Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1347035
Three weeks of our prep time was devoted entirely to Andra Day, who plays Billie Holiday. We tested and tested and retested every look, from hair, make-up and costumes, until Lee was satisfi ed. Lee's vision included several iconic looks of Billie Holiday, so special atten- tion to detail of the '40s and '50s, eyebrow shapes, lip shapes, fi ngernail shapes and colors was insisted upon. Billie Holiday wore a very specifi c nail design, as many research photos revealed. It was a white cone shaped at the base of the cuticle, with red nail polish. There were weekly production meetings with Lee, the costume designer and art department. Charles Gregory and I had access to hundreds and hundreds of photos and movie clips of Lee's vision on top of what we were able to fi nd from our own searches. We listened to her music, watched footage of many of Billie's performances, by the time principal photography began, the case study had been very laborious, interesting and overwhelming to say the least. The process of going from a beauty make-up, a drug addict look, to gaining weight to a death make-up was exciting. "Make Up For Ever HD" Y375 and Y425 liquid foundation colors were used with "Make Up For Ever HD" colorless powder to set the foundation. "Japonesque" Kumadori felt tip eyeliner worked perfect for Andra's everyday and performance looks. A true red lipstick color "Film Noir" by Julie Hewett partnered with Mac, "Ruby Woo" lip pencil, topped with Kiehls' lip balm for shine completed the look. Several research photos of Billie Holiday revealed her carefully defi ning her lips, so we wanted to follow Billie's lead by main- taining perfectly lined lips on Andra. I literally touched up Andra's lips after EVERY stage performance take. Never have I ever used a whole tube of lipstick, an entire lip pencil on one actress, while fi lming the same project. (I did on Andra.) Black eyes and bruises were created with out-of-kit products. Needle track marks were applied to both of Andra's arms daily as Billie was a functioning heroin drug addict and Lee wanted her track marks visible in every scene that wardrobe permit- ted. "Skin Illustrator" palettes were used for longevity. Andra wore brown contact lenses every day that were painted by Kevin Carter. Several brown-colored lenses were tested on Andra's hazel-colored eyes, versus Billie Holiday's very dark brown eyes, and various stages of the jaundice-colored contact lenses were also tested. Lee wanted to see different stages of weight gain on Andra that happens while in prison for a year. The right balance between Andra and Billie Holiday had to be made.