Darkest Hour make-up artist talks about transforming Gary Oldman into Churchill

THERE is no doubt that Gary Oldman is a brilliant actor, and his portrayal of Winston Churchill in Darkest Hour is one of the best performances we have seen on the big screen in recent times.
However the people who turned this actor into Great Britian's legendary war time Prime Minister deserve just as much applause for their brilliant make-up and hairstyling work.
Darkest Hour won two awards at the recent Makeup Artists & Hair Stylists Guild Awards ahead of Oscars – Best Period and/or Character Make-up, and Best Special Make-up Effects.
This same team have already picked up a Bafta award, and are seen as the frontrunners in the race for the Oscar for Best Achievement in Makeup and Hairstyling.
The team is led by Kazuhiro Tsuji, 48, a Japanese born makeup expert, who served as prosthetic make-up and hair designer for Oldman's Churchill. Tsuji previously earned Oscar nods in 2006 and 2007 for his work on Norbit and Click respectively.
The brilliance of Tsuji's work is evident when the camera zooms in for close-ups on Oldman. Not only do we see the lines and pores on Churchill's chubby face, but we also see the various emotions that he conveys.
During a recent teleconference interview organised by HBO (Astro channel 411/431), Tsuji said: "What we use is called platinum cured silicon. It is very soft, and follows expressions and movements really well.
"When I create the make-up, I have to sculpt on Gary's lifecast (plaster mold). I have to sculpt it just right. If I sculpt it too thick, his face won't move. I have to follow the structure of his face really well."
Tsuji had worked for several years in the Hollywood film industry before retiring in 2012 to focus on sculpting huge busts of Frida Kahlo, Salvador Dali, Abraham Lincoln, and his mentor, the late Dick Smith, whose work includes The Exorcist, The Godfather and Amadeus.
He was eventually brought out of retirement by Oldman.
"I had wanted to work with him for a long time, and he wanted to work with me as well. He contacted me at the beginning of 2016, and told me about this [project].
"He told me if I did his make-up, he would do the movie, and if not, he won't do the movie. Of course, I [had] already left the industry and I told him to give me a week to think about it."
Tsuji, who got into make-up because he was inspired by his mentor Smith's work on actor Hal Halbrook in the 1980s miniseries North and South, eventually decided to say 'yes'.
He explained: "Throughout my entire career as a make-up artist I never had the opportunity to work on a movie like this, that has a great story, a great actor, and to create special make-up. Most of the movies I worked on were sci-fi or comedies. I saw it as a once in a lifetime opportunity."
He did extensive research on Churchill, not only about how he looked, but also Churchill's personality. "I combined all this information into his make-up."
Tsuji said it took a little over three hours to put the make-up on Goldman. Tsuji essentially created the facial prosthetics, body suit and hair, which were then applied daily on Oldman by David Malinowski and Lucy Sibbick.
"The difficult part for this kind of make-up, [is that] the make-up has to be perfect. The cameras they use these days capture so many details, so application must be meticulous."
He says that actors have to sit still for hours when the make-up is applied, and not everyone he worked with was as disciplined as Oldman.
He added that he tests his make-up on actors prior to application, to ensure that they are not allergic to it.
Several Churchill descendents also paid a visit to the set of Darkest Hour during filming. Tsuji later found out from Oldman that one of the late statesman's grandsons even called Oldman "grandpa".
High praise indeed.
The 90th Academy Awards will be telecast live on HBO on March 5 at 7am onwards.