Glenn Close in Albert Nobbs
Lynn Johnston has spent many years working as a make-up artist in the movie industry and with her latest project Albert Nobbs she faced a huge challenge... turning Glenn Close into a man.
For her work on the movie she was nominated for an Oscar and I caught up with her to talk about the challenges, working with Glenn and what lies ahead.
- Albert Nobbs is about to be released and you worked on the make-up on the film so how did you get involved with the movie?
Susan from Parallel Films rang and asked me to send in a CV and then I had a phone interview followed by a skype interview with Glenn's producer Bonnie Curtis.
Matthew Mungle designed the look for Albert Nobbs and I had worked with him before so he was happy for me to apply the prosthetic pieces and make-up.
- Glenn Close and Janet McTeer undergo the biggest transformations in the movie, both posing as men so can you talk me through the process required for that?
Both Glenn and Janet were wearing wigs which were made by Martial Corneville and he would slick down their own hair and apply and dress the wigs.
Glenn had a prosthetic nose tip and ear lobes, ear plumpers to make her ears stick out and teeth veneers with plumpers to broaden the jaw a little.
Janet had a prosthetic nose that was slightly crooked and prosthetic ear lobes, brown contact lenses and teeth veneers and plumpers for the jaw.
The pieces were coloured to help blend them to the skin and there was some texturing to their own skin also.
- It looks a painstaking process so what challenges did it pose for you as a make-up artist?
The main concern I had was getting the edge of the prosthetic piece to lie as flat as possible against the skin so that it was well disguised when all the colouring was done.
Maintaining this throughout the length of the shooting day can be a challenge.
- How long did it take to get Glenn in and out of her make-up?
Make-up and hair for both the ladies was about 2 hours and was usually done before rehearsal & costume.
- It's just as painstaking a process for the actor as it is for the artist so how did you find working with Glenn?
Great, she didn't seem to mind the time in the make-up chair, sometimes she would talk through the upcoming scenes with the other actors or just chat.
- How many different looks did you design when you were working out the look for Albert?
Matthew & Martial designed the look for Albert before they came to Ireland. They tried a darker wig and eye colour and a couple of different size noses in the tests before settling on the final look.
- How closely did you work with Rodrigo García for the looks of all the cast in the movie? Is he a very collaborative filmmaker?
Rodrigo wanted everyone to look very natural, he didn't want people to look made-up. He's great to work with and creates a lovely atmosphere on set.
- Your work on the movie was nominated for an Oscar where were you when you found out you were nominated?
Matthew, Martial & myself were nominated together. I was working on a film called Byzantium, on the same make-up truck we used on Albert Nobbs. - How was your Oscar evening?
It was a great experience, it was very surreal.
- How did you get into this profession in the first place?
I became a make-up trainee and my first job was working on 'The Commitments' doing background on the large crowd days.
- You have worked on a whole host of projects such as Apocalypto, Breakfast on Pluto, and King Arthur so which was the most challenging?
Whichever one you're working on at the time always seems the most challenging! But each project brings a different challenge, it depends what the script involves and where it's being shot.
- Finally what's coming up for you?
At this point I don't know but that's one of the things I like about working as a make-up artist. You never know what the next project is going to be.
Albert Nobbs is released 27th April
FemaleFirst Helen Earnshaw
Tagged in Glenn Close