CDG - The Costume Designer

31 31 Roth Well, there are actors and there are movie stars. Movie stars don't want you to fool around with who they are. They have established an identity and know how they look and how they behave. That's very diff erent than an actor who is doing a character. I work with actors, and ac tors are interested in becoming someone else. This morn ing I was fi tting athy ates. She's playing a ewish grand mother. We put some dopey eyelashes on her and she wasn't athy ates. She just became someone else. And it spurs you on. , we have these eyelashes, stick these glasses on. The person in the mirror starts telling you what to do. Put those Dolly Parton earrings on. That's the game. That's the excitement of creating a character. Poggioli That was a big lesson for me. The confi dence and the way you are teaching them. They are enthusiastic, because your suggestions were very important to create the character. Roth ut of course, the important thing for the actor to know is that you are there to help them fi nd a character. ou're there for them. ou're not there for yourself. They're not walking around with a board that says this dress came from Ann oth. ou help the actor fi nd the character. That's all. S r R r Poggioli ne day I was talking with you and you said, "od, I don't understand why we have to do so many multiples for the actor today." And you told me the story of when you did Midnight Cowboy. Roth All the kids that work with me say they are so tired of hearing that Midnight Cowboy was one shirt. Wyckoff ne perfect shirt. ow do you keep this love for the search Wyckoff ow do you know when you're looking in the mirror, what the mirror is say ing ow do you know when it's right Roth I think the important thing is when you have the actor in front of a mirror, that the best thing you can do for that person is something so that she doesn't recognize herself. In other words, if she's standing there in a dress and you suddenly rip the hem out and it's four inches too long and they're looking in the mirror and they don't uite see themselves. They see something else start to appear. ou've done something to jar the image. When you take away who she is, then she's free to become someone else. She's got the guts to do something because she's on the road to the disguise already. That's what I do. ut I'm not aware of how other people fi t, ex cept maybe you, Carlo. ut I haven't been in the room with other designers when they're fi tting. I like the fi tting room very much. And I can tell if it's going to work right away. Poggioli We know that for costume design ers it's important to help the actor be in char acter, but the patience that you have explain ing everything about how they should relax or face the camera. That's why they love you. Thr L k Gl s ne perfect shirt. ow do you keep this love ne perfect shirt. ow do you keep this love for the search Roth I remember. I slept in a tent by myself. It was part of our life. We had a lot of that kind of life. Poggioli es. In fact, after The nglish Patient, we became a big family. We were spending time every day, having a dinner, every body cooking, having a wonderful time. Roth Well, I wasn't allowed to cook. I was allowed to help buy it, but I wasn't allowed to cook. not walking around with a board that says this dress came from Ann oth. ou help the actor fi nd the character. That's all. S r R r S r R r S r R r S r R r S r R r S r R r S r R r S r R r Poggioli "od, I don't understand why we have to do so many story of when you did Roth Roth tired of hearing that tired of hearing that Wyckoff for the search ow do you know when you're ow do you know when you're looking in the mirror, what the mirror is say I think the important thing is when you have the actor in front of a mirror, that the best thing you can do for that person is something thing you can do for that person is something so that she doesn't recognize herself. In other words, if she's standing there in a and it's four inches too long and they're looking in the mirror and they don't uite see themselves. They see something else start to appear. ou've done something to jar the image. When you take away who she is, then she's free to become someone else. She's got the guts to do something because she's on the road to the disguise already. That's what I do. ut I'm not aware of how other people fi t, ex cept maybe you, Carlo. ut I haven't been in the room with other designers when they're fi tting. I like the fi tting room very much. And I We know that for costume design ers it's important to help the actor be in char acter, but the patience that you have explain ing everything about how they should relax or ing everything about how they should relax or face the camera. That's why they love you. Thr L k Gl s ow do you know when you're Thr L k Gl s ow do you know when you're so that she doesn't recognize herself. In other words, if she's standing there in a S r R r S r R r Poggioli "od, I don't understand why we have to do so many for the search

• Cover