FOR YOUR EMMY CONSIDERATION: An in-depth conversation with master make-up artisan and Head of Department for Make-Up, Hair and Prosthetics for MOON KNIGHT, DONALD MOWAT.
With a career spanning more than 30 years, and long a master artisan of movie make-up, along with hair and prosthetics, DONALD MOWAT has been involved in some of the most acclaimed films and television shows of our generation. Already an Emmy winner in 1992 for his work in the television movie Mark Twain and Me, as well as multiple other accolades, Donald has never been one to sit on his laurels and has continually dazzled us with natural transformations of actors into characters. Always with subtlety and nuance that is punctuated with blood, scars, bruises, aging, etc. when called for, Donald has long been a favorite of actors like Mark Wahlberg, Jake Gyllenhaal, and Daniel Craig for their roles in films like Invincible, Three Kings, Nightcrawler, Southpaw, Skyfall, Spectre, Cowboys & Aliens, and more. Then there are films like Bladerunner 2049, First Man, and Sicario where his talents all mesh as Head of Department for make-up/hair/prosthetics.
A simple philosophy throughout his career, for DONALD MOWAT it all boils down to doing something that he loves. “I never got into the business to make money. . .I started in theater and low budget independent films. . . I just wanted to work on films because I love films, and I love working with actors and the crew and I just want to find a project or movies maybe that I want to see or I get attached to an actor like Wahlberg or Daniel Craig.”
But perhaps Donald’s most impressively stunning work has captured the attention of the world most recently thanks to his Academy Award-nominated work on Dune (and the upcoming Dune: Part Two which is now in production) and his latest award-worthy work on MOON KNIGHT.
Entering the Marvel Comics Universe with the limited series MOON KNIGHT starring Oscar Isaac, Ethan Hawke, and May Calamawy, MOON KNIGHT is taken from the Marvel comic of the same name and follows the mild-mannered museum gift shop employee Steven Grant. Plagued with nightmares or memories of another life filled with adventure and danger, Steven soon realizes he suffers from dissociative identity disorder and that he shares his body with mercenary Marc Spector. But that is just the start of Steven’s troubles as he has also been imbued with the powers of the Egyptian Moon God, Khonshu. With enemies of Marc’s, and now Steven’s, bearing down on them, Marc/Steven must not only navigate these dissociative identities while finding themselves at the heart of a battle between the most powerful gods of ancient Egypt. Isaac stars as Marc/Steven, Hawke as Arthur Harrow, and Calamawy as Layla El-Faouly.
First and foremost for Donald’s approach to MOON KNIGHT and this dissociative identity disorder with Steven/Marc is that “It’s got to be believable in the sense it’s the same guy” which meant only doing subtle things like changing hair, the skin texture and tone. Film fans, classic film fans in particular, will immediately notice that Donald has taken the same approach as director Paul Henreid and make-up masters Gordon Bau and Gene Hubbs did with 1964’s Dead Ringer starring Bette Davis as identical twins. Make-up is the same on both individuals but for subtle changes such as with hair. That’s exactly what Donald does with MOON KNIGHT and Isaac’s characters of Marc and Steven. Initially but for sweat or, as Donald refers to it, “a jet lag” look as a differential between the two, the make-up takes second fiddle to Isaac’s performance; a tact that works well in establishing the singularity of identities within one body and something which Oscar Isaac totally embraced.
A real make-up/hair/prosthetic challenge though was the need for twinning and triple twinning and that required matching prosthetics, wigs, and costumes to Oscar Isaac. This is where speed and a talented team come into play, something that Donald certainly put together. Not only were there the differentials needed for Isaac as Marc and then as Steve, but also for stunt doubles for each, body doubles for each, photo doubles for each, and someone to step in for over-the-shoulder coverage of whichever character was on camera delivering dialogue. In our conversation, Donald goes into detail on the process itself and the importance of the team around him, helping them achieve the vision of the director.
One of the most challenging episodes of MOON KNIGHT for make-up/hair/prosthetics was Episode Five, “Asylum”, thanks to everyone being a double of who they are “in the real world”. It was also the episode where Donald had the most fun, and you hear it in his voice as he discusses it. “I had a great time because he looks so drugged. He’s got the old Marlon Brando trick [with] the cotton in his mouth, so he’s drooling. He’s got the dilated contact lenses, and so he looks really stoned. He looks like he’s on an opioid It was a fun makeup to do. Oscar was really into it; changing his whole color, his pallor. And then Ethan and May. So everybody looks different but the same and sickly. . .I tried to stay as real as possible.”
A truly collaborative process not only with his hair/make-up/prosthetic team, but also with the actors, here with Oscar Isaac and Ethan Hawke, each with ideas on their characters, and in Hawke’s case, the hair of Arthur Harrow, a self-proclaimed “guru” of sorts who proves to be a nemesis of Marc/Steven.
But for DONALD MOWAT it’s all about collaboration. “I get to help and work as part of a process in a team, a collaborative team. . . As a craftsman, as an artisan. I’d say that’s the joy I get. And also to lead a team and create work and help people learn to be good, be the best and be a team leader and a mentor to people”
TAKE A LISTEN. . .
by debbie elias, exclusive interview 05/24/2022
