Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1058399
Make-up artist Jean Black first introduced me to the brothers on the film No Country for Old Men. Jean normally department heads the Coen brothers' films but unfortunately was unavailable so I became the recipient of good fortune with the phone call. Cydney Cornell was called upon to be Department Head Hair and has previously worked with the brothers on a number of films. Having recently worked with Cydney on HBO's Olive Kitteridge, I was very excited to get started on what was sure to be a great adventure. One great thing about a Coen brothers' movie is their appreciation for characters. They are certainly "Harry Melling plays an armless and legless Shakespearean actor whose caretaker, the Impresario, is played by Liam Neeson. A traveling carnival of two that ultimately ends unfairly for one of them." "A story of a lonely prospector played by the singer/songwriter Tom Waits shooting in the town of Telluride, Colorado, with a humorous and bloody ending." "A caravan on its way to the underworld … a singing cowboy. Hoards of Indians. Tim Blake Nelson. James Franco. Santa Fe, New Mexico. Brendan Gleeson. Zoe Kazan … etc." These were some of the descriptive words first used to express to me the latest Coen brothers film in spring of 2017. When asked by the long-standing producer of the Coen brothers films Bob Graf if I would be interested in department heading The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, the answer was immediately ... ummmm, yes. The Ballad of Buster Scruggs B Y C H R I S T I E N T I N S L E Y DEPARTMENT HEAD MAKE-UP WITH C Y D N E Y C O R N E L L DEPARTMENT HEAD HAIR THE COEN BROTHERS CREATE AN AMERICAN WESTERN ANTHOLOGY 58 • THE ARTISAN FALL 2018 Liam Neeson Tim Blake Nelson