Creating a character requires so much more than just a talented actor. There is time, art, and science that goes into transforming a person into someone different (and sometimes unrecognizable). Hollywood went for many years without recognizing the achievements in makeup design, until Rick Baker's groundbreaking work in "American Werewolf In London" forced everyone to stand up and take notice. Baker was one of my childhood heroes, and I'm still inspired by his genius.
Years have gone by and there is still no separate award category for the character work done by hairstylists.
Think about it...
For almost 40 years women have been able to ask their stylist for the "Rosemary's Baby" and get a fierce pixie. Javier Bardem is a handsome guy with pretty great hair, and is usually cast in "handsome guy" roles. Would he have been as creepy in "No Country For Old Men" without that awful, cereal-bowl bob? The world already knew The Thin White Duke had a crazy sense of personal style, but the frosty blond wigs designed for David Bowie to wear in "Labyrinth" turned him from a rock god into a Goblin King. John Waters original "Hairspray" villainess Velma VonTussle's hair was the bomb... literally. That enormous wig certainly didn't updo itself and just crawl on to Debbie Harry's head.
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Like this page on Facebook, show support for the hard work put in by talented hair artists, and hopefully they will get their long overdue recognition! If thousands of Facebook votes could get Betty White on Saturday Night Live, then maybe we can influence the entertainment industry in other ways.
Labyrinth was an awesome movie and I'm about to have my kids watch it. But I think that it wasn't just the wigs - the prosthetic ears and the makeup were needed, otherwise he would have just been Bowie in a wig. Just mho.
ReplyDeleteYeah, the ears helped too... otherwise it would have been, "Oh look, there's David Bowie wearing tights and eyeliner again. That's not evil at all."
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