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revived me to work that fast. It made fi lm a little easier." Despite trading the big screen for the small screen, tele- vision proved to be as massive a challenge as any of her other projects. "When I took Westworld, I was seriously thinking about taking a break. I thought, 'I'll take this T show in town. It's just all this western wear. So I took it and got a look at the scriptsBritish Raj World and Samurai World I was like, 'Oh God. They're going to do everything. It's the entirety of costume design rolled into one project.'" A hectic pace isn't limited to television, of course, but Davis has taken that to the next level by working on more than one project at the same time. "I'd be on set fi lming ursuit of Happyness in San Francisco Saturday through Wednesday, and then fl y to Los Angeles to prep Dreamgirls for three days. It was crazy." How did she maintain such a busy schedule "I was young," she laughs. "But I did the same for ing Richard and Journal for Jordan. Because of COID, we pushed ing Richard so far that I was still on it when Journal for Jordan was starting. So, for three or four weeks, I was on both shows." The biopic of Richard Wil- liams, father of tennis champions enus and Serena, ing Richard represents her third collaboration with Will Smith, of whom she says, "I love everything I've ever done with him. He's one of the kindest and most generous human beings." At the heart of her process is collaboration with other fi lm- makers who share her passion for storytelling. "I just love to be in the same mindset as a director and the actors, so we're all on the same page. Then I can just go. I love them all. I mean, I love to work with Bill Condon who did Dreamgirls. I love Rian Johnson who did Looper. I loved working with Albert Hughes on Book of Eli and Alpha. I love Tate Taylor who did The Help and Get on p." Her strategy is to work as closely with directors as she can and convey their vision for the costumes to the actors in terms that satisfy them all. "They have an overall picture of what they're seeing. When we are in sync and I come in with my design, they say, 'Oh my God. That's exactly what I was thinking.'" Photo: Paramount Pictures, Fences Photo: Warner Bros., King Richard Photo: Dreamworks, The Help 22 THE COSTE DESIGNER SRING 2022