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THE HOLLYWOOD ISSUE
Extreme makeovers
How did the stars of Capote Breakfast on Pfuto, and
Iransamerica go through such radical transformations to
play their gay ar trans characters? lts all in the tailorins-
and the right [or wrong) wigs and makeup By Michael Giltz
ow'd they do it? That's the
question moviegoers may
have pondered after seeing
some of the best movies of
the year How did the out-
size Philip Seymour Hoffman convince
us he was the elfin Truman Capote?
How did Cillian Murphy embody such a
pretty transvestite in Breahfast on
Pluto? And how did the sexy Felicity
Huffman become a stolid transgender
woman in Transamerica?
One big help: behind-the-scenes tal-
ent working on their costumes, hair,
and makeup. For Capote, costumer
Kasia Walicka Maimone says they re-
jected optical tricks, oversize sets (d la
The Lord of the Rings), and even more
standard deceptions.
"From the begiming, we had some obvi-
ous choices that we didn't do, like keeping
him in darker colors," says Maimone. 'We
can't keep T?uman Capote in darker colors.
We tailored all the suits, and some of theclassic early'60s-late'50s three-button
suits worked great. It was all about the
shoulders and fitting the style. We'd use a
longer cut of the jacket."
And they didn't keep Hoffman in flats
when his feet were off-camera or pull any
other sleight of hand. 'We had a very quiet
process with Philip," says Maimone, who
praises the actols collaboration. "I'd call it
nonverbal communication We had a wall
ofphotos ofT?uman Capote and we spent
a lot of time twith himl looking and trying
different things. It was mysterious in a
way Phil...changed. He changed. He
grabbed the essence ofCapote."
The slim, waifrsh body of Cillian Mur-
phy, on the other hand, suited his charac-
ter perfectly. He played Kitten in Breah-
fast on Pluto, a decades-spanning tale of
a lad who loves feminine fashion-every-
thing from glam rock to sensible frocks.
Costumer Eimer Ni Mhaoldomhnaigh
spent most of her time having a ball and
being annoyed at how easily Murphy
www,advocate com THE ADVOCATE
slipped into his wardrobe.
"We tried trousers on him," explains
Mhaoldomhnaigh, "a women's cut in the
'70s style, which is very high-waisted,
with a flared leg and a little bit of
padding in the bum. And he just looked
drop-dead gorgeous." She laughs. "We
were all so jealous."
Pluto director Neil Jordan kept using
the word "gentle" to describe the character
of Kitten, who stumbles through IRA
bombings and vicious personal betrayals,
delicately refusing to pay any attention. So
Mhaoldomhnaigh found a white fur jacket
"that was really sofL and fluffy against his
skin." And since Murphy has hairy, manly
arms, keeping them covered up was key.
The shoes, however, were no problem,
thanks to the wide platforms of the '70s.
"If they had been stilettos, it might have
been more awkward," she says.
In Transamerica the difficult chal-
lenge for costumer Danny Glicker was
making a small and feminine woman
like Huffman convincing as awkward at
being a girl. "Felicity has a gorgeous
body and is so petite," says Glicker.
"When I first met her, I thought, How
am I going to do this? She's gorgeous! So
we did lots oflittle tricks. I dropped her
waistline slightly so her waist was sit-
ting at her hips. Felicity has a gorgeous,
tiny waist, but of course [her character]
Bree has a more masculine waist."
One big help came from trans people,
specifically film consultants CalperniaAddams and Andrea James, who run a
company called Deep Stealth to help in
all facets ofa person's transition. "One of
the things Andrea and Calpernia pointed
out to me was that very often when you
transition later in life, as Bree has, you
haven't been building your wardrobe
your whole life," says Glicker. 'You have
to go out and buy everything all at once.
And when you go out on that sort of
shopping trip. you have as many mis-
takes as you do successes."
Jason Hayes-a hair, wig, and make-
up artist who created wigs for Huffman
and did Addams's hair for the film-
drew on his own experiences in the drag
and trans community He first did drag
on a dare when he was 19 years old and
went on to win numerous beauty
pageants, such as Miss Boston. So
Hayes knows better than most that
transgender women and drag queens are
very different people. Bree had to look
clumsy, because she was just learning
how to apply makeup and do her hair,
but she couldn't look pathetic.
Citing tricks to give Huffman the ap-
pearance of a man making the transition
to a woman, Hayes explains,'lVe tucked
the wig behind her ears to make them
stick out a little bit." Also, since the Bree
character had recently had hair plugs put
in, the wig looks sparser toward the front.
Hayes adds, "We had a dash of gray be-
cause that's what her hair would natural-
ly be doing then. It wasn't more than fouror frve strands. It had to look awkward
but not like a bad wig-it was a really
tricky balancing act."
He suggested Huffman's makeup
would be thicker and applied by hand-
Bree couldn't afford fancy extras like
brushes and pads. And no expensive
makeup either: Someone at Bree's stage
would probably slip into a drugstore and
grab a Max Factor Pan-Stik. "Her eye-
brows didn't quite match," adds Hayes
"Ids very subtle, but it registers. She had
to look like she was learnins. You have to
root for her."
Costumer Glicker is proud of Bree's pink
suit that appears early in the film, an item
that had to look cheap but chosen with
care. '"That was a $99 suit," he says, "which
for Bree, ofcor:rse, is a huge luxury."
And he'll always remember the most
nerve-racking moment-the frlming of a
party where Bree appears alongside peo-
ple who've made the transition in real life.
"I remember torturing myself a little bit
about the moment Felicity walks into the
room as Bree with mostly trans women
and, I think, one trans man," says Glick-
er. "I was discreetly in the corner watch-
ing their expressions and thinking,
Please, please, please, just recognize this
woman. I didn't want to see any head-
shaking. And they did. It was a look of
recognition and acceptance." I
Giltz is a regular contributor to seueral
periodirals, including the New York Post.
THE ADVOCATE www aovocale com February 28,2006 45
Extreme makeovers
How did the stars of Capote Breakfast on Pfuto, and
Iransamerica go through such radical transformations to
play their gay ar trans characters? lts all in the tailorins-
and the right [or wrong) wigs and makeup By Michael Giltz
ow'd they do it? That's the
question moviegoers may
have pondered after seeing
some of the best movies of
the year How did the out-
size Philip Seymour Hoffman convince
us he was the elfin Truman Capote?
How did Cillian Murphy embody such a
pretty transvestite in Breahfast on
Pluto? And how did the sexy Felicity
Huffman become a stolid transgender
woman in Transamerica?
One big help: behind-the-scenes tal-
ent working on their costumes, hair,
and makeup. For Capote, costumer
Kasia Walicka Maimone says they re-
jected optical tricks, oversize sets (d la
The Lord of the Rings), and even more
standard deceptions.
"From the begiming, we had some obvi-
ous choices that we didn't do, like keeping
him in darker colors," says Maimone. 'We
can't keep T?uman Capote in darker colors.
We tailored all the suits, and some of theclassic early'60s-late'50s three-button
suits worked great. It was all about the
shoulders and fitting the style. We'd use a
longer cut of the jacket."
And they didn't keep Hoffman in flats
when his feet were off-camera or pull any
other sleight of hand. 'We had a very quiet
process with Philip," says Maimone, who
praises the actols collaboration. "I'd call it
nonverbal communication We had a wall
ofphotos ofT?uman Capote and we spent
a lot of time twith himl looking and trying
different things. It was mysterious in a
way Phil...changed. He changed. He
grabbed the essence ofCapote."
The slim, waifrsh body of Cillian Mur-
phy, on the other hand, suited his charac-
ter perfectly. He played Kitten in Breah-
fast on Pluto, a decades-spanning tale of
a lad who loves feminine fashion-every-
thing from glam rock to sensible frocks.
Costumer Eimer Ni Mhaoldomhnaigh
spent most of her time having a ball and
being annoyed at how easily Murphy
www,advocate com THE ADVOCATE
slipped into his wardrobe.
"We tried trousers on him," explains
Mhaoldomhnaigh, "a women's cut in the
'70s style, which is very high-waisted,
with a flared leg and a little bit of
padding in the bum. And he just looked
drop-dead gorgeous." She laughs. "We
were all so jealous."
Pluto director Neil Jordan kept using
the word "gentle" to describe the character
of Kitten, who stumbles through IRA
bombings and vicious personal betrayals,
delicately refusing to pay any attention. So
Mhaoldomhnaigh found a white fur jacket
"that was really sofL and fluffy against his
skin." And since Murphy has hairy, manly
arms, keeping them covered up was key.
The shoes, however, were no problem,
thanks to the wide platforms of the '70s.
"If they had been stilettos, it might have
been more awkward," she says.
In Transamerica the difficult chal-
lenge for costumer Danny Glicker was
making a small and feminine woman
like Huffman convincing as awkward at
being a girl. "Felicity has a gorgeous
body and is so petite," says Glicker.
"When I first met her, I thought, How
am I going to do this? She's gorgeous! So
we did lots oflittle tricks. I dropped her
waistline slightly so her waist was sit-
ting at her hips. Felicity has a gorgeous,
tiny waist, but of course [her character]
Bree has a more masculine waist."
One big help came from trans people,
specifically film consultants CalperniaAddams and Andrea James, who run a
company called Deep Stealth to help in
all facets ofa person's transition. "One of
the things Andrea and Calpernia pointed
out to me was that very often when you
transition later in life, as Bree has, you
haven't been building your wardrobe
your whole life," says Glicker. 'You have
to go out and buy everything all at once.
And when you go out on that sort of
shopping trip. you have as many mis-
takes as you do successes."
Jason Hayes-a hair, wig, and make-
up artist who created wigs for Huffman
and did Addams's hair for the film-
drew on his own experiences in the drag
and trans community He first did drag
on a dare when he was 19 years old and
went on to win numerous beauty
pageants, such as Miss Boston. So
Hayes knows better than most that
transgender women and drag queens are
very different people. Bree had to look
clumsy, because she was just learning
how to apply makeup and do her hair,
but she couldn't look pathetic.
Citing tricks to give Huffman the ap-
pearance of a man making the transition
to a woman, Hayes explains,'lVe tucked
the wig behind her ears to make them
stick out a little bit." Also, since the Bree
character had recently had hair plugs put
in, the wig looks sparser toward the front.
Hayes adds, "We had a dash of gray be-
cause that's what her hair would natural-
ly be doing then. It wasn't more than fouror frve strands. It had to look awkward
but not like a bad wig-it was a really
tricky balancing act."
He suggested Huffman's makeup
would be thicker and applied by hand-
Bree couldn't afford fancy extras like
brushes and pads. And no expensive
makeup either: Someone at Bree's stage
would probably slip into a drugstore and
grab a Max Factor Pan-Stik. "Her eye-
brows didn't quite match," adds Hayes
"Ids very subtle, but it registers. She had
to look like she was learnins. You have to
root for her."
Costumer Glicker is proud of Bree's pink
suit that appears early in the film, an item
that had to look cheap but chosen with
care. '"That was a $99 suit," he says, "which
for Bree, ofcor:rse, is a huge luxury."
And he'll always remember the most
nerve-racking moment-the frlming of a
party where Bree appears alongside peo-
ple who've made the transition in real life.
"I remember torturing myself a little bit
about the moment Felicity walks into the
room as Bree with mostly trans women
and, I think, one trans man," says Glick-
er. "I was discreetly in the corner watch-
ing their expressions and thinking,
Please, please, please, just recognize this
woman. I didn't want to see any head-
shaking. And they did. It was a look of
recognition and acceptance." I
Giltz is a regular contributor to seueral
periodirals, including the New York Post.
THE ADVOCATE www aovocale com February 28,2006 45