93rd Academy Awards: on the "Makeup and Hair" Nominees
Wednesday, April 7, 2021 at 10:59PM by Nathaniel R
Throughout our "gulp" twenty years of covering the Oscars, no branch has proven more confounding than the Hair and Makeup designers. Like all branches they have weird and glaring blindspots (for some reason despite adoring makeup effects prosthetics they loathe the genre that most commonly deploys them: horror) but many of their rulings have been bizarre (remember how a little CG touchup on Nicole Kidman's prosthetic nose in The Hours disqualified the film in this category but throughout the rest of the Aughts huge CG spectacles were regularly honored?!). They love old age and prosthetic effects makeup regardless of quality, except when they suddenly get fussy about it and don't. Sometimes they love wigs and other times only the makeup matters, hair be damned. They're tough to get a bead on but it's easier to suss out what might win once they've made their often perplexingly random finalist and nominee calls (Like how was Possessor and its innovative makeup effects not even on the finalist list? Oh, right, Horror film.)
The nominees are listed in ascending order of how likely we think they are to win the Oscar...
MANK
The challenge for this first-time Oscar-nominated team (Makeup department head Gigi Williams, Hair department head Kimberley Spiteri, and Hairstylist Colleen LaBaff) was to recreate Old Hollywood glamour and to do that in black and white. While it's commonly known that costumes read differently for black and white and, thus, sometimes look really odd in color to achieve their desired effect without it, the other visual crafts also have to contend with how their work will look when it goes all silvery.
One of the wonderful results of the Makeup and Hair category expanding to five nominees (where they always should have been to align with all othe craft categories) is that the Academy has found room to embrace beauty work; for decades it seemed like the only achievement in this field that Oscar voters were turned on by was prosthetic effects. We can't imagine Mank winning, because Oscars rarely prizes glamour makeup in this category, but it's a lovely nominee precisely for its atypicality (and Amanda Seyfried in particular does look like a bonafide golden age movie star with that platinum hair and ruby lips. We hope to see more beauty work landing nominations in the future.
PINNOCHIO
Makeup and Hair is one of the categories that go through what's known as a bake-off process. At the bake-offs the branch members aren't watching whole films but basically long FYC pitches. The scene selection, quality and engagement factor of those presentations can surely account for some of the best and worst decisions in categories that use this process. It's not a perfect system but what is? All it takes is for people who work in that discipline to fall under the spell of a well-designed clip reel or presentation but in the best circumstances it can help worthy work that's not coming from a Best Picture contender score an Oscar nod. As soon as Pinnochio landed in the finalist list we knew it would be nominated and not just due to the presence of British special effects makeup artist Mark Coulier who won the Oscar on his first two nominations for Grand Budapest Hotel and The Iron Lady. (Two italians, the makeup artist Dalia Colli and hair designer Francesco Pegoretti are enjoying their first nominations alongside him). Winning will be a harder get for the film as it will require a big chunk of Academy members to actually screen the film in its entirety and we know they aren't super great about doing that with films that have only shown up in the below-the-line categories. Unfortunately a Best Picture nomination gives you a huge boost in the craft categories even though crafts should be judged on their own merits. But if voters watch this film, with the main character looking as if he was actually carved from wood (and all through makeup without CGI) and so many other eye-popping characters also using intricate makeup and wig work, this fairy tale could theoretically pull off a major upset.
HILLBILLY ELEGY
Listen. Maybe this team didn't need to go so hard with Amy Adams late in film especially that recovering junkie frizz wig but the rest of the work in Hillbilly Elegy is marvelous even if "deglam" happens to be our least favourite Oscar bait with which to hook hungry voters. Makeup department head Eryn Krueger Mekash receives her first nomination alongside two previous winners in this category, prosthetic designer Matthew Mungl (Bram Stoker's Dracula) and Hair department head Patricia Dehaney (Vice).
You've probably all seen the Instagram video from the perpetually game and goofy (offscreen) Glenn Close drumming her prosthetic belly while getting into costume. MaMaw is about as unglamourous as they come but the wig and the mottled skin and every which way they aged and downplayed Glenn Close's handsome star glamour paid off in helping her create this Appalachian matriarch. It's true that the movie around MaMaw doesn't support the authenticity of Close's acting or the makeup department's careful work, but that doesn't mean that these two Oscar nominated accomplishments aren't worth respecting.
EMMA
Not one but two "beauty" entries this year. This one marks the first nomination for Marese Langan, Laura Allen, and Claudio Stolze. More than any of the other films in the running, Emma. surely scored this nomination via the wig and hair work as opposed to the makeup. Not that the makeup isn't wonderful but the Hair... goddess the hair. So many ringlets. So many adornments and much fussy attention. It's the main attraction. As with the exquisite costuming work by Alexandra Byrne previously covered not once but twice here and here... the achievement here is not just the beauty but the way it reveals things like economic class, innate taste or the lack thereof, and in some cases, character; please note how messy and natural Mr Knightley's hair is in a society otherwise filled with fussing over self-display; He stands right out as oasis and corrective. Emma herself perfects the opposite approach, the embrace and overachieving of those same expectations.
MA RAINEY'S BLACK BOTTOM
We've remarked on this before but one of the joys of this very peculiar Oscar season is how many first time nominees there are in virtually all categories. Here's another entirely virginal group: Viola's makeup artist and hairstylist Sergio Lopez-Rivera and Jamika Wilson, and hair designer Mia Neal. The broad contours of the challenge here are hairstyles and makeup work to place you in 1920s Chicago in the hot hot summer. But the spotlight and the reason for the nomination is surely the visage of Ma Rainey herself with her gold teeth, excessive makeup and horsehair wigs. We get glamorous put-together Ma Rainey at her hotel showing off her glamour girl (Taylour Paige) to provoke the bougie Northern blacks, we get the performing for the crowd Ma Rainey in flashbacks to concerts, and the sweaty tired Ma Rainey in that recording studio who has had enough of everyone's bullshit. Get her a fan and a cold coke! The Mother of the Blues was known for smeared greasepaint makeup and the effect her is memorable when she's on stage, like a colorful living painting sweating away as she croons and moans through her risque collection of songs. We think this team will win though if there's a spoiler Emma wouldn't be too surprising.
P.S. Ma Rainey has a very good shot at winning four of its five Oscar nominations. There's no way it wins Production Design but the rest are right there as either locks (Actor) or close but doable projections (Actress, Makeup, Costumes). That big of a haul for a non-Best Picture nominee hasn't happened since The Matrix (1999) but the all time record holder will surely remain Vincente Minnelli's The Bad and the Beautiful (1952) which won 5 Oscars.
Remember to vote on who SHOULD win the craft Oscars on the Oscar charts.
OTHER CATEGORY REVIEWS
- Adapted Screenplay
- Cinematography
- Costume Design
- Makeup and Hair
- Original Song
- Sound
- Visual Effects
- Documentary Feature
- Shorts, Animated
- Shorts, Doc
- Shorts, Live Action
plus
- Um... who is winning best actress?
- Double acting nomination complications
- How often does Best Actor go to a non-Best Picture nominated film?
- New Oscar records
- History of Posthumous Oscars
- Oldest Best Actor Nominees of all time (two are from this year!)
Best Makeup, Emma, Hillbilly Elegy, Makeup and Hair, Oscars (20)
Reader Comments (29)
Ma Rainey possibly could win 3: Actor, Actress and this one. Costumes is probably Emma's to lose since it checks all the boxes for the win and it's not just a case of Best = Most
I think Pinnochio is winning.
Great category this year. Thanks for the write up, Nathaniel! Agreed that horror and glamour should really have more prominence in this category, which has really been prosthetics heavy over time. And agreed that Ma Rainey seems like the winner here.
Would have loved to have seen Birds of Prey nominated here. (The film was on the shortlist.) Though I'm not sure which nominee I'd bump. Maybe Hillbilly Elegy?
I'm partial to Emma. myself. When I saw it in theaters early last year, I picked up on how costumes, but especially the hairstyling, indicated a character's status and emotional state. It's really gorgeous work and I hope that team wins this year.
Quick Q: Have there been any films nominated in this category primarily for hairstyling? The Young Victoria?
voters don't need to watch pinnochio, they just have to see that pic of the kid above - tick
Anything but Pinocchio winning would be disgraceful. The movie doesn’t need the entire membership to watch it in order to win and it’s so far ahead of the pack in terms of impressiveness that anyone who sees a couple of pictures will understand it deserves to win. Don’t forget Fantastic Beasts winning Costumes
Women lose hair as do men as they age, just differently: men in the vortex, women all throughout. The wig in "Hillibilly" is much too thick for a senior - unreal and no winner. They should have made it skimpier, more realistic.
Hillbilly Elegy is guaranteed Best Supporting Actress, but imagine if it was a multi-Oscar winning film? Gag!
but that doesn't mean that these two Oscar nominated accomplishments aren't worth respecting.
Sure, Jan.
I would be voting for MA RAINEY - all that sweaty over-applied make-up! You'd definitely need a coca-cola badly, too. If it does win as well as Viola, then that is another cross-over between make up and best actress. I think EMMA will win costumes so I'm sticking with predicting MA RAINEY here although I would like MANK as i think its very good work or PINOCHIO just for the shock value.
MOULIN ROUGE! was a make up nominee, by the way. I remember you wishing it could get into vfx at the time...?
Hillbilly Elegy is guaranteed Best Supporting Actress
Some people are still looking on denial it seems.
Nice article.
Nathaniel, Moulin Rouge! was nominated for its Makeup.
I really want to see Pinocchio.
The Academy does like fantasy films in this category and just seeing some still images of Pinocchio could be enough to get them votes. Otherwise, it's going to Ma Rainey's Black Bottom.
I don't think we've reached the point that fabulous hairstyles are enough to win in this category. It's only been a few years of "and Hairstyling" appearing in the title of the category. Massive transformations and prosthetic work still dominate the winner's field. Emma is a worthy nominee, but the makeup work is too subtle to take the prize here.
My vote would be for for Pinocchio (and actually I would vote also for the costumes of Garrone’s version) but I agree that HE team made a good work
Hard not to root for Pinocchio looking at the pics.
"Hillbilly Elegy" MIGHT win 'best make up' but that's all.
Glenn won't win. That's quite obvious at this point (no SAG, no Globe, no Critics' Choice, no BAFTA, no chance).
I think I might actually throw a bone to MANK here.
Manilla: No, Close is FAR from guaranteed. The Globes refused to touch her with a win, going with a non-nominee. And then SAG refused to touch her with a win. BAFTA didn't even nominate Close, but they did nominate the SAG winner. If Youn repeats at BAFTA...? Or Bakalova takes it...? (AKA: Close better hope Fishback gets the BAFTA.) It's OVER, as far as this season goes, and Close has to lick her wounds for a bit and hope that nomination 9 does it. Swan Song...? Glenn Close as kind of a Mad Scientist seems fun, at least.
Denial or clear vision of 8th nomination for an actress equals a win? O'Toole had a tool, so the academy views his chances as eternal.
Mank looks great, and this would be a great place to reward it. However, when I think back on the film I tend to focus on Marion at the expense of everything else happening with the make-up and hair.
I think Ma Rainey's is really good, but that also feels like a film where Viola's make up is the focus, at the expense of the other characters. They all look great, but aren't as memorable as her.
I think Hillbilly pulls this off well. Obviously, Glenn is one of the main attractions, but there's a descent that we see Adams take that's particularly memorable. Getting to see her 90s hair and makeup styling, when she's somewhat stable, work pretty well.
The hair in Emma is quite a feat.
Does anyone know the make-up of this branch? I'd say if it leans towards make-up, then we'll see Pinnochio or Ma take it. If the membership is more hair oriented, then we'll see Emma triumph.
I remember being upset that Elizabeth won Best Makeup over Saving Private Ryan (and even Shakespeare In Love) until I learned later that it also included hair and wigs. That was the most impressive part about Elizabeth so I would say that this was an instance of the award really going to the hair department over just makeup which would probably have gone to Saving Private Ryan (all those injuries).
Not sure when they first explicitly included Hairstying in the name of the award but it wasn't as early as 1998.
Joe G -- i have to assume that it's more makeup oriented when you take into account that people are often invited due to nominations and the nominations have focus so heavily on effects work and prosthetics over the years. And the award seems to have been originally created solely to honor that kind of makeup work (as opposed to overall makeup design and hairstyling)
Great article! I think MA RAINEY takes this but damn is that PINOCHIO work impressive. Also love that shot of Amanda getting ready on-set!
Pinocchio for Costumes and Make Up.
This going to be one of those editions in which several films will take awards. There won't be That Movie cumulating multiple Oscars this time.
Why does almost every comment here misspell PINOCCHIO?
Kings of...
If Hillbilly Elegy had more meaninful noms like Adapted Screenplay and wasn't recognized as Razzie flop, then maybe the vision can be clear, otherwise, yeah it's denial
Anyone who watches even 10 minutes of Pinocchio is going to vote for it. How could you not?
I think PINOCCHIO is winning this.
4 out of 5 nominees are also up for Costume Design, which suggests those categories may be starting to align a bit more (which makes sense I guess).
And there are no films this year whose only nomination is for Hair and Make-Up.
Pinocchio has my vote. Incredible designs and execution.