By April MacIntyre Apr 24, 2006, 7:11 GMT
Blondes do have more fun. Some guys have all the luck. Woody ditches NYC for London. And if you're smart like Quentin Tarantino and Scarlett Johansson – You'll hire Heba.
Beauty and the Beast resident makeup & hair columnist April MacIntyre
Bottom Line: Caveat Emptor. The "pillow-y" lip look is not for everyone.
When it comes to finding the perfect blonde actress for the role, Director Woody Allen's got the knack.
Mariel Hemingway and Meryl Streep in Manhattan, Mira Sorvino in Mighty Aphrodite, and Mia Farrow playing the all-time greatest mobster moll, Tina Vitale, in Broadway Danny Rose.
Scarlett Johansson turns out a top drawer performance and joins the ranks, injecting Yankee sex appeal into a cast of U.K. characters caught up in insular upper class trappings in Allen's most recent film, ‘Match Point’.
She is the wild card in this departure from past Allen films. The DreamWorks DVD hits the street April 25th, 2006.
“Point” is a modern thriller, minus Brooklyn accents, that has "right place, right time" Jonathan Rhys Meyer as Chris, a guy high on his luck, being introduced to, and subsequently marrying Chloe, a very rich girl, through his fortuitous relationship with her brother Tom.
Despite his windfall, Rhys Meyer becomes the coveter of pal Tom's American ex-fiancée Nola, the cash-strapped femme fatale played by Johansson. In proper noir fashion, it all takes a veddy big turn for the worse.
Johansson is natural beauty, a New York City native and breath of fresh air in smoggy Beast-wood. A city filled with B, C & D-List actresses that look as if they've been sucker-punched in the kisser by Lennox Lewis, and unexplainably famous faces atop bony bodies, heiress clients of the World's most driven celebrity publicists.
They all could learn a thing or two from Johansson. Figuratively and literally, her career has legs.
Working steadily since her debut in ‘The Horse Whisperer’, Johansson brings a siren of yesteryear feel to most every role she lands.
She recently wrapped ‘The Black Dahlia’ and ‘The Prestige’, and now is filming ‘The Nanny Diaries’. Even when stripped down, minimally hair styled and made up as in ‘Lost in Translation’ and ‘Girl with a Pearl Earring’, she owns every frame she is in.
The makeup artist who has designed the makeup look for several key films for Johansson is an Icelandic born beauty herself, and member of MAHS Local 706, Heba Thorisdottir.
Initially poised for a career in fashion, the opportunity to attend a professional makeup school in Los Angeles was her ticket out of Reykjavik.
While in school, Thorisdottir worked part-time on set in various crew positions, learning the ropes as a craft service assistant on music videos. By the time she finished makeup school, she had done craft service, worked as a production assistant, wardrobe assistant and finally as a makeup artist.
For last year's DreamWorks movie ‘The Island’, Thorisdottir created a minimal, ethereal, lit-from-within look for Johansson's makeup.
"I used Desert Mist from Arcona Studio underneath the foundation; it keeps moisture in the skin and gives it a beautiful glow. I needed to tan her for that healthy look and because of the running and fighting," Heba said.
"Ed Henriques III, the makeup department head for ‘The Island’ (currently department head on Tony Scott's ‘Déjà Vu’-shooting in New Orleans) suggested RCMA foundation that worked beautifully, giving her a little bit more depth. I used MAC Pearl Shine on her cheekbones," added Thorisdottir.
Director Brian De Palma's ‘The Black Dahlia’ is being prepped for release, and has Johansson playing a fictional character named Kay Lake. Her look in this film is decidedly stylized and more formal.
When asked what products were used for this particular role, Thorisdottir elaborated, "I needed to be somewhat true to the period, but I had the advantage of having better, modern products. I used Paula Dorf oil free liquid foundation and concealers. It covers really well, doesn't look heavy, and has a dewy look on film. I didn't want her to look too matte or too shiny either. I used MAC blush in Peaches. For her everyday look I didn't use a liner on her eyes but stuck on a few individual eyelashes to give her more definition, and, of course, she always wore red lips.She used a couple of different lipsticks from Julie Hewett. Hewett's line is very film-noir, so I didn't have to look far for that authentic look. For her 'made up' look we added a liquid liner on her upper eyelid in Newspaper Ink and false lashes. On her cheeks I used cream blush in Rosie, again, all from Julie Hewett."
Among her many experiences, Heba was also the makeup department head for director Quentin Tarantino's ‘Kill Bill’ films. Both had larger than life characters and looks designed through a collaborative effort between Thorisdottir and Tarantino.
Gordon Liu, the Chinese actor who played a Yakuza bald bandit-masked tough and the Kung Fu master Pai Mei - who torturously tutored Uma Thurman and Daryl Hannah's characters - was styled from classic Kung Fu films. However Liu, who has played similar characters several times, remarked (post translation), "This one looked better than the rest of them."
"He didn't speak any English, so he couldn't elaborate," quiped Thorisdottir, "But I have seen that (Kung Fu Master) character in a few other films since then and I think we have made a better wig by far, but the style is very close, if not the same".
For both ‘Kill Bill’ films, Tarantino created a coalition of western and eastern crews.
"In China, there were five wonderful girls working with me who spoke no English and one translator who spoke a little bit. Then we had Japanese actors who spoke neither English nor Mandarin and Chinese actors who only spoke Cantonese. So, yes, there were a lot of language issues, but Quentin made sure that it never became a problem," said Thorisdottir.
She continued, "Quentin spoke to us, and made sure that even though we didn't speak the same language, we still respected each other. Everything he said was simultaneously translated into Mandarin, Cantonese and Japanese - really amazing thing to experience. He literally united American, Japanese and Chinese cinema."
"Quentin pretty much wanted everyone to look like they did when he saw them in a particular film or when he met them. No makeup for starters, but I did sneak some in," confided Thorisdottir. The Japanese actress Chiaki Kuriyama, who plays murderous school girl Gogo Yubari, was wearing no makeup in the 2000 Japanese film ‘Battle Royale’ where Quentin first saw her.
After reading the Kill Bill script, Thorisdottir wanted to show her interpretation of Gogo's character, and the ‘House of Blue Leaves’ scenes, something to reflect the strong visual elements of the script.
"So much of the story was very much like a cartoon. Uma and Vivica, black and white, Uma and Lucy, East meets West, so I decided to make Gogo and Elle Driver (Daryl Hannah) cartoon-y."
Thorisdottir continued, "Daryl already had the patch, which set it all off, and Chiaki was wearing the little schoolgirl outfit, which made it ideal. I put strip lashes under her eyes in order to make them bigger and like an anime cartoon - all eyes." Her work creating Gogo's look was a hit with the ‘Kill Bill’ 1 press junket in Japan, where the majority of questions Tarantino fielded were about Gogo's eyes.
Grabbing the opportunity to talk to one of the top professional makeup artists in the entertainment industry, I had to ask Heba what her favorite must-have items we would find digging in her kit. "I'm in love with FACE Atelier foundation. It's a new line from Toronto and it fills in the lines on us who need it, and just makes those who don't need anything look dewy, fresh and flawless. I can't go anywhere without Arcona Studio's Desert Mist and Cleansing Bar, also from MAC Pearl Shine and Stubborn Brown waterproof eyeliner. I love Lorac concealer #4, I can use it on almost anyone, also Rosie Jane cheek gloss, and Labello lip shine and Scott Barnes blush palette in Posh," she said.
Heba Thorisdottir is currently in New York City working as key artist for Scarlett Johansson on ‘The Nanny Diaries’, written and directed by Shari Springer Berman and Robert Pulcini, produced by The Weinstein Company. Johansson plays a nanny and college student working for a rich, dysfunctional New York family.
Spring/Summer Product News
Spring is here and soon summer will be upon us, so there will be an abundance of pale pinks, pastel colors, and glossier finishes - a general bubble-gum frothiness in makeup color palettes.
During my recent visit to the MAC Professional store on Robertson Boulevard in Beverly Hills, their new seasonal offerings dubbed “Sweetie Cake” were indeed pink, fuchsia, and more opaque and true to color. A resurgence in corals, pinkier versus orange, plus a very 50's retro renaissance feel called Classic Coordinates featuring nine new nail lacquers and matching lipsticks.
Lip-gloss-aholics will love three new lip-gloss compacts that allow you to custom blend the right shade of shine. I left with a new favorite matte lipstick in the shade Feel so Fine, a sophisticated mauve, plus a few other things.
If you come to Beast-wood and hope to see “stars”, the MAC Pro Store is a great place to hang out. Target rich for celeb sightings, it is a girl team candyland for those who love makeup and all its trappings. It is adjacent to The Ivy restaurant (Altman's 1992 ‘The Player’) and fabulous boutique shopping, all within walking distance. Skincare update: Actifirm, the skincare company I reported on last column, invited me to try their product line.
I was used to skincare products sold in dermatologist's offices, potent glycolic lotions that felt like a thousand cigarettes being simultaneously stubbed out on my face. The sound of that screaming woman at bedtime was me. I was ready for a change.
Stand-out items in Actifirm's easy to follow regimen were the Renovation Night Serum, Enzyme Peel and the SPF 18 Day Lotion. All the products performed beyond expectation. Despite some awkwardness in their packaging, my skin is looking "hi-def" ready
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