30 Photos of David Bowie and Catherine Deneuve on the Set of the Film “The Hunger” (1983)

David Bowie and Catherine Deneuve starred together in Tony Scott’s stylish 1983 horror film, The Hunger. Their on-screen chemistry as ancient vampire lovers, Miriam and John Blaylock, was a significant draw for the film, contributing to its cult status despite initial mixed reviews.

“[The film] allowed me to appear, for the first time in a long time, in a fantasy film. And moreover, it allowed me to meet David Bowie, very different from the image he gives on stage: he is in fact a rather shy man, a great lover of painting and antiques. Like me.” – Catherine Deneuve, quoted in Le Soir Illustré 1983.

While Bowie and Susan Sarandon reportedly had no trouble interacting during filming, he was apparently a “touch intimidated” by the legendary French actress Catherine Deneuve. Despite this, both were highly professional.

The film is renowned for its striking visual style, heavily influenced by 1980s music videos. Deneuve was dressed by her close friend and frequent collaborator Yves Saint Laurent, contributing to her character Miriam's eternally elegant and somewhat cold allure. Bowie’s character also exuded an aristocratic glamour.

For the scenes where his character, John, rapidly ages, Bowie took a unique “method” approach to achieve a hoarse voice. He reportedly spent several nights screaming punk songs at the top of his lungs on the George Washington Bridge in New York. The impressive old-age makeup for his transformation was created by special effects artist Dick Smith.

The core story revolves around Miriam, an ancient vampire, and her current lover, John. The central conflict arises when John, after centuries, begins to rapidly age and decay, prompting Miriam to seek a new companion in the form of a gerontologist, Dr. Sarah Roberts (Susan Sarandon). The film explores themes of eternal life, youth, decay, and the hunger for both blood and connection.

Susan Sarandon revealed that there were financial difficulties during filming, leading to “shaky” situations to finish the movie. In one instance, during pick-up shots in a gas garage in Brooklyn, the owner reportedly ran onto the set with a gun, demanding more money, causing chaos.

The final scene of Sarah on the balcony was added at the studio's behest, with a view to leaving the film open-ended and allowing for possible sequels. Sarandon later expressed regret that this sequence seemed to make no sense in the context of the rest of the film: “The thing that made the film interesting to me was this question of, ‘Would you want to live forever if you were an addict?’ But as the film progressed, the powers that be rewrote the ending and decided that I wouldn't die, so what was the point? All the rules that we'd spent the entire film delineating, that Miriam lived forever and was indestructible, and all the people that she transformed [eventually] died, and that I killed myself rather than be an addict [were ignored]. Suddenly I was kind of living, she was kind of half dying... Nobody knew what was going on, and I thought that was a shame.”

Bowie was excited to work on the film but was concerned about the final product. He said “I must say, there’s nothing that looks like it on the market. But I’m a bit worried that it’s just perversely bloody at some points.”