Canada’s Tamara Deverell and Shane Vieau have won the Oscar for best production design for “Frankenstein.”
Production designer Deverell, now based in Cape Breton, N.S., and set decorator Vieau, originally from Dartmouth, N.S., took home the prize for their work on the horror-fantasy directed by Guillermo del Toro.
Their work included designing and dressing a series of elaborate, gothic sets — from the cavernous halls of Dr. Victor Frankenstein’s castle to the cluttered laboratory where the scientist conducts his forbidden experiments.
Deverell and Vieau worked with del Toro to create a richly textured world inspired by 19th-century European architecture, blending grand stone interiors with shadowy corridors and atmospheric lighting to evoke the story’s gothic mood.
Earlier in the night, Canadians Jordan Samuel and Cliona Furey were part of the team that won the Oscar for best makeup and hairstyling on the film.
The Toronto-based craftspeople won alongside English artist Mike Hill for helping director Guillermo del Toro reimagine Mary Shelley’s 1818 Gothic classic.
The film stars Oscar Isaac as Frankenstein and Jacob Elordi as the monster he creates, and features sprawling, custom-built sets shot largely on Toronto sound stages.
Although del Toro has filmed in Prague, Hungary, Spain and beyond, the director told The Canadian Press last fall that he made “a very, very careful” decision to shoot “Frankenstein” in Toronto, trusting the city’s skilled crews to deliver.
He’s worked with Toronto craftspeople for years, dating back to Mimic, his first Hollywood film, which was shot in the city in 1996.
“I don’t think I’ve ever encountered craftsmanship that I can trust and rely on artistically with wardrobe, set design, prop construction and decoration more than in Canada,” said the Mexican filmmaker.
“These are people I’ve selected and filtered and worked with through decades, and I know what they’re going to deliver. They always deliver excellence.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 15, 2026.
Alex Nino Gheciu, The Canadian Press
