You’ve worked with Quentin Tarantino for more than a decade and designed the makeup for The Hateful Eight, Django Unchained, Inglourious Basterds and Kill Bill Vol.1 & 2. How did you start working together?
We met through a mutual friend, Julie Dreyfus, while he was writing Pulp Fiction. Then he seemed to be in every restaurant in Hollywood that I went to, and we would say hi. A couple of years later, Julie and I went to visit the set of Jackie Brown, and it was so much fun! I told Quentin when we left that I wanted to work on his next film, and I did not care if I was sweeping floors! He called me six years later and told me he was ready to do his film and reminded me that I had offered to sweep his floors. But I would not need to, instead I was going to department head Kill Bill.

With your history, how does the process of working on a Tarantino film differ from working with other directors?
No matter how well you know him, you never just relax – he gives 250% and I do not want to give him less. But, of course, you do develop a shorthand and understanding that is helpful. He also starts having screenings of films that are nspiring him way before we start shooting. It glues everyone together and makes it easy to talk to people and work together.

What was your makeup design process like for Once Upon a Time in Hollywood?
Quentin is not traditional, and for some of the actors he preferred their iconic looks rather than the correct time period. It is his love story to Hollywood, his hometown, and how he remembers it. As soon as I started prep, the first thing I did was go with Janine Rath-Thompson, the hair department head, and visit costume designer, Arianne Phillips. She had been on the film for Continue reading →