Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1445703
THEARTISAN SPRING 2022 • 45 RODNEY MULLEN: Given your first meetings with Paul Thomas Anderson (PTA) were just prior to COVID, describe PTA's original vision for hair and make-up in the film Licorice Pizza. LORI GUIDROZ (HAIR DESIGNER): PTA was on my bucket list of the great directors I've always wanted to work with. When that opportunity finally arrived, it presented a bit of a challenge because he didn't want hair and make-up, so in a way, we were asked to do this film with one hand tied behind our backs—not even a trailer (at first). On top of that, it was a period piece, which as we all know, requires hair and make-up. HEBA THORISDOTTIR (MAKE-UP DESIGNER): In Phantom Thread, Daniel Day-Lewis came camera-ready every day, and never needed to be touched up, which inspired PTA to have this film without any make-up. He really wanted to keep the film small and basically make it out of the trunk of his car. RM: Licorice Pizza was one of the very first movies to shoot amidst COVID—canary in the coal mine. Given PTA's minimalist approach and these new strictures, what did that look like? HEBA: We had to teach people how to do their own make-up, which really felt like it carried a degree of disrespect, at first. Like how I am supposed to teach them in five minutes what I have been honing more than 30 years! Additionally, we started off with night shoots and Lori and I could not do both the dayshift and nightshift, so we brought Seana Chavez and Christi Cagle in to do the nightshift while we covered the daytime fittings. Upon the actors' and BGs' arrival, Seana and Christi had the fitting pictures and would do a lineup to make sure everyone had done the make-up and hair we had taught them, then fix what was needed and send them off to set. LORI: About half the actors and BG didn't look remotely close to the '70s when they showed up, many needed wigs & sideburns, which they cannot do themselves. We worked closely with background casting which was amazing! With COVID lockdowns, it was a pandemic of gray roots, balayage, grown-out highlights and self-done clipper cuts, to begin with, plus a lot of dudes with trendy shaved sides and long tops—not even close to the '70s. HEBA: Same here: fake long eyelashes, big square eyebrows … Kardashian make-up. We had a lot of re-training to do! LORI: Meanwhile, we're expected to teach them to do it all themselves. How do you tell people how to not overdo their hair or how to apply a wig when most were teenagers or barely in their 20s? It's hard to even begin to express how many problems this posed. PHOTOS©METROGOLDWYNMAYERPICTURESINCALLRIGHTSRESERVED Cooper Hoffman (right) as Gary Valentine Alana Haim