Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/831804
36 You gals recently got nominated for our Make-Up Artists & Hair Stylists Guild Award and also won the Hollywood Beauty Award. Bev Jo: Oh, we had so much fun! It was really great. Missy: It was really special. Octavia Spencer gave me my award. How great is that? I was so emotional. I cried through my speech. Sterfon Demings was there and helped me get through it. I thanked God and wished my father could have been there, may he rest in peace. My mother also couldn't attend because she has dementia. Bev Jo's mom had dementia and that is something else we share. I was so overwhelmed because you just never know. I'm a girl that started in Texas doing hair in the kitchen. My older sister Pamela Thompson was an instructor at beauty school and said, "You need to go to beauty school." She was my instructor and she was tough on me. One day, this woman came into the salon and no one wanted to do her and I took care of her. She turned out to be a producer that hired me to do a miniseries. I thought I knew what I was doing when I went in there. I didn't know. I had to learn everything like the right way to put on an Indian stunt wig that better not fall off. I got so much help from people like Joani Yarbrough, Kelly Nelson, Bridget Cook, Medusah (who also helped me get in Local 706), Pierce Austin, Camille Friend, Sterfon Demings and JoAnn Stafford-Chaney. I could go on and on. I've learned so much from these people and I've taken it to where I am now. Are you guys going to submit for an Emmy? Which epi- sode? Bev Jo: Heck yeah! Missy: Yes, we are! It is an episode titled "The Unkindest Cut" (Episode 8). We called it Black Magic! There was a lot of work put into it. It had tons and tons of principal actors, dancers, models and background actors that all had to be created from scratch. We don't have a lot of additional hair stylists or hair and make-up swing stylists working with us. We only have our keys, my barber and a swing stylist. Sometimes I'm at video village creating and dealing with wigs while watching the monitors. (Editor's note: Chicago's contract allows for "swing" artists and barbers; Local 706's does not.) Bev Jo: We created so many looks! We had a group of mod- els we had to make look like mannequins without eyebrows or lashes and a pale lip color to make them all look the same. We had another group of dancers that had to look very eth- nic and colorful. Glitter was used everywhere. We shopped at African stores for decorative supplies. It was fun and hectic, you have to see it! We made it happen! I like to create on the spot. I want to give a shout-out to our team; for make-up, my keys Eric Pagdin and Ashunta Sheriff; for hair, Missy's key Theresa Fleming, her barbers, Nolan and Al Payne; and our swing make-up and hair gals, Denise Wynbrandt and Selena Miller. From day one, we hit the ground running! So … give me some of your make-up tips? Bev Jo: My most favorite make-ups are natural beauty (that doesn't look like a lot of make-up has been used) and period make-ups. Making people naturally beautiful is one of the hardest things to achieve. I always like to talk to the actors and make them feel like they are part of the process. We have to boost up their egos and make them feel happy. That is part of our jobs. We have a lot of people to please (direc- Clockwise, from above: Scenes from the award- winning episode "The Unkindest Cut."