Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1445703
THEARTISAN SPRING 2022 • 49 "Mineral Air" airbrush which is perfect in COVID times because it was fewer touching faces and super-fast. It is mineral-based, not alcohol-based so it had the look Paul wanted. Mel with PIXI was a life saver and sent us tons of products because we started fitting in the beginning of August when I could not even find mascara at CVS! With PIXI, I was able to give the actors travel kits to take home to do the make-up I taught them before arriving on set. Our main actors, Alana Haim and Cooper Hoffman, both tend to break out, so I put them both on Arcona Skincare regimen to do at home to keep them in check as Paul did not want them gone! Paul loved Mineral Air on Alana when we did a make-up test, so she sat down for a lesson and mastered it. And all the make-up had to last all day with masks on and off and no one there but themselves to touch up! RM: Talk more about character inspiration—or more broadly— anything that left you inspired, now that you've had time to soak-in your experiences working together on this film. HEBA: It's hard to emphasize enough how much creative freedom and time Paul gave us—despite the other limitations. We completely changed people to match the looks he wanted. For example, Maya Rudolph's look was inspired by old photos of her legendary mother, Minnie Riperton (soul singer). And Momma Anita had a very precise hair color and blow dry and super tan that would be impossible to do at home, so we always did them. Also, Emily Althaus as Kiki Page with her long lashes and a wig that needed to be done. LORI: We had Maya Rudolph, Sean Penn and Tom Waits, who were recreated characters. Maya needed a wig, both Sean and Tom needed hair color. So, while Paul didn't want us to do the actors' hair and make-up, there were certain characters we had to do. He also wanted Kiki to put on her own wig every day, but we may have helped her a little here and there… We also recreated Lucille Ball and all the kids from Yours, Mine & Ours for The Ed Sullivan Show. The days we shot those scenes, the ADs called me to come to the parking lot to give all the kids quick hair styles—they all showed up with bed-hair… We had to give them very specific hairdos to recreate the looks Paul wanted, looks that matched the TV show. So there we were at 6 a.m. in the parking lot doing hair styles on the fly trying to recreate a specific look on each one of them—it was bonkers! We are now able to laugh at the memory, even if we are left with a little PTASD! HEBA: This could've been an easy movie in terms of make-up. What made it hard was the way PTA wanted us to work. Yet this film highlighted a central quality of the film business and our community. Everybody must be flexible because every job not only brings new demands, but new conditions and new people. Suddenly, you are locked up in a trailer for 16 hours a day with different crews, so you must figure it out. The film business was the first to work COVID rules out since we have the resources to overcome lots of obstacles, but more importantly, because we are so adaptable. I love what I do, and this is yet another reason why. •