‘Poor Things’ hair, makeup and prosthetics designer Nadia Stacey: ‘There’s never a guideline where you can go too far’ [Exclusive Video Interview]
“The joy is working on the films in the first place,” says “Poor Things” hair, makeup and prosthetics designer Nadia Stacey. “You get to see them and go, ‘I can’t believe my name is on that.’ To start getting all this recognition for it as well is just amazing.” It isn’t the first time she’s teamed up with director Yorgos Lanthimos and actress Emma Stone. The hair and makeup artist won a BAFTA for “The Favourite” in 2019 and was Oscar nominated for her work on “Cruella” in 2022. Watch our exclusive video interview above.
“When you start to have that relationship with someone and become friends it’s sort of seamless,” she explains. “There’s a lot of trust involved in that. The characters I’ve been able to create with [Emma] have been so different across three films. Pairing up with both of them, you just don’t get the chance to do that on films. It’s the most creative you’re ever going to be. You’re so pushed. You never really know what’s in [Yorgos’] head. There’s never a guideline where you can go too far. It’s really daunting, but also incredible.”
One of the most challenging characters for Stacey was Dr. Godwin Baxter played by Willem Dafoe. “You need him to be shocking,” she reveals. “There’s all these references of him when he’s walking down the street and a woman shouts at him. They call him a monster at some point when he’s in the medical school. So, it needed to be shocking, but I always think with prosthetics, if you’re creating something that’s verging on monster you will always concentrate on that. I think we needed to see Baxter. You need to see Willem through that as well. If you’ve got someone like Willem Dafoe, with this incredible face, you don’t want to completely cover that. I wanted to tell the story of his father experimenting on him…the scars are all pretty perfect because they’re master surgeons. He ended up being sort of a patchwork quilt that’s been put back together.”
Stacey is nominated for two Makeup and Hairstylists Guild Awards for her work on “Poor Things”: Best Special Makeup Effects and Best Period and/or Character Makeup. The film is also on the Oscar shortlist to be eligible for Best Makeup and Hairstyling.
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