not afford him. Todd, who was fit for playing the killer as he was six-foot-five and physically fit, recalled that there was skepticism from his colleagues about him playing the Candyman due to the number of bee sting injuries that he would have to receive. He persisted as he wanted to work with the director and said, "I've always wanted to find my own personal Phantom of the Opera." While the Candyman's background is unknown in the original story, Todd came up with the backstory for the character in the film. Virginia Madsen was friends with Rose and his then-wife, Alexandra Pigg and Madsen was originally to play the role of Helen's friend, Bernie while Pigg was to play Helen. The choice was made to make the character of Bernie Black American so Madsen lost the part. As the shooting was about to commence, Pigg discovered that she was pregnant so the role of Helen was offered to Madsen. Had Madsen been unable to step into the role, producer Alan Poul was partial to Sandra Bullock as Helen. Three days of Candyman's filming was spent on Cabrini-Green while the other days were spent in scenes on Hollywood sound stages. With plainclothes law enforcement by their side, Todd and Madsen went into the buildings of Cabrini-Green as part of researching their roles which was a useful, but distressing experience for both actors. For playing the Candyman, Todd tried to act as a "primeval boogeyman" without overacting the part which was tricky to do. He worked with Bob Keen on the Candyman's look. Keen first had Todd wear a machine-controlled fake right arm, but found the movements of the arm too strict. Then, Keen came up with the idea of having Todd wear a hook to indicate the Candyman's supernatural being. He spent three hours making the hook. Todd suggested the character to wear an eyepatch, but Keen rejected the idea. To keep Candyman at a low budget, Rose instructed a special effects manager named Martin Bresson to use traditional effects instead of optical effects. The same team who worked on Backdraft also designed the set for the bonfire scene of Candyman which involved using 1,500 gallons of propane and its largest section having a 70-foot width and 30-foot height. The honeybees in Candyman were controlled by Norman Gary who previously handled the bees on films such as The Deadly Bees (1966),