Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1486000
40 • THE ARTISAN WINTER 2023 Aspiring star, the "wild child" Nellie LaRoy (Margot Robbie) HAIR: Avoiding the cliche '20s hair styling followed through with Nellie, wanting a timeless look, avoiding styles that were rigid, structured, dowdy or unflattering. Wanting more movement and freedom. I tested multiple lengths, varying levels of "wild" and we settled on the longer style. I wanted it to look uncut, un-styled, and to have the versatility to make it big, wild, and crazy. I worked with Rob Pickens to design the color, length, and texture. I knew the type of effect I wanted to get when I styled it wild, so Rob used techniques to create a fluffy lightweight volume, then for subtle baby hairs, fine mohair was used. I added lighter pieces to help bring more dimension to the overall style. Two wigs were custom built, one long and one short. I knew everything about these wigs needed to work in a way that I could set it and leave Margot to do her thing, especially during big party scenes. The wigs needed to be part of Nellie and Margot had to feel like it was her own hair, so she could dance and whip it around like Janis Joplin. It needed to move like a real head of hair. The only time Nellie landed fully in the cliche period style was with a studio "makeover" finger waved bob, a far cry from the wild style of the true Nellie LaRoy. MAKE-UP: Damien did not want skinny brows and a perfect 1920s girl. Even though the story is set in the 1920s, Damien always leaned into more of a timeless look and when I was in doubt, I imagined what the look would be if it was the 1970s and Fellini was doing a 1920s film! I looked at pictures of anyone from very young Clara Bow and 1920s. Mugshots to Studio 54 for inspiration for Nellie. Her make-up goes from a fresh-faced wild child to a movie star and beyond… Her make-up bag had everything in it from beautiful reds to deep dark-colored lipsticks, dirt, blood, sweat, and lots of tears! The classic silent movie star Jack Conrad (Brad Pitt) HAIR: Jack has a classic timeless style. Once it was decided Jack would be a brunette, special colorist Kadi Lee stepped in to facilitate that transformation. To style his hair, I would spray with water, jojoba oil would be applied, then combed into place and allowed to dry naturally. This gave the weight I needed to keep the style closer to Brad's head but also meant I didn't need to load his hair full of product. It also meant it wasn't too rigid or shiny, so when it needed to move in more physical scenes, it could. MAKE-UP: Jean Black wanted to try and capture the look of the 1930s movie star. Decided to go with a half pencil moustache. Since Jack was going with darker hair per JL's discussions with Brad and Damien, Jean wanted brows and lashes darkened as well. When Jack was in a film within the film, she used a cream black ink blue/green eyeshadow similar to what was used in the period, as well as mascara to intensify the look. His base was lightly tanned in film depictions and when in regular life scenes, Jean went back to something more natural. Hollywood journalist Elinor St. John. (Jean Smart) MAKE-UP: Elinor was our anchor in terms of setting the period. She is a journalist and is the powerhouse and the outsider looking in at the same time. She had a fabulous wardrobe to set off the make-up and Jeong-Hwa Fonkalsrud executed it perfectly every time. HAIR: With a customized fire-red wig from Rob Pickens' stock, Ahou Mofid and Jean worked closely to work out the style and silhouette for Elinor. I knew from Mary Zophres' incredible costume design that Elinor would be one of the few characters to have more of a period feel, with an array of glorious hats for Elinor. Margot Robbie