How makeup masters lay the foundation for award-worthy performances, from transforming Bradley Cooper into Bernstein to helping Brendan Fraser play a very obese man in The Whale
At the start of last year’s biopic The Eyes of Tammy Faye, a makeup artist is shocked to learn that the televangelist has her lipliner and eyeliner permanently tattooed on. She offers to soften them, but Faye demurs: “That’s my trademark. If I take that away, then it’s not me. This is who I am.”
It’s the film’s frontispiece, about appearance, truth and the nature of performance to mediate between them. One that’s especially relevant given the actor playing Faye, Jessica Chastain, is herself covered in layers of silicone prosthetics to portray the preacher.
