chloë Moretz in dead-Patricia makeup, prosthetic bodies, and other gore effects. Coulier said roughly 20 people were on set applying makeup for the long sequence.
That account rules out a tempting but inaccurate description of the scene. The three performances were not filmed simultaneously, with Swinton quickly rotating from Markos to Madame Blanc to Klemperer inside one continuous setup. Each character had a dedicated shooting day. The final scene creates the appearance of their shared space through filmmaking, editing, and effects work, but Coulier’s account does not specify the exact post-production process used for every shot.
It also explains why the sequence could demand so many people. The task was bigger than Swinton’s three roles. The production had to maintain the makeup continuity of each of her characters while managing the other visible transformations and effects around them. A day devoted to one character gave the makeup team a stable target rather than forcing three elaborate transformations into the same day.
What the sources establish, and what they do not
The documented facts are unusually specific. Swinton played Madame Blanc, Klemperer, and Markos. Coulier transformed her into Klemperer with prosthetics. The public Klemperer credit used the Lutz Ebersdorf name. Coulier said that the finale’s three Swinton performances were shot on separate days.
The sources leave some room where viewers may want certainty. They do not provide a shot-by-shot map of the finale. They do not say how long each character’s filming day lasted. They do not identify the exact editorial method used to combine every performance. They also do not establish that Swinton was cast three times for one single thematic reason.
Guadagnino told W Magazine that he had conceived the film as being about female identity, and the outlet reported that he saw value in having Swinton play the man at the center of the story. That is a documented statement from the director, but it should not be expanded into claims that the two supplied sources do not make about Markos, Madame Blanc, or every meaning in the finale.
For viewers interested in another case of an actor taking on multiple identities, this look at Mia Goth’s roles in Pearl and MaXXXine provides a related comparison.
The useful takeaway is technical as much as dramatic. Swinton’s three characters look as if they confront each other in one explosive final scene, yet the performances were built across separate days. Klemperer required daily prosthetic work reported at four hours. The Ebersdorf name helped conceal the actor’s identity before release. The finale then brought three separately filmed versions of Swinton into the same moment.
Which of the three transformations did you recognize first while watching Suspiria? Does knowing the finale was filmed across separate days change how you read the scene?
