From Variety magazine

by Marj Galas

This is a busy year for makeup and hair designer Donald Mowat, who worked on two major releases: Blade Runner 2049 and Stronger.

Mowat was a big fan of Ridley Scott’s original Blade Runner, released in 1982, so he was psyched when helmer Dennis Villeneuve asked him to lead the makeup department for the sequel – a revisiting of the L.A. based futuristic tale set 30 years later. Mowat overcame initial anxiety over the epic scope of the project and was happy to reteam with the director and cinematographer Roger Deakins, with whom he had worked on Sicario and Prisoners as well.

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From Variety magazine

Donald Mowat tackles physical limits in Blade Runner 2049 and Stonger.

by Marj Galas

This is a busy year for makeup and hair designer Donald Mowat, who worked on two major releases: Blade Runner 2049 and Stronger.

Mowat was a big fan of Ridley Scott’s original Blade Runner, released in 1982, so he was psyched when helmer Dennis Villeneuve asked him to lead the makeup department for the sequel – a revisiting of the L.A. based futuristic tale set 30 years later. Mowat overcame initial anxiety over the epic scope of the project and was happy to reteam with the director and cinematographer Roger Deakins, with whom he had worked on Sicario and Prisoners as well.

Blade Runner 2049 required every type of makeup application: character, aging, beauty and fantasy. Mowat and Villeneuve met to discuss initial concepts. The designs found inspiration in many sources, including Alexander McQueen’s fashions, Jack Nicholson’s torn nose in Chinatown and Rutger Hauer’s bloodied face in the original Blade Runner.
Some design elements were left in limbo due to scheduling conflicts and the remote Hungarian locations. Jared Leto was available only one week prior to his scene, and Mowat wanted to make sure he’d be able to blend his concepts with the actor’s vision of his character. “We shipped 12 cases of makeup from L.A.,” he says, “just to make sure he’d have everything he needed. It was terrifying.”

Mowat came aboard Stronger, a film about Jeff Bauman, who lost his legs in the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, when Jake Gyllenhaal (who plays Bauman) introduced him to the script and to director David Gordon Green. The makeup artist carefully researched every aspect of leg amputation, speaking with surgeons and studying musculature and tissue damage.

Gyllenhaal’s amputations were sometimes hidden by pratical objects, but many scenes required them to be visible, and Mowat worked with Autonomous FX to design visual effects specifically to convey the look of a double amputee. First, a life cast was made of Gyllenhaal’s legs. Tight green socks were created for green-screen-like and seamless substitution of visuals.

Mowat worked with local crew in Boston to source materials for his creations. He also met Bauman. To capture what he noticed, he outfitted Gyllenhaal with hazel contacts for the pre-bombing scenes and dark contacts for the scenes that unfold after the incident.

“Jeff is charming,” says Mowat, “but you see the trauma in his eyes.”

www.cbc.ca

‘Donald Mowat and a handful of other industry experts visit a couple of times a month to mentor kids at several inner-city schools like Washington Prep. To convince them they belong in Hollywood.’

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Read more about BAFTA Community Outreach and Education programs…

The Hospital Club in Covent Garden, London was the venue for this year’s third annual London Awards Celebration, held Feb. 10. Hosted by Make-Up Artist magazine and sponsored by M.A.C. Cosmetics, the event honors the make-up and hair teams nominated for Academy Awards and British Academy of Film and Television Arts Awards.

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Donald Mowat has been nominated for both the 2017 BAFTA awards and 2017 MUAHS awards for his work as Head of Make-up on Nocturnal Animals.

2017 BAFTA awards nominations

2017 MUAHS awards nominations

Donald Mowat with Ryan Gosling and Chantal Rickards, CEO, BAFTA LA

The 2017 party was presented by BBC America and GREAT, and was held at the Four Seasons Hotel Los Angeles in Beverly Hills on January 7, 2017.  Attendees included Emma Stone, Ryan Gosling, Amy Adams, Octavia Spencer, Viggo Mortensen, Lily Collins, Hailee Steinfeld, Andrew Garfield, Evan Rachel Wood, Michelle Williams, Sterling K. Brown, Joel Edgerton, Ruth Negga, Tom Hiddleston, Justin Timberlake, John Lithgow, Claire Foy, Mahershala Ali, and Sophie Turner.

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Hair and make-up by Donald Mowat.

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