It was another normal day in the life of a film make-up artist: the five o’clock start, the bucket of coffee to get me going, the trek across London for another photo shoot…except this wasn’t the normal run-of-the mill kind of photo shoot. I’d been asked to do the make-up for the launch of the 300 DVD with 20 super fit Spartans.
I got to Warner Bros in Holborn with my fellow make-up artist, Maryellen, at 5 am and set up shop. I didn’t have to wait long before the guys turned up, all a little bleary-eyed and rather shy.
“Right!,” I said “Let’s not hang about, guys, take your clothes off now. I want to see you in your pants.” So they sheepishly undressed and were queuing up for attention.
They had to have the Spartan tanned look so Maryellen and I started putting liquid bronzer all over their rippling bodies. We were putting it on with a brush, but after a few minutes Maryellen and I gave each other a look and dispensed with our brushes finding our hands far more satisfactory tools!
Then it came to their torsos….although they all had fantastic 6 packs we emphasised them by using shadow and highlight. It did get interesting though, when we had to work on their groin muscle – I was wide awake by then!
Then they all got dressed in their costumes, left their clothes behind, but wanted to keep their mobiles with them. One guy suggested putting it down their sexy Spartan leather pants, but the others weren’t too sure what would happen if their phones started vibrating.
At the end of the make-up session we all had to go to a TV studio and I think they must have looked quite scary as none of the buses wanted to stop, and maybe they didn’t have anywhere to put their Oyster card anyway.
Well, it’s a tough job, but someone’s gotta do it!
By Orionna
Orionna is a professional make-up and teaches at the London academy of Film and TV.
She now has her own company called Head 2 Toe www.head2toe.org.uk and she can help you look gorgeous by teaching you the tricks of the make-up trade and will give you style advice too. You can call her on 07863 155502
