“One Battle After Another”: The Makeup Magic Behind Sean Penn’s Gasp-Inducing Third-Act Reveal
Spoilers below.
Director Paul Thomas Anderson wants audiences to see One Battle After Another‘s stellar ensemble cast, warts and all. As a result, makeup department head Heba Thorisdottir and special effects makeup artist and prosthetics designer Arjen Tuiten knew that less would be more, with the only exception being Sean Penn’s Col. Stephen Lockjaw, whose shocking third-act disfigurement is the result of a masterclass of makeup and prosthetics design from Thorisdottir and Tuiten.
One Battle After Another stars Leonardo DiCaprio as Bob, a washed-up and permanently stoned revolutionary who lives off the grid with his daughter, Willa, played by Chase Infiniti. However, his nemesis, Penn’s Colonel Steven J. Lockjaw, resurfaces after almost two decades during his bid to become a member of a secretive fascist country club of sorts, the Christmas Adventurers. The catch for Lockjaw is his relationship with Bob’s former flame and Willa’s mother, Perfidia Beverly Hills (Teyana Taylor), which could scuttle his chances for membership. So, Lockjaw infiltrates Bob and Willa’s Northern California town, Bactan Cross, and soon enough, he’s got Willa. This jolts Bob out of retirement, setting him on a collision course with his past to save his only child.
Here, Thorisdottir, known for her work on Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood and Babylon, and two-time Oscar nominee Tuiten, whose work includes Pan’s Labyrinth and Maleficent, share about deconstructing Penn’s face, why the production was so unique, and Anderson’s desire to keep his performers as makeup-free as possible.
What were the very first conversations you had with Paul Thomas Anderson about how to approach this?
Heba Thorisdottir: I worked with Paul on Licorice Pizza, so I knew he was not keen on having makeup and hair around. Therefore, my initial conversation with him was about how I take care of the actors in the morning, I can clean them up at night, but he takes care of them in between. He had a very clear vision of how he wanted to have absolutely no makeup. If there is acne or any other issue, he wants to see it, and any scarring is a bonus for him. It was about where he wanted me to be and when he wanted me to be there.
Arjen Tuiten: I was on location for another film when I got a request for a Zoom from Sarah [Murphy], one of our producers, and that’s how I met Paul and Sean together. Paul explained the idea for this character. I hadn’t read the script, but from what he was telling me, I knew what he was looking for, and we did some concept designs. I sent them to him, and by the second attempt, he was basically like, ‘This is it. That’s what I want.’ Because he was clear on what he wanted, it wasn’t that hard, but it was just finding it on Sean’s face. Sean had some requests, I spoke to Heba, and then I got to work on building the pieces.
What references did he give you?
Tuiten: He sent me a few references, but they were all drawings and paintings that he saw. He wanted it to be real. There’s a difference between prosthetic makeup effects, which are generally seen in films, and creating an illusion with the use of prosthetics. In other words, it needs to look real, and I understood that right away. He wanted to shock. Every time we’ve seen the film, there has been a big gasp in the audience when Lockjaw appears after the crash.
What was the process of creating the prosthetics for Sean Penn?
Tuiten: Nowadays, we tend to 3D scan actors for face casts, but Sean actually specifically requested not to do that on this and requested an old-fashioned head cast. It doesn’t make a significant difference; the process remains the same. We created another version of that when, in the story, he receives another wound, but it’s a little less visible and more covered by blood. That was another sculpture, but the primary focus was on the climax.
Many of the locations in this are dry and dusty, especially the desert in the third act. When it came to the materials that you were using, did you have to factor that in?
Tuiten: Most of the climax work, if not all of it, was filmed inside and was climate-controlled. That actually was a huge help because it wasn’t an easy makeup, as he tends to sweat, so maintaining it can be hard. He also had a dental piece, so it’s a bit tricky. We also shot in El Paso, Texas, and it was something like 110 degrees outside. It was hot. I was happy we’re inside for the final bits.
How many different pieces were involved in Lockjaw’s prosthetic?
Tuiten: It was several pieces. Jessica Nelson designed the contact lens that he has in and does amazing paint work. She makes the lenses, and she came with us on location with Heba and me. The pieces consist of one cheek piece with a nose piece and a brow, as well as the lenses and the dental piece. I believe that after the camera test we did with Paul, Sean requested to add three caps of white teeth, as if they were fake. I added those after we did the initial camera test. I did a complete resculpt and remolding because I had some technical things I wanted to change with the texture. Paul and I discussed that, and it makes it better.
Was there anything that you had to do to Leo as Bob? He has to look quite unhealthy; he’s an out-of-shape pot smoker.
Thorisdottir: We use a lot of reddish makeup around his eyes and accentuate that eye area to make them constantly red with broken capillaries and stuff like that. A lot of it was the clothing that made him look heavier than he actually is. The challenge with Paul is that he’s so detail-oriented that he wants to achieve a lot without noticing any of it. He wants no maintenance, so sometimes we use a little bit of menthol blowers because they keep working for a while. It’s just enough to make him look a little irritated and stoned.
What is a menthol blower?
Thorisdottir: They are little menthol crystals, like Vicks in crystal form. We have them in a little blower that will distribute them around the eyes. I do it more directly into the eye if I need to activate the tear ducts, but we didn’t need that for Leo. We only needed a little bit of irritation. There was also a minor paint job involved, with a little red lip liner added around them as well.
One Battle After Another was filmed in California and Texas. Do you know a lot of local talent you can utilize in both places?
Thorisdottir: We were basically a department of two. I had Mandy Artusato with me, who is a fellow Icelander. For the wedding party scene with Sean Penn, we also had some additional help. We shot that in San Diego, so we brought people down from LA. When we were in Texas, we didn’t really have any additional help because a lot of it was the actors maintaining their own looks. If they needed a makeup product, we would hand it to them, and they would take it into their trailer. On other films, when I shot on location, I definitely look up local talent and try to rehire people when I can, but on this one, there wasn’t any need for that.
Tuiten: Within the prosthetics world, that pool is a lot smaller. For this, also because of the location, I’m used to prepping for that. When it comes to the actual application of prosthetics, there are many skilled individuals. Still, when it comes to a certain level of realism, that pool becomes small very quickly because there’s a difference between makeup effects and prosthetic makeup, which requires delicate work. Additionally, when dealing with talent, you must be able to guide them and sense the room.
On every project, there is a challenge that might seem insurmountable, but you manage to pull it off. What was an example of that with this film?
Thorisdottir: My challenge on this movie was how Paul wanted to do it. He will have some things that he has discussed with the actors, even before I was on the movie and long before they started shooting, because he had been conducting tests for months. My challenge is to keep up and make sure the actors stay in continuity. Some of the actors we had at the beginning of the movie, and then for the last month of shooting, which was almost six months later. We had to make sure that they looked the same, so it was about contacting them beforehand, and saying, ‘Hey, you had your hair this way and had a bit of stubble. Can you grow it back so you look like this?’ It was really about getting ahead of things before they became an issue.
One Battle After Another is in theaters now.
Featured image: Caption: (L-r) TEYANA TAYLOR as Perfidia and SEAN PENN as Col. Steven J. Lockjaw in “One Battle After Another.” A Warner Bros. Pictures Release. Photo Credit: Photo Courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures
