Donald Mowat has had an illustrious career and is an amazing talent in the field of movie makeup. His latest job is being the lead makeup designer for the forthcoming Dune. This will be his fourth collaboration with director Denis Villeneuve. Mowat shares his insights and thoughts with Cinema Scholars on character creation.
With a rich portfolio, including makeup department head/designer for films such as Blade Runner 2049 and Nightcrawler, Mowat is a leading man in his field. As much as any set designer, he’s a world-builder for his films. His character creations fit perfectly with the tone and environment of the story. They fit seamlessly with the actor and character’s gravitas. From prosthetics work to straight painted make-up, Mowat is an artist to watch.
He has earned multiple award nominations and wins, becoming one of the most respected talents in the film community. If Dune were to receive an Academy Award nomination in the Best Makeup and Hair Styling category, it would be his first. Lauded for his work on Nightcrawler, Nocturnal Animals, and Blade Runner 2049, Mowat’s hand in the film and theater industry goes beyond helping immerse viewers into the worlds of his films.
For years, Donald Mowat has been an active proponent of charitable works. He personally has helped budding make-up and film artists develop careers by donating his time. He also shares his message of supporting new artists, and participates in powerful charitable causes and organizations.
Mowat’s efforts have been noticed at the highest levels. In 2012, he was awarded a Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal. This recognition came from his work with the Actor’s Fund of Canada. This organization provides mental health, financial aid, and health care services for workers in the entertainment industry.
Rounding out this artist’s impeccable career is the true spirit within him that strives to help others to increase inclusivity, and to grow his community. It was a pleasure to speak with him. We hope that you enjoy this exclusive interview with Donald Mowat.
We’re super excited about Dune coming up and you have collaborated with Denis Villeneuve on several projects. So when taking on an epic sci-fi adventure, what is the most exciting part of the project?
“Well, I think the most exciting part is getting asked to do it. And then it’s terrifying. (laughs) I would say it’s very exciting to be involved in a project with Denis, particularly because I just think he’s a masterful storyteller. And a very nice guy…that goes without saying because it’s my fourth movie with him. And it’s life-changing. I really mean that. Working with him is life changing. And the people I’ve met working with him have been incredible.”
Did you read Frank Herbert’s novel before going into this project?
“I’m gonna tell you the truth, I skimmed. I’m a skimmer. (grin) And I only say that because I learned my lesson, I have to say on Blade Runner 2049, although I know comparing it, it’s different. I learned my lesson because I remember I loved that film. Ridley’s film. And I use it as a reference for many of my jobs, in terms of makeup design. I’ve referenced it for thirty years, since I started. I mean I worked on a show in 1988 that I was referencing Blade Runner. So it had a huge impact on me. But I did find that it can confuse you a little bit, because you set out to work on an adaptation, on somebody’s vision. Like Denis Villeneuve, and suddenly you’re caught with, I don’t know. Like people have asked me why [Jessica] didn’t have red hair, but everything’s different. It’s an adaptation. It’s a reimagining, a re-envisioning. To answer your question really, it’s not for lack of not wanting to. It’s that I found that it actually can take away and also distract me.”
Which of these characters proved to be the most effort to create?
“Well, look, the team I put together, I’m really proud of my team and the people working with me who collaborated as well. Denis has the faith in me and I’m forever grateful and honored that he hired me to be the eyes and ears to come up with the ideas for the look of makeup, hair and prosthetics. And then I gotta find people that I can rely on to come and work with me and help and do this. I can’t do this alone so Love Larson and Eva von Bahr, who engineered the whole fat suit for the Baron. My team, Jo (Jo-Ann) MacNeil, Rocky Faulkner and Cheryl Daniels and all my crew. So many people at one point. Everyone has a hand in helping me be better or be good. And Love and I worked together before and it was sort of meant to be. I don’t think that way, except when I realized when Denis said they’re gonna cast Stellan (Skarsgård). And this may be a practical makeup, maybe it was a marriage of visual effects and makeup. I thought ‘Oh, this is interesting.’ And then, we get this most famous Swedish actor and my team who are Swedish, I thought this was meant to be because we all worked together on The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. Here we go and that’s how I pushed to get them to be part of this with us. And there was Dave Bautista and Dave Dastmalchian [who] had smaller roles. Significant, supporting roles with intricate makeup and a lot of planning into the makeups. And then all our background and crowds, Harkonnens, Sardaukar, Fremen. Javier Bardem took a minute. And of course, Timi (Timothee Chalamet) and Rebecca (Ferguson) had as naturalistic and subtle, it still took some time to figure out.”
A little makeup nerd question for you, how do you get such a beautiful bald cap? The stills for the Harkonnen family’s makeup looks so subtle and natural. What are some little tips for makeup artists out there?
“Well, we had, Dave Bautista is all paint, he has no cap. He has brow covers. Those are hard. My main guy on my team, Rocky (Faulkner), does the best brow covers. He’s fast, he’s really, really fast. We all do different things. I’m a good painter. I’m good at the face. I can do Dave Bautista and Javier Bardem. I like to do a creative character kind of makeup, I think with the bald caps, everyone should look different, but the same. So David Dastmalchian was a silicone bald cap, but I had it made by a different group here in L.A. because he was working on a project here. We had a lot of bald caps made by two or three effects shops because I couldn’t get the orders fulfilled. We had so many. And so many brow covers. I think for when you are going to see a bald cap, it needs to be a silicone bald cap and a custom made one. But sometimes not. Sometimes some of the best makeups are the ones that are not so well-planned. I would say Steve Prouty, he did the makeup test for Dastmalchian does some of the best bald caps I’ve ever seen. And Rocky, but they do them all the time and that’s the trick for the bald cap. You have to do them all the time. I don’t, so I’m crap. I do things other people don’t do a lot, like out-of-kit stuff, like wounds, getting beat up. So if you do it a lot, you’re used to it. That’s really the key to anybody listening who is aspiring. And I think doing makeups that look like nobody did the makeup or the hair. I learned a lot running the hair that you have to make it look like nobody did the hair. That’s almost impossible.”
How big was your team for Dune?
“The team actually was quite contained. Our basic team in the trailer every single day was myself, Jo, Rocky, Cheryl. Ama and Kata (Kuszár), our Budapest people I had working with us. I had a Jordanian crew, very small: Fara, Nuer. Mohammed, he was a barber. So really kind of contained. But when we got into the big crowds, The Sardaukar that whole thing. We had some days where I brought in like fifteen people to do bald caps and brow covers from the UK, Canada, the US, all over. Because it was very busy and we were in Budapest.”
Those battle scenes must have been a lot of people to manage.
“Yeah, we had a three-week period when we had twenty [people] in hair and makeup.”
You mentioned that sometimes the best makeup work are the ones you didn’t have really well planned out. Do you have any characters in mind?
“Well, Dave Bautista. We did a lot of paint work and we did highlights and shadow and color. It was striking. Personally, I think it was a very striking look for him. I didn’t have a makeup test for him, he came in the day before. And I’m really, really happy with that. David Dastmalchian had tests. Stephen Prouty did two tests with him in L.A. and then we did one test in Budapest. So I felt that was flushed out and it took two people to do that application. But I think sometimes, just doing like Rebecca (Ferguson). The tattoos, my friend, Kentaro Yano made them for me here in L.A. We put them on, you know, as soon as you just do it, you get on with it. It just depends. Every film is different. Some of the makeup with Rebecca, I just make it up as I go along, like in the desert. Certainly making her suddenly more girlish as an action woman, but believable as the mother. All of it was plausible, but I didn’t preset that. I made it up on the day. I said, okay, that’s what we’re gonna do.”
How much time do you still invest in charitable works?
“Thank you for this. It depends what I’m doing. I’ve been working a lot more this past year. I’ve been busy away for six months on Moon Knight with Oscar Isaac. I was volunteering more with the Student Academy Awards and the Student BAFTA Awards. Due to the pandemic they were done virtually, I was able to watch a lot of student films around the world, from AFI, to UFC. All over the United States and I was able to participate more. There was very little in-person, as you know these past two years. I think it is very important to work, especially with filmmakers and people who don’t have opportunity and aren’t as connected. As you know, there’s a lot of people in the business who are connected and a lot of people who are not. I was not connected…didn’t know anybody. I knew a guy on my street who was a sound mixer for the National Film of Canada. That’s it. That was hardly like, I’m gonna get a job. And I didn’t go to film school and I didn’t graduate. So I think that a lot of people need help, new filmmakers. And I love filmmakers, not just makeup artists, because makeup artists are filmmakers. And they’re not treated that way and I don’t know why. But I love working with student filmmakers, in whatever craft or discipline they are involved with. I was working with a lot of BAFTA L.A. when we were doing in-school, because the students were not getting in-person mentor or out-reach. And I think that’s really important to make the connections.”
Independent filmmakers have a lot of challenges.
“Yeah, well you know! Not everybody can go to AFI, no offense to the AFI. But if you need a grant, BAFTA L.A., they do grants and scholarships to people who never get to go! So BAFTA L.A. I give them two big thumbs up. I mean, during the pandemic, we found money and we found a kid right here in L.A., who I mentored for makeup and special effects. And I got him going to school now. We found money and not everybody can go to Columbia. I’m not so interesting in hearing that you can’t go to Columbia. If you can afford Columbia or NYU, you don’t need our help. That’s my philosophy, I’d rather work with kids of all diversities, gender, every persuasion. Especially young filmmakers, they need a break.”
For more information about how you can support new filmmakers, please visit BAFTA.org, Oscars.org, and Ghetto Film School.
