Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1500442
THE ARTISAN SUMMER 2023 • 37 PHOTOS BY NICOLA GOODE © 2021 LUCASFILM LTD™, EXCEPT AS NOTED Lizzo and Jack Black I love having a creative space that is separate from the trailer, where we can go and sling hair and play arts and crafts with hot glue! Often (if there were helmets on set and no one with visible hair for my department to watch), I would go to the room and create something with the goal of trying a new technique or attempting to make things with new elements. This season, I even got out the sewing machine and made an entire hairpiece that was quilted wefts stitched onto interfacing with wire bases for more ease in manipulation. Since we had already established looks for a few of the planets, the parameters for Nevarro were already in place. It is a volcanic planet filled with mostly working-class people, so the hair styles are mostly up or half up, with lots of texture and very matte. This season, the planet and town are on the mend, and much more prosperous, so the styles reflected these changes. Coruscant was established in episodes one, two and three of the original films, but since it is a rather whimsical and very upscale planet, we had some leeway with our design elements, while keeping a nod to the styles established in the many looks of Queen/Senator Padme Amidala. MS: Were there any specific characters you were particularly excited to make? CW: Our first build was the Nikto pirate named Vane, who appeared in episode one. We had a short turnaround for this make-up, so we got right to work on it while we were still setting up our workspace. Our biggest challenge with this character was achieving a flat face profile while concealing the actor's nose. I contacted Tim Martin to sculpt this make-up and he masterfully fine-tuned the details to perfection. Mark Viniello runs our foam latex for the show and achieved a balanced softness that allowed actor Marti Matulis to really express his face. Christina Patterson exquisitely painted life into his contact lenses. We separated the sculpt into a cowl, a face, and a chin for application, and I pre-painted and applied this make-up with Ian Goodwin. Marti is an outstanding creature performer, and with all these great elements put together, Vane was brought to life! Another exciting make-up to build was the female Quarren ship captain from episode six. I have always been fascinated by underwater creatures, and I think the Quarren is a very unique amphibian-like species. This character was also going to be filming part of her scene submerged in a water tank, so this affected decisions for how we approached the make-up. My team life-cast stunt performer Joanna Bennet for the role, as she had experience working in prosthetics and in water. Director Bryce Dallas Howard requested that we keep her looking feminine and beautiful for this scene. Casey Jay Wong sculpted this character, fine-tuning all the details until we saw her staring back at us. We chose to run the head cowl and facial appliances in foam latex, so the water would absorb rather than turn into a floatation device. Her tentacles were silicone, to give a little weight, and magnetized to the foam face. Mike Mekash beautifully pre-painted her appliances using rubber cement paint for durability underwater. We also needed to enrich and darken the paint job for the underwater scene because the water really changed how the color visually translated. It was a pleasure applying this make-up with Ian Goodwin, resulting in a dynamic and stunning character. CW: What about you? What design elements were you excited to take on? MS: I was incredibly excited when I read the script for episode three and finally saw that we were going to be visiting my dream place! Not only were we going to the city planet of Coruscant, but we were filming at the very same opera house where we saw Anakin talk to Palpatine in episode three (nerd alert) of the original films!!!!! We styled some elaborate designs for our principal actors, as well as each one of our background characters, using every tool in our arsenal of hair and craft supplies. As a fun Easter egg, I used a bracelet purchased at Disneyland/Galaxy's Edge as a hair accessory for "Aristocrat 1," played by Valarie Pettiford. Other fun looks included an entire piece covered in hair color swatch samples, and a vermillion red version of the famous "Leia" buns with Kanekalon hair infinity braids wrapped in tarnished silver chain. Thanks to our incredible costume designer, Shawna Trpcic, and my super well-organized key, Ashleigh Childers, we have arrived Katee Sackhoff