Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1535749
44 • THE ARTISAN SUMMER 2025 space of the trailer and it made it feel like walking into an art gallery. I remember actors were so excited to come in every morning to find what's new on the wall. Whenever actors' guests came to visit the set, they came to our trailer and spent a lot of time looking through those beautiful photos of the scenes we were making. Our make-up trailer turned into an immersive art box. I am a reiki practitioner so I would give them reiki on demand. I would sometimes do it at the beginning of the day to help Cooper and Nicholas prepare for their very emotional, painful scenes. I would sometimes do reiki at wrap and it helped to detox heaviness at the end of day. So I think we all collectively, naturally did our part to made them feel supported to get through the filming. While filming was as intense as can be, Netflix constantly checked in with us and offered us continuous support for counseling and created the safe space to discuss and maintain cast and crew's mental health. There are so many distinct characters in this series—what was your favorite look you created? With little knowledge about them as actors previously, they blew us away from DAY 1 of filming with not only striking on-camera presence but also captivating strong performances. Their energies were so dynamic that we were all swallowed in. For Erik and Lyle, Ryan's vision of them being like movie stars before their arrest, I beautified them using liquid highlighter mixed in the base make-up, as well as shimmer bronzer to enhance glowy skin and healthy tan. It represented their freedom and money. Once they got into prison, I removed the glow products from their look. This change was subtle but it added their downfall visually. The most important thing for their make-up, I made sure tears wouldn't streak each time they cry (they cried a lot!) and make sure the foundation didn't break down. Firstly, I didn't want them to look like they have make-up on. Secondly, I wanted to keep the touchup as minimum as possible so it won't distract the actors' emotional flow. Episode 5, Cooper Koch had a no-cut, 33-min-single take shot, camera is all on him, starts wide, moving slowly in and ends with very close-up on Cooper's face. He did eight takes of this long take without making any mistakes once. I couldn't go in to touch him up every moment tears roll down his face, and sometimes he cried heavily, so that was the big accomplishment for me without anyone noticing it. Another fun look was Erik and Lyle's imaginary prison escape plan on Episode 3, getting plastic surgery and living a different lives. I used face tapes to pull the face from all the directions and used Stephen Bettles's OUT OF KIT swollen lip pieces. Stephen personally came to apply one of those days we filmed that scene. It's a comedic relief episode where we get to chuckle in the midst of heavy painful stories. What was the most challenging look of the series for you? I cannot think of any challenging look in particular. It wasn't the look itself, but the schedule was challenging as we lost some filming time because of the WGA and SAG strikes. However, our production planned the schedules as best they could so that it was achievable without compromising the quality of craft. The support and the trust that series directors, Ryan Murphy Productions and Netflix gave us was so immense that we felt safe to create and set up for success. Last but not least, my solid team, Sabrina Wilson, Michael Ornelaz, make-up PA Bouthenya, as well as the most talented group of make-up artists from local 706: Ana Lozano as Javier Bardem's personal make-up artist, Justin Raleigh as the prosthetic designer, hard working additional artists such as Martina Kohl, Kelcey Fry, Brigitte Hennech, Alyson Granaderos, Rory Gaudio, Kelsey Burke, Francisco Perez, Randi Mavestrand, Ian Goodwin, Gabby Navarrete, Brian Kinney, Annette Lorant, Alexa Coleman, Marissa Lafayette, Heather Galipo, Jon Shroyer, Carlton Coleman, Rachael Downing, Kenny Myers, Ozzy Alvarez, Bruce Fuller, Richie Alonzo, Kate Biscoe, Elaine Kandel, Ayat Malek Kiankhooy, Hugo Villasenor, Toby Lamm, Kevin Wasner, Chris Nelson, Erin Rosenmann, Shauna Giesbrecht, Brittany White, Stephen Bettles, Julie Socash, John Dave Snyder, Rochelle Uribe, Tracey Anderson, Robert Vega, Teresa Vest, Mandy Artusato. It's such a triumphant moment when the series aired, and the popularity of the show influenced nationally and revived the trend of music and fashion, which flooded social media. Not only that, its social wave brought the attention to the truth of tragic abuse behind the murder and created the chance of resentencing Erik and Lyle in real life. This series has became more than the popular show to watch, but it really proved how powerful it can be to change and influence the world. I'm grateful for being a part of this powerful project and the journey with all who were involved. •