“Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” Hair and Makeup Head Christine Blundell on Bringing Out the Dead

Almost four decades after the original, Tim Burton’s follow-up, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, is a hit for Warner Bros. Reprising their original roles, Winona Ryder’s Lydia is now a television talk show host ghost hunter, Catherine O’Hara’s Delia is still a daffy cosmopolitan creative, and Michael Keaton’s Beetlejuice remains an undead charlatan pining for Lydia. Lydia also has a teenage daughter, Astrid (Jenna Ortega), who misses her late dad, Richard (Santiago Cabrera),

Eye on the Emmys: “Abbott Elementary” Hair & Makeup Maestros Moira Frazier and Constance Foe

*Ahead of the 2024 Emmy Awards on September 15, we’re looking back at our interviews with some of this year’s nominees. Hair Department Head Moira Frazier is nominated for Outstanding Contemporary Hairstyling for season 3’s 12th episode, “Mother Day.” This story was originally published on June 10, 2024.

As school is starting again for millions of kids across the country, let us spare a moment to reflect on the fire looks our teachers were serving last year—or in this case,

Giving the “Abbott Elementary” Teachers a Glow Up With the Hair & Makeup Maestros Moira Frazier and Constance Foe

As summer shimmers just ahead and another school year wraps up, we take time now to reflect on the fire looks our teachers were serving. The educators at Abbott Elementary gave it their all through two semesters of change. As they navigated celebrations and setbacks, this season was filled with transformations guided by Hair Department Head Moira Frazier and Makeup Department Head Constance Foe.

Janine Teagues’ (Quinta Brunson) relentless optimism and dedication to her students saw a major payoff when her big ideas caught the attention of the school district.

Andes to Oscars: How Makeup Masters Turned “Society of the Snow” Actors Into Survivors

Director J.A. Bayona’s Society of the Snow, which recounts the experience of a Uruguayan rugby team whose plane crashed in the Andes in 1972, is Spain’s Oscar entry for best international feature. But the film, which depicts the crash and subsequent survival of 16 out of 45 passengers in exquisitely painful detail, is also nominated in another category. The passengers break bones. They sustain face injuries. They starve. For their incredible work creating the visual reality of this suffering,

The Oscar-Nominated Hair & Makeup Team on Turning Helen Mirren Into “Golda”

In 2023, Oscar-winning director Guy Nattiv helmed Golda, a biographical drama about Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir set during the 19 days of the Yom Kippur War in 1973.  As usual, Dame Helen Mirren is masterful in the title role. One key to the believability of her portrayal was visually melding Mirren and Meir together through costume, makeup, and hair. 

The Academy has recognized all the attention to detail and artistry used to achieve Golda’s finished look with an Oscar nomination for best achievement in makeup and hair styling.

“The Color Purple” Hair Department Head Lawrence Davis on Capturing Iconic Characters in Flux

Director Blitz Bazawule’s The Color Purple, which builds on the legacy of Alice Walker’s original 1982 novel, Steven Spielberg’s 1985 drama, and the more recent Broadway musical, had the second-highest domestic opening of all time for a film released on Christmas day. 

Celebrating resilience in the face of trauma, racism, and tragedy, The Color Purple follows Celie Harris (Fantasia Barrino), a woman who faces many years of difficulty in her search for belonging and happiness.

How “The Book of Clarence” Hair and Makeup Head Siân Richards Turned LaKeith Stanfield into Twins

Set during one of the most influential human events ever, The Book of Clarence honors a deeply personal family rift. As the disciples of Christ spread a message of peace and brotherhood, one of their own siblings grapples with skepticism and resentment. LaKeith Stanfield devotedly portrayed both the wayward Clarence and his twin, the apostle Thomas. To aid the actor in developing two characters, hair and makeup head, Siân Richards crafted distinct looks that reflected each man’s journey.

“The Color Purple” Makeup Department Head Carol Rasheed Finds Music in Many Shades

Like its heroine, Celie (Fantasia Barrino), The Color Purple is a story that continually grows in boldness and beauty over time. Director Blitz Bazawule’s musical version of Alice Walker’s classic tale of hope and sisterhood is a vivid interpretation for a new generation.

Makeup department head Carol Rasheed approached the film with a clear intention and steadfast goals. She exchanged vision boards, music, and more with Bazawule for nearly six months to prepare for the shoot.

“Lessons in Chemistry” Makeup Department Head Miho Suzuki Captures the Pressure Cooker of Being a 1950s Woman

Chemical reactions can be calculated and quantified, but matters of the heart are far less predictable. When scientist Elizabeth Zott (Brie Larson) finds herself pressed toward domesticity from all sides, she realizes that the way to pursue her passions, empower women, and advocate for equality may be through the kitchen after all. Lessons in Chemistry – based on the hit novel by Bonnie Garmus – follows Zott’s evolution from student to TV star.

How Osage Tradition Influenced the Hair & Makeup in “Killers of the Flower Moon”

There is perhaps nothing more important than authentically depicting the Osage in Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon, a poignant tale based on real events where the oil-rich nation was devilishly deceived, manipulated, and murdered for their money and oil shares by the very ones who married them. Newspapers later described the tragedy, which lasted from 1921-1926, as the “Reign of Terror.”

Scorsese and co-writer Eric Roth brought David Grann’s best-selling novel of the same name to the screen with tremendous care and understanding.

Best of Summer 2023: “Barbie” Hair & Makeup Artist Ivana Primorac Conjures Personality From Plastic

*It’s our annual “Best of Summer” look back at some (not all) of our favorite interviews from the past few months. This non-comprehensive look back includes the Barbenheimer phenomenon and the wonderful interviews that followed those two history-making films, chats with the talented folks behind Mission: Impossible, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, our profile of MPA Creator Award Recipient and filmmaker extraordinaire Gina Prince-Bythewood and more.

How do you turn a human into a doll?

Emmy-Nominated “The Last of Us” Hairstylist Chris Harrison-Glimsdale on Shaping the Locks of the Living and The Dead

Calgary-based hairstylist Chris Harrison-Glimsdale happily pursued the apocalypse and lived to tell the tale. In fact, she’s got an Emmy nomination for her efforts, alongside her colleagues Penny Thompson and Courtney Ullrich, for shaping the locks of the survivors and their undead pursuers who populated HBO’s critically acclaimed series The Last Of Us.

Co-created by Craig Mazin (Chernobyl) and Neil Druckmann (creator of the critical and commercial smash hit video game that the series is based on),

“Barbie” Hair & Makeup Artist Ivana Primorac Conjures Personality From Plastic

How do you turn a human into a doll? Or, let’s reverse that—how do you turn the most iconic doll ever made into a human? These were the intermingled questions makeup and hair designer Ivana Primorac had to answer for co-writer and director Greta Gerwig’s history-making new film Barbie. Reader? She succeeded.

Primorac has worked on a slew of excellent, disparate projects, from the Winston Churchill biopic The Darkest Hour to HBO’s brilliantly executed crime series Mare of Easttown to Netflix’s magisterial The Crown.

“The Little Mermaid” Hair Designer Camille Friend on Creating Ariel’s Locks From Halle Bailey’s Natural Hair

When director Rob Marshall cast Halle Bailey to play Ariel in the new live-action film The Little Mermaid, he knew it was important to both bring mermaid energy and believability to everything about this updated version of the character, and that included Halle’s hair. Of all the memorable aspects of Ariel from the 1989 animated feature, her redheaded, flowing locks became one of the most iconic.   

Marshall enlisted hair designer and educator Camille Friend to create an equally iconic design for Ariel’s hair in the new film,

“Queen Charlotte” Hair and Makeup Head Nic Collins Styles Two Decadent Timelines

Everything is in bloom for spring, including the high society style on Netflix’s Queen Charlotte. The Bridgerton spinoff, with a sly eye on the groundbreaking, no-nonsense monarch, features towering wigs and a glance back at some of the series’ strongest characters in their younger years.  

Hair and makeup head Nic Collins spared no indulgence for Her Royal Highness and her court. “We had numerous wigs ongoing all at the same time,” Collins revealed.

Oscar-Nominated Makeup & Hair Designer Heike Merker Paints With Mud & Blood in “All Quiet on the Western Front”

Director Edward Berger’s adaptation of All Quiet on the Western Front is a painfully absorbing epic. Berger’s take on Erich Maria Remarque’s iconic 1929 novel, captured with astonishing vividness by cinematographer James Friend, teases out the themes in the seminal work about the horrors of World War I with bloody precision. The film wastes no time in depicting the dehumanizing industry of the first mechanized war, in which a dead soldier is stripped of his uniform so that it can be stitched up,

“Everything Everywhere All At Once” Hair & Makeup Team on Creating Looks For Every Dimension

Who among us hasn’t danced with alternate life paths in daydreams while battling a case of the doldrums? Even a universe-ending adventure seems more glamorous some days than completing one more trivial tax form. Everything Everywhere All at Once is a superhero story for the everyman. Each variation in style represents an entirely different life the characters might have lived.

Hair department head Anissa E. Salazar and makeup department head Michelle Chung created styles that spun the characters through a dazzling display of “what ifs” and “could have beens.” Each look was a glamorous fantasy ranging from funky to surreal.

“Emancipation” Hair Department Head Andrea Bowman on Her Oscar-Shortlisted Work

Andrea Mona Bowman knew that Emancipation was going to be special.

Based on a true story, Emancipation stars Will Smith as Peter, a Southern slave who breaks free from his Confederate captors and escapes into the Louisiana swaps. Chased for days, Peter makes his way to Baton Rouge, where he joins the Union army to fight for his freedom. There, he is introduced to new technology — photography. Peter agrees to have his bare back — covered from waist to neck with deep scars from repeated whippings — captured on film.

Shaping Locks & Lives With “We’re Here” Hairstylist Abdiel Urcullu

One would think grammar school teachers and drag queen wigmasters have little in common. But having been both, Abdiel Urcullu can see the similarities.

For the past two years, Urcullu, who previously taught math to 4th and 5th graders, has served as the key hairstylist for the HBO series We’re Here. Debuting in 2020, the reality series follows drag queens Eureka O’Hara, Shangela, and Bob the Drag Queen as they travel to small-town America to encourage a community to get in touch with its inner drag.

“Bridgerton” Emmy-Nominated Costume & Hairstyling Team on Season Two’s Sumptuous Styles

Netflix’s Regency-era romance Bridgerton became one of its most-streamed series thanks to creator Chris Van Dusen’s modern, Skittles-hued take on historic upper-crust British mores. His ethos going in — that this London Ton would be a “bonnet-free world” — held up for Season 2, in which the eldest Bridgerton heir, Anthony (Jonathan Bailey), finds true love, not with the season’s social diamond, Edwina (Charithra Chandran), but her romance-averse older sister, Kate (Simone Ashley).