Issue link: http://digital.copcomm.com/i/855859
22 I have always believed in the power of aesthetics. I have also always believed in the suspension of disbelief. That is television and moviemaking magic. We turn, now more than ever, to entertainment to lose ourselves, to immerse ourselves in a different reality. Because the one we live in is currently so dark and frightening. The art of make-up and hair styling has always been so important to what I am trying to do as a fi lmmaker for sev- eral reasons. One, I think character for many actors always comes from the physical. What you guys do in this room is transformative, from a soul level—for actors and me. I can't tell you how something will suddenly switch on for me after a hair and make-up test about a character—oh, now I know how to write him or her, because I SEE it, whereas before, it was just a dream with undefi ned edges. The physical dictates the whole. When we were doing Feud, Jessica Lange and I for example, really struggled with the character of Joan Crawford because she was entirely a creation of her own imagination. For Jessica, how do you play a woman who was a myth to herself? She was worried, I was worried, and then we did the make-up and hair test in our trailer. Black hair. Exaggerated mouth. Lashes, catapiller eyebrows, contouring, what seemed like 20 pounds of hair piled high and twisted into discipline. Test complete and ready to be fi lmed, Jessica looked in the mir- ror and saw a gateway to a reality she could play. 'It's armor, Back in the early 2000s when I was fi rst starting off in the business, I had the great honor of sitting down with one of my idols, Warren Beatty. Warren is one of the greatest directors of all time as we know, and I wanted his advice as I began my directing career. I asked him about actors, how to work with them. And then asked his number one directorial tip, some nifty trick of habit he used to ensure success. He thought for a minute, and then smiled in that Warren way. And then he leaned forward. 'Ryan,' he said, 'make sure the wigs are good.' I have followed Mr. Beatty's advice now for close to 20 years, and I thank him for my career. RYAN MURPHY SPEAKS TO THE GUILD Following is a transcript of the speech Ryan Murphy delivered to the 2017 Make-Up Artists & Hair Stylists Guild Awards show on February 19 at The Novo by Microsoft at L.A. Live. ''