When it comes to hair and makeup in movies and television, many may not consider contemporary “everyday” street or natural looks as being “makeup.” Many may think the idea of makeup on screen as special effects makeup or being a noticeable character specialty that defines outlandish, futuristic, fantastical, or garish characters, overdone and blown up with eye-popping looks and colors. Well, they’d be wrong. Some of the most award-worthy makeup on the big and small screens is known as “contemporary” which embodies a present-day natural look that looks like no makeup yet can convey age, emotion, health, and more, and requires the skills, craftsmanship, and creativity of a master artisan like Academy Award nominee, BAFTA winner, and Primetime and Daytime Emmy Award winner DONALD MOWAT.
Always a joy to speak with this creative artisan and gentleman, I had the privilege of chatting with Donald about his work on PRESUMED INNOCENT where we dove into his award-worthy make-up and hair approach, his concerns and considerations, characterizations, and more.
While oft-lauded for his specialty work in films like “Dune: Part One” and “Blade Runner 2049″, Donald Mowat is equally masterful with contemporary present-day makeup such as in “Sicario”, “The Human Stain”, “Invincible”, “Skyfall” and “Nightcrawler”, just to name a few. And now with PRESUMED INNOCENT, Donald dazzles us again with a blend of contemporary makeup and full-body crime scene horror that fuel the story and define the characters and individual emotional states during the course of a police investigation and trial.
Based on the 1987 best-selling novel of the same name by Scott Turow and having been made into a 1990 feature film starring Harrison Ford, this time out David E. Kelley is the creative force, breaking the story out into a multi-episode limited series with more depth and texture and character development than a feature film allows. Jake Gyllenhaal stars as prosecutor Rusty Sabich while Peter Sarsgaard steps in as his shifty colleague Tommy Molto. Joining these two leads is Renate Reinsve as murder victim Carolyn Polhemus, Ruth Negga as Rusty’s wife Barbara, Bill Camp as Rusty’s mentor and friend Raymond Horgan, and Tate Birchmore as Michael Caldwell, among others.
In PRESUMED INNOCENT, we meet attorney Rusty Sabich, a family man with a beautiful wife and two teenage kids, who is also a successful spitfire of a polished and professional prosecuting attorney who is charged with the murder of his colleague, Carolyn Polhemus. The prosecutor leading the charge against Rusty is Tommy Molto who plays fast and loose and doesn’t always play by the evidentiary rules in order to “win.” And Tommy is no fan of Rusty’s.
When we meet Rusty and Tommy, we see the two adversaries who are going to be front and center of this entire story. Rusty is clean and buttoned up. Hair trimmed, neat. Costuming matches be it suiting or casual wear. Then we see Tommy with hair flopping all over the place. Loosely tied tie, loose jacket. Everything about Tommy is “loose”. He’s dressed in lighter colors. Rusty is dressed in darker colors, but you see the tonal difference in their silhouettes right down to their skin, to that makeup and hair.
But as the story progresses and events unfold, particularly the trial, Rusty’s appearance changes. He becomes increasingly haggard, the brow furrows with deep creases developing, his pallor changes, and by the time we get to episode seven, Rusty is sweating and sweating heavily. Hand in hand with Rusty’s visible changes are those of his wife Barbara as she tests the waters with the attentions from another man and make-up is rosier, becomes curlier and flirtier only to then fall victim to the stress of Rusty’s trial when dark circles appear, attention to self falters and hair is pulled up into a bun, unwashed. As for Tommy Molto, his hair, his pallor, everything is looser, freer, messier. When we look at victim Carolyn Polhemus, the craftsmanship of the make-up for full-body injuries and bloodwork is outstanding. Similarly, with Bill Camp’s character of Horgan, make-up is used to convey his health, most notably during the trial when he suffers a heart attack. But as I learned in speaking with Donald, subtlety is often essential.
PRESUMED INNOCENT may be a multi-episode limited series but it plays like a film (and I highly recommend a start-to-finish series binge-watch). There is a visual and emotional continuity with the series structure that is very cinematic.
For a show that should have had about a month of prep work, Donald and his team put the pedal to the metal to design and do camera tests of makeup and hair for a bloodied, bound, and sliced murder victim (and her stunt double), present-day contemporary for all of the characters in various emotional states, flashbacks, and more intimate romantic scenes, and all in only two weeks.
According to Donald, the key to the work required for hair and make-up is by collaborating closely with the director, cinematographer, and special effects team to ensure the practical elements seamlessly integrate with the performance and overall visual style of the project. Testing and refining the techniques during pre-production is also crucial for achieving realistic and impactful results. But where does he even begin to approach make-up and hair in a project like this and with a large ensemble cast?
As he explains, “When I first got the project for PRESUMED INNOCENT, approaching the makeup and hair design was a multi-faceted process given the complex characters and narrative. The starting point was really understanding the core contrast between the two main adversaries, Jake [Gyllenhaal] and Peter [Sarsgaard]. I knew I wanted to establish a clear visual distinction between them – Jake being the clean-cut, buttoned-up lawyer [Rusty Sabich], while Peter [Tommy Molto] had a more disheveled, slightly creepy look with his loose, dated hairstyle and clothing.
“From there, I looked at how the characters’ appearances would evolve over the course of the story, especially as the trial progresses and the stress starts to show. For Jake, that meant subtly making his skin appear more flushed and his brow more furrowed as he becomes more frantic. For Peter, it was about gradually making him look more unkempt and haggard. I also had to consider the supporting characters like Gabby [Mya Winslow], the no-nonsense prosecutor, and Bill Camp’s character [Raymond Horgan], whose health issues manifested in very visible ways through the makeup. It was about finding those signature looks that would instantly communicate who these people were.”
The key, however, “was really doing a deep dive into each character, looking at reference photos, and collaborating closely with the directors, costume designer, and actors to craft a cohesive visual language. It was a lot of careful planning and preparation to ensure the makeup and hair seamlessly supported the storytelling. But that’s the fun challenge – translating the script into these tangible character designs.”
Because of the present-day natural makeup in PRESUMED INNOCENT, “ I approached it by trying to make the characters look believable and true to life, rather than overly glamorous or made up. For Ruth [Nagga], I wanted her to have a lovely, natural look, but not be too perfectly made up. I tried to make her makeup feel more augmented, like she was ready to go to a ballet recital. When she went out to the bar, I allowed her to wear more makeup and lipstick to show her flirtatious side.”
On the other hand, for Renate Reinsve’s “Carolyn Polhemus”, “I wanted her to look beautiful but also believable as a mother with a young son. I didn’t want the makeup to make her seem too young or old for the role. It was a fine line to walk, making the women look natural and real, while still making them visually compelling on screen…The key was finding that balance between natural and cinematic, and letting the actors’ own features shine through rather than overpowering them with heavy makeup. It was a collaborative process with the directors and actors to get the right look for each character.”
Always in mind throughout the series is the victim whose death puts the story in play and impacts every action and reaction that is taken by each character. The body is brutally attacked and bloodied which requires a mutilated naturalism. “To develop the full body makeup for the bloodied victim in PRESUMED INNOCENT, I worked closely with the prosthetics team to create realistic and detailed wounds and blood effects. We did extensive research and testing to get the right look and texture, ensuring it would hold up under the camera. It was a collaborative process to bring this pivotal moment to life in a visceral yet believable way. The goal was to make the makeup seamless and immersive, again supporting the powerful performance and storytelling.”
One of the most challenging aspects of the make-up process was the progressive incremental transformation of Jake Gyllenhaal’s Rusty as the murder mystery progressed. “As his character Rusty became more frenetic and stressed during the investigation and trial, I made his makeup appear darker and more weathered. This included adding deeper creases and furrows to his brow to convey his increasing anxiety. I also incorporated more sweat and a flushed, clammy appearance to his skin to reflect his deteriorating physical state as the pressure mounted. This helped sell the intensity of the situation he was facing. The hair was also allowed to become slightly more disheveled and less perfectly coiffed over time, mirroring Rusty’s growing disarray. [Just] these subtle changes in Rusty’s appearance through hair, makeup and skin tone helped visually convey the toll the case was taking on him as the story unfolded. It was an important part of the character’s evolution.”
Another evolution that is key is Bill Camp’s character of Horgan and the courtroom heart attack which catches everyone by surprise. “We started to play around. We got to the point we knew that was coming where he gets more flushed, his skin, and he starts to get a bit sort of sweaty or looking more clammy. All the symptoms, the signs, somebody’s starting to be breathless. And he’s carrying that extra weight and getting breathless, basically. You see it in the court. And Bill’s a phenomenal actor. The hair is askew and he’s suddenly a little unshaved. Those lawyers, as you know, have to be clean-shaved in court, prosecutors, everybody, defense attorneys, and suddenly you see them looking a little sloppy. So we worked hard with that too, but it’s still subtle. What I felt really important for the show was, and I’m not a TV guy apart from “Moon Knight”, I still wanted feature film makeup and hair. And we gave it that but in a TV schedule. So that’s what we did with him, to the point he has the heart attack in the courtroom.”
Some of the tools that help create these more realistic representations are prosthetic appliances and make-up to simulate skin discoloration, redness, swelling, and other physical signs of illness or aging. This could involve techniques like stippling, color matching, and layering of materials. Specialized contact lenses or eye makeup help create bloodshot, sunken, or tired-looking eyes.
A very telling character transformation comes with Tate Birchmore as Michael Caldwell for which hair and make-up design was very intentional and influential in shaping his performance. “The decision was made to have Tate’s hair combed down over his eyes, obscuring his face. This created a sense of him not being able to fully see or engage with the world around him. The pale, almost white makeup also drained the color from his face, giving him a haunting, withdrawn appearance.” This visual approach was a collaborative effort between the hair, makeup, and costume departments to establish Tate as an unsettling, potentially guilty presence in the story. The creative team worked closely with the young actor to ensure the look supported his performance and the character’s ambiguous role in the events. The end result was a striking visual that added depth and complexity to Tate’s portrayal and his impact on the story.
Developing a natural look with make-up in contemporary present-day films can be quite challenging and as Donald explained, “That’s a fine line to walk, especially when working with actors who are at an age where they could believably play younger roles. The audience’s expectations have changed, and there is a desire for more realistic representations.” This called for him to carefully balance making the actors look beautiful while also ensuring they appeared age-appropriate for their characters. It requires a nuanced approach to achieve that natural, lived-in look on screen.
An exceptional job is done in defining Gabby Beans’ character as Horgan’s associate Mya Winslow. Stark, hard-edged hair and equally harsher make-up. Very no-nonsense. Uber-polished attorney. Dead serious. “It’s really fun because she’s a great character to have, and then it’s different for Gabby. She’s a Broadway actress, so it’s great to have her come into this for this part.” And then there’s Noma Dumezweni as Judge Lyttle. “We aged her. She was such a gorgeous woman. It was hard but we had to make her look older and the fact that she was so willing to let us do that says a lot about her because in an age we’re working with actors, and everybody’s about looking great and beautiful, [Noma]’s a gorgeous looking woman from London and she let us make her kind of plain and with a no make-up look.”
The care, creativity, and hard work of Donald Mowat and his team with makeup and hair is reflected in the award-worthy end result with the series we see. “I thought about every character in the show, every single character, I either look a picture up, a photograph, a Photoshop. I called my prosthetics people, my wig people. We made something. I found a wig. I called my hair people and said, ‘Hey, can we try it this way? Can we try a bang? Can we? Can we, you know, not put so much eye makeup? Can we take it down?’ Every single [element], that’s designing that show…make-up and hair is no different than costume.”
So where does Donald Mowat go from this award-worthy turn in PRESUMED INNOCENT? How about “Tron: Ares”; it’s all about sci-fi and a meld of the digital world with the real world and humankind’s first encounters with A.I. beings. Can’t wait.
By debbie elias, exclusive interview 07/18/2024
PRESUMED INNOCENT is streaming on AppleTV.
