Mystique of Movie Make-up: Donald Mowat’s Top 12

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by Quendrith Johnson, Los Angeles Correspondent

When you realize Academy Award-nominated Make-up Artist Donald Mowat hand-painted the giant glowing pink face of Ana de Armas in Blade Runner 2049, which most audiences think is a digital special effect, you begin to realize the enormity of a gift like his. While his credits include Dune (2022) which resulted in his Oscar nom, Mowat has a visceral connection to The Fighter and its gritty realism that belies any use of cosmetics. Eminem’s 8 Mile, Sicario, Nightcrawler, Prisoners, Nocturnal Animals, and the new iteration of Tron, Tron Areas, also feature his deft hand. “We were hired, then shut down for the strike (across various Hollywood Unions).”

The diverse cast of Tron Ares required a delicate knowledge of the way light bounces off the spectrum of human skin tones. “Asian women, Black women, European women” all demand different undertones to offset light color changes. For Greta Lee, who plays Eve Kim in the movie, “it’s a fine line” as far as hue as “it can read” differently under lighting. “We wanted the skin to look perfect, plastic, but not too robotic.” For Jodie Turner-Smith, second under Jared Leto as Ares in the film, he had to avoid “Jodie going ash” and consulted with director Joachim Rønniing on an optimal look. “Working on that film was truly wonderful with Joachim.”

Now it’s on to The Behemoth, starring Pedro Pascal and Olivia Wilde, directed by Tony Gilroy. But Mowat also does one-on-one with A-listers. Can you imagine having Daniel Craig in your make-up chair on set as a personal make-up artist, as he was for the James Bond legend in Skyfall and Spectre?

Before we dive into this Oscar nom’s favorite film choices, let’s walk down memory lane in Hollywood back to George Westmore in 1917 with the first make-up department and Max Factor, a seminal artist who also sold his cosmetic line. English transplant Westmore invented the lace-wig technology to hide the hairline, but went into cosmetics after Max Factor, known as “the father of modern make-up” with his versatile “flexible” greasepaint. Influenced heavily by Vaudeville’s face-painted variety shows, Silent Era faces needed that extra “slap.” Here’s a quick snapshot of movie’s maquillage moments, with their defining cinematic examples.

Although it’s a combination of factors that create a great movie character, what can’t you do? “You can’t have costume make-up and beauty make-up and hair (all as a main focus). It’ll look like a Christmas tree,” Mowat cautions. As a mentor for upcoming artists in the business, he does have his work to stand on. It’s not just the epic futuristic soft-rose glow of the 70mm Ana de Armas faux digital sprite named Joi in Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner 2029. Mowat, who hails from Canada, had to continually refine the magenta-ish hue to match the plum lips “that kept turning into prune” with changing set lighting. That’s the mystique of movie make-up, and though he “hates make-up tutorials because they give away too many secrets,” the Tron Ares make-up maestro shares some insider reveals with us before he presents his ‘Top 10’ personal favorite films.

Did you know “The Godfather is the greatest aging make-up of all time,” a ground-breaking effect done by Dick Smith, whose child horror make-up on Linda Blair for the Exorcist set the standard for all subsequent fright films? Even Frank Sinatra’s urban mug was done-up by a Japanese master, Shu Uemura, who adapted burn patient recovery technology for film set use. Uemura went on to do the faces of Lucille Ball and Marylin Monroe. Shockingly, Robert De Niro wore a mohawk skullcap, or “bald cap” in verité-feel movie Taxi Driver. For 8 Mile, Mowat gave Brittany Murphy Dr. Pepper Lip Smackers to remind her of the character’s vulnerability and child-like qualities. He still cherishes the late actress’s personal note and gift Brittany gave him, such are the intimate bonds forged with a new face.

On that note, here are Donald Mowat’s Top 10 movie picks for you, actually “12, I can’t get to 10.”

Donald’s Dozen Film Favorites
(in no particular order)

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1945) 

Director: Elia Kazan
Principal Cast: Dorothy McGuire, Joan Blondell, James Dunn
Make-Up Aspects: Classic 1940s realism; naturalistic make-up emphasizing poverty and hardship of early 20th-century Brooklyn; minimal glamour, soft period-appropriate styling.

Cabaret (1972) 

Director: Bob Fosse
Principal Cast: Liza Minnelli, Michael York, Joel Grey
Make-Up Aspects: Heavy stage-inspired make-up; smoky eyes and bold lips for Minnelli’s Sally Bowles; stark contrast between performance glam and gritty realism of 1930s Berlin.

Day for Night (La Nuit Américaine) (1973) 

Director: François Truffaut
Principal Cast: Jacqueline Bisset, Jean-Pierre Léaud, François Truffaut
Make-Up Aspects: Meta-film showing film production; use of both “real” make-up and “on-set” make-up to show contrast between cinema illusion and actor reality; classic French naturalism.

Barry Lyndon (1975) 

Director: Stanley Kubrick
Principal Cast: Ryan O’Neal, Marisa Berenson, Patrick Magee
Make-Up Aspects: Authentic 18th-century period make-up — powdered wigs, pale complexions, and rouge reflecting aristocratic style; meticulous attention to natural lighting and skin tone realism.

Nashville (1975)

Director: Robert Altman
Principal Cast: Ronee Blakley, Lily Tomlin, Keith Carradine
Make-Up Aspects: Naturalistic make-up emphasizing realism; subtle work to distinguish country performers on and off stage; blending documentary feel with subtle glamour for stage sequences.

Das Boot (1981)

Director: Wolfgang Petersen
Principal Cast: Jürgen Prochnow, Herbert Grönemeyer, Klaus Wennemann
Make-Up Aspects: Realistic grime and sweat effects; claustrophobic submarine environment recreated through dirt, oil, and fatigue make-up; groundbreaking for realism in war films.

Babette’s Feast (1987)

Director: Gabriel Axel
Principal Cast: Stéphane Audran, Bodil Kjer, Birgitte Federspiel
Make-Up Aspects: Understated Danish austerity; aging and subtle transformation of characters via lighting and naturalistic make-up; transition from restraint to sensual richness during the feast sequence.

The Last Emperor (1987)

Director: Bernardo Bertolucci
Principal Cast: John Lone, Joan Chen, Peter O’Toole
Make-Up Aspects: Oscar-winning for Best Make-Up; aging progression of Pu Yi from child to old man; imperial court stylization; intricate period-piece hairstyles, classic historic Chinese cosmetic motifs.

Raise the Red Lantern (1991)

Director: Zhang Yimou
Principal Cast: Gong Li, Ma Jingwu, Cao Cuifen
Make-Up Aspects: Symbolic use of make-up — pale faces, red lips reflecting repression and hierarchy; stylized yet restrained approach emphasizing ritual and isolation; strong color-light interplay.

Philadelphia (1993)

Director: Jonathan Demme
Principal Cast: Tom Hanks, Denzel Washington, Antonio Banderas
Make-Up Aspects: Oscar-winning make-up work for depicting AIDS symptoms and physical decline of Hanks’ character; sensitive and realistic deterioration effects without sensationalism.

Secrets & Lies (1996)

Director: Mike Leigh
Principal Cast: Brenda Blethyn, Marianne Jean-Baptiste, Timothy Spall
Make-Up Aspects: Naturalistic, character-driven; realistic working-class aesthetics; emphasis on unembellished emotion — subtle aging, tears, and sweat captured without heavy make-up.

Central Station (1998)

Director: Walter Salles
Principal Cast: Fernanda Montenegro, Vinícius de Oliveira, Marília Pêra
Make-Up Aspects: Minimalist, documentary realism; weathered faces reflecting Brazilian working-class life; natural light used to highlight texture over cosmetic design.

“I always go back to Barry Lyndon,” Donald Mowat admits of the 1975 movie directed by Stanley Kubrick, “it’s beautiful.” Adapted from William Makepeace Thackeray’s 1844 novel, “The Luck of Barry Lyndon,” this film depicts every stage of plenty to penury and the magical stage craft that creates not only the class distinctions, but makes or breaks the man. Movie make-up’s Mowat, who says he was “bullied as a child” for wanting to do it “though all make-up artists back then were men,” is arguably among the top 10 experts in his professional class in Hollywood. An Academy Member, he’s won so many awards, even he may have lost track, there’s also his role with BAFTA Los Angeles. He’s also on our bonus Top 10 Round-up of current industry icons.

Hollywood’s Best Behind the Blush

Jack Pierce
Created the faces of cinematic fear — Frankenstein, The Mummy, The Wolf Man.
How it changed how audiences saw a character: He transformed mythic archetypes into believable flesh, making monsters tragic, not just terrifying.

Dick Smith  – Known as “The Godfather of Make-Up.”
The Exorcist, Amadeus, The Godfather.
How it changed how audiences saw a character: He proved aging, decay, and possession could be emotionally real — makeup as acting partner, not disguise.

Rick Baker
Creature visionary behind An American Werewolf in London, Men in Black, Planet of the Apes.
How it changed how audiences saw a character: He made metamorphosis visceral — audiences didn’t watch transformation, they felt it happen.

Stan Winston
Practical effects legend — Terminator, Aliens, Jurassic Park, Predator.
How it changed how audiences saw a character: He merged make-up with machines; viewers saw believable beings, not effects — the line between human and other blurred.

Ve Neill
Inventive force behind Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands, Mrs. Doubtfire, Pirates of the Caribbean.
How it changed how audiences saw a character: She gave fantasy humanity — her make-up let oddities, outcasts, and disguises become emotionally accessible.

Greg Cannom
Versatile transformer — Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Benjamin Button, Vice.
How it changed how audiences saw a character: Made time itself part of performance, letting viewers see entire lives written on skin.

Tom Savini
Horror revolutionary — Dawn of the Dead, Friday the 13th, Maniac.
How it changed how audiences saw a character: His realism forced viewers to confront mortality; the horror was not fantasy but flesh.

Donald Mowat
Contemporary master — Blade Runner 2049, Dune, The Fighter.
How it changed how audiences saw a character: Mowat redefined subtlety — make-up so integrated that characters breathe as real people, not designs.

Milicent Patrick
Designer of the Creature from the Black Lagoon.
How it changed how audiences saw a character: She made monstrosity elegant — her creature’s expressiveness invited sympathy beneath the scales.

John Chambers
Architect of Planet of the Apes (1968), Star Trek aliens.
How it changed how audiences saw a character: He gave actors new anatomy yet preserved emotion; the mask didn’t hide — it revealed.

Have fun noticing the exquisite art and craft of maquillage at the movies.

*Follow Donald Mowat on Insta.

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