|
|
Hair and Makeup Supervisor Paul Engelen talks about
his work on Casino Royale, and creating a new look
for James Bond...
|
|
Casino Royale Hair & Makeup Supervisor Interview
- Paul Engelen
13th December 2006
Paul Engelen has faced some extreme make-up
challenges during his illustrious career. Mention Frankenstein,
for instance, and he visibly shudders.
“Yes, that was hard work,” he
recalls with a smile. “And certainly one of the toughest
films, from a make up point of view, that I’ve worked
on. And it’s impossible to have any other life when
you are at work at 3am every morning preparing the actors
for hours in the make up chair. It’s very hard.”
A Midsummer Night’s Dream with
an all-star cast, including Kevin Kline and Michelle Pfeiffer,
was another tough test. “Yes, it was. A lot of characters
and a lot of work. But these things are fun, too, and you
do see the result of your work up there on the screen so
it is very rewarding.”
He’s certainly not about to compare
working on Casino Royale to those more ‘out there’ jobs,
but he is delighted to continue his association with the
James
Bond films which first started back in 1974 with The Man
With The Golden Gun. That was when he first met the late,
great legendary 007 producer Cubby Broccoli and, indeed,
his teenage daughter,
Barbara, who now follows in her father’s footsteps
and produces the Bond films with Michael Wilson.
|
|
Above: Paul Engelen |
“I’d worked with Roger on a film
called Gold in South Africa and through that association he then
asked me if I would like to do the Bond with him and so I did,” he
recalls. “And that was my introduction to Cubby Broccoli
and the outfit, as it were. In those days Barbara was a kid,
she was about 12, 13.”
Above: Paul Engelen touches up makeup
between takes in the Embassy |
For Casino Royale, there’s a new James
Bond and Engelen believes that Daniel Craig - an actor
he’s worked with before on both Lara Croft: Tomb Raider
and Munich - is going to make a huge impact in the role.
“I personally can’t wait for the
release of the film because it really will be an eye opener.
I think it is a much more dynamic piece of work than you’ve
ever seen from a Bond,” he says. For Engelen, Craig’s
blond hair and piercing blue eyes were physical attributes to be
highlighted with the new Bond.
“To state the obvious, Daniel’s
not dark, which is what we’ve been used to with Bond,
and that meant a completely new look and we wanted to make
the most of that.
“
And Martin (Campbell, director) was saying all the time
that he wanted this to be a much more realistic Bond."
"We have a very physical actor here
with Daniel so we wanted to capitalise on that and do as
much
stunt work as possible
and use that in the film as much as possible.
“There’s nothing terribly manufactured about
what happens to Daniel."
"There are no disguises as such
on this particular Bond, it’s more about the extent
to which he is beaten up or showing signs of progression
through an action sequence so that was what we had to work
out. “And most of the time, unfortunately, we couldn’t
shoot in continuity so it was trying to arrive at what
he might look like having gone through the various stages
that we were yet to shoot!” |
|
|
Engelen has been nominated for two Oscars for
his work on Kenneth Branagh’s Frankenstein and Greystoke:
The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes and won a BAFTA for the
latter. He has been nominated for four other BAFTAs - for
Cold Mountain, Gladiator, Batman and The Emerald Forest. His other
films include Seven Years in Tibet, Star Wars: Episode I - The
Phantom Menace, Red Planet and V for Vendetta.
When did your association with
the James Bond films first start?
It was a long time ago. The
first Bond I did was The Man
With A Golden Gun with Roger Moore. And it was through Roger
that it came about. I’d worked with him on a film called
Gold in South Africa and through that association he then asked
me if I would like to do the Bond with him and so I did. And
that was my introduction to Cubby Broccoli and the outfit, as
it were. In those days Barbara (Broccoli, producer) was a kid,
she was about 12 or 13. And subsequently I did Moonraker and
The Spy Who Loved Me and then that’s where it finished
until Die Another Day when I was involved again.
What was that first Bond film like?
It was terrific. My first
job on my own was with Roger on Gold and as I said he asked me
to do the Bond and I jumped at
the chance. I remember we were on location in Phuket in Thailand
and in those days it really was a backpackers place, there was
no real tourist industry down there at all. So we stayed in little
places, cafes, wherever and just got on with it. It felt like
pioneering days. They had no experience of filmmaking down there
at all so we just took everything down there with us.
There are a few regulars in the core team
and you’re
one of them.
I think they do like to keep people together if
possible. There’s very much a family attitude and it seems to me
they use people from one to the next and it’s a nice feeling.
They are big budgets and big films but you still have the feeling
that you are working within a family.
What was the approach for Casino Royale?
To state the obvious,
Daniel’s not dark, which is what
we’ve been used to with Bond, and that meant a completely
new look and we wanted to make the most of that. And Martin (Campbell,
director) was saying all the time that he wanted this to be a
much more realistic Bond. We have a very physical actor here
with Daniel so we wanted to capitalise on that and do as much
stunt work as possible and use that in the film as much as possible.
So for your job, was it a case of getting Daniel into the
make up chair and seeing how certain things looked on him?
Well
there’s nothing terribly manufactured about what
happens to Daniel. There are no disguises as such on this particular
Bond, it’s more about the extent to which he is beaten
up or showing signs of progression through an action sequence
so that was what we had to work out. And most of the time, unfortunately,
we couldn’t shoot in continuity so it was trying to arrive
at what he might look like having gone through the various stages
that we were yet to shoot (laughs). So we were doing it back
to front half of the time, we were doing the final look and then
going back on ourselves. There are times when he has to look
like he has been in the wars, because he does get beaten up a
lot. It’s very unusual to sequence from beginning to end.
Above: Le Chiffre was given a scar
and a tear duct that wept blood. |
|
And you’re obviously dealing with the rest
of the cast too.
Of course. There were various characters throughout the movie. There’s
Mollaka, a terrorist bomber who is one of the protagonists that Bond has to follow
through this market which is quite an extensive make up job for me because he
has a burn down one side of his face.
And initially this character had no fingers on one hand - presumably
having lost them when a bomb went off by mistake.
But
he had all of this action to do, jumping from girder
to girder and through cranes and goodness knows what,
so we decided to make it more of a burn as opposed
to losing fingers. And then we had Le Chiffre and we
wanted
to give him a bit of nuance..
Something physical?
Yes, and it was Martin (Campbell’s) idea to give
him a bit of a strange eye. We gave him a bit of a twitch
and a bit of distortion in the eye. Le Chiffre
is played by Mads Mikkelsen and I think that was a great piece of inspired
casting. He was just excellent.
|
But what about Daniel’s
blond, blue eyed look. How did you approach that?
We tried to keep his skin colour down.
If he’s tanned
the eyes look even more extraordinary - that aquamarine
blue really does shine out. But it’s a great characteristic
and we wanted to use it which was the feeling that we all had
right from the first tests with him. And his blond hair we left
alone, pretty much. We would stabilise it if it got too blond
in the sunlight.
What do you make of Daniel in the role?
He is such a hard worker
and he takes the whole thing very seriously and I mean that in
the nicest possible way. He is a
class actor and he is a professional - he gives me all
the time I need and I’m sure any other crew member on the
set would say the same thing. He is a very talented well regulated
actor, I think. And I have to say he never had a bad word to
say about anything and he was an extraordinarily easy person
to work with. And I think he will make an excellent Bond. I think
he can’t wait to let the public see what he has done with
this. I personally can’t wait for the release of the film
because it really will be an eye opener. I think it is a much
more dynamic piece of work than you’ve ever seen from a
Bond.
What about Martin Campbell?
Yes. I admire Martin. I think he
really got his head around it from the very first. He knew exactly
where to take this and
turn it into a rollicking ride and I think the film will look
fantastic and will be money well spent.
You had worked with Eva Green before
on Kingdom of Heaven…
Yes, I did. Actually one of my team looked after her but I obviously saw her
close up. I think as soon as she tested for Casino Royale everyone knew that
she was something special. She played her character so well.
What kind of look were you going for with her?
Nothing too dramatic, just trying to bring out the best which is not difficult
because she is a very beautiful girl.
How many people do you have on your team?
There’s six of us altogether on make up and hair and you have to delegate
who will look after who. You have to have two of those people devoted to looking
after the incidental actors and four of us concentrate on the principals. There
are other films when you have more to do with make up.
Had you worked with Daniel before?
Yes, I worked with Daniel for the first time on Tomb Raider and I also worked
with him on Munich so he and I go back a fair way. And I don’t need an
excuse to work with Daniel, as I said he’s such a lovely man. |
|
|
You’ve also worked with Ridley Scott
before on Gladiator..
Yes, I like working with Ridley, he’s such a joy to work with and is such
a visual director. He will illustrate what he is talking about - actually
draw what is on his mind and that’s wonderful.
I would imagine working on something like Frankenstein, which
you did, must be the ultimate in terms of a challenge for a make
up artist?
Yes, that was hard work . And certainly one of the toughest films, from a make
up point of view, that I’ve worked on. And it’s impossible to have
any other life when you are at work at 3am every morning preparing the actors
for hours in the make up chair. It’s very hard. It is very demanding
and you have people in the chair for hours at a time. And you have to get it
on properly and people forget, you have to get it off properly too.
Was that the most challenging film you’ve
worked on?
Yes, it was, and I remember another one, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, which
had a wonderful cast, Michelle Pffeifer and Kevin Kline and that was very exhausting
because make up, hair and costume were very elaborate. A lot of characters
and a lot of work. But these things are fun, too, and you do see the result
of your work up there on the screen so it is very rewarding.
Produced by Michael G. Wilson and Barbara
Broccoli (Eon Productions) and directed by Martin Campbell,
CASINO ROYALE was released on November 16, 2006
in the UK. Principal photography started on
January 30th 2006, with locations in the UK, Czech Republic
(Prague), Italy, and the Bahamas. It is British actor
Daniel Craig’s first outing as James Bond. He is the
sixth actor to play the 007 role in the franchise.
The film also stars Judi Dench, Eva Green, Mads
Mikkelsen, Jeffrey Wright, Giancarlo Giannini, Caterina Murino,
Simon Abkarian, Tobias Menzies, Ivana Milicevic, Clemens Schik,
Ludger Pistor, Claudio Santamaria and Isaach de Bankole.
Related Articles
Casino
Royale Coverage
Thanks to Sony Pictures Entertainment