Career Center - Celebrity Make-Up

A Day in the Life of a Celebrity Make-Up Artist

Fleur Morrell has been a successful make-up artist in the entertainment industry since 1990. She has done print work, commercials, TV series including Tru Calling and In Justice, and lots of movies. At the time of this interview, she was working nights in New Orleans on the set of Black Water Transit, a film by director Tony Kaye.

Background & Training

Fleur didn't set out to be a make-up artist. She moved to Los Angeles in the mid-80s and studied to be a camera operator. "In those days, there were no women in the business," she says. "It was extremely hard, because I had to prove myself every time I walked on the set. There were a bunch of old union guys that just hated the fact that I was trying to break into the business. After a few years, I gave up. But I liked the film business, so I asked myself 'what else could I do?'"

Having worked briefly for the make-up company Borghese, Fleur decided to become a make-up artist. Her reasoning was straightforward. "I won't have to lift all this heavy equipment, and I'm kind of good at make-up."

Since she'd already spent all her money on camera school, Fleur called up a union make-up artist named Karen Gelnier. She was just hoping to get advice on an affordable make-up school, but ended up getting her first round of professional training.

Gelnier, who was working at the time on the set of Anything But Love as Jamie Lee Curtis' make-up artist, started training Fleur and three other women out of her house. For a year, they had weekly classes and learned techniques by practicing on neighborhood high school students. "She told us that we should pass it on," Fleur recalls. "Do something nice for somebody else who's struggling and try to help them get into the business."

Eventually Fleur went to school at Joe Blasco Cosmetics and Make-Up School and took additional special effects classes in Vancouver, Canada. She says proper training is crucial. "You can't just go into the industry doing regular make-up. You have to know a lot about lighting and cameras and filters because all of it affects your make-up."

Schedule

As a union make-up artist, Fleur only works five days a week, but the hours are almost always intense. On her current set in New Orleans, Fleur and her assistant are working 14- and 16-hour days. She admits that she experiences burn-out on occasion. "I get home, I go to sleep, and I literally have to get up and rush to work." She also feels that the intense schedule is worth it for the career. She gets breaks between movies to recuperate and become excited again.

On the Set

As head of the make-up department, Fleur works directly with the stylist who oversees the whole look of the show – hair, make-up and wardrobe. "There's some really elaborate work for some of the characters – very off-the-wall looks. The stylist works with Tony Kaye (the director), so I have been brought on to oversee the whole thing. My job is just basically to run the department and carry it out."

A big part of Fleur's job is to break down the script, making make-up continuity notes for everything. Since Black Water Transit is an action movie, there are many scenes with blood, sweat and crying. Fleur takes plenty of pictures and keeps a book documenting every change each actor goes through. "So let's say the film is done, and we have to go back a couple weeks later and re-shoot, I know exactly where to pick up from there."

She prepares prosthetics and other materials for make-up effects, including bullets and cuts. And she does all the make-up, with some help from her assistant. "Ultimately everything is my responsibility," she says. "It always comes down on the department head to make everything look perfect. And I'm on the set all the time. It's a lot to juggle."

Daily Challenges

Staying on top of all the latest make-up products and techniques is a monumental task. "Everything is constantly changing. It's all about being as time efficient as possible and finding the products that work best for your needs."

Fleur reads Make-Up Artist magazine for the product reviews and takes upgrade classes as often as possible, especially on new effect techniques and things that she doesn't do frequently on set. "In my entire life of make-up, I've only done one bald cap on camera since I went to school. So I took a course eight years ago just on that."

Staying employed is another challenge for the professional make-up artist. It's a competitive industry, even when you're established and in the union. "I still send out my resume all the time. I send out resumes to every single production. Even when you're in the union, it really doesn't do that much for you. You find your own work."

Fleur says she's constantly learning on the job. She advises new make-up artists to "listen to the old timers." She says a lot of kids come out of school and think they know everything, but what you learn in school may not apply when you're working under the elements of each entertainment set.

"The minute you get out in the real world under the hot lights, humidity, sweat and rain, your make-up falls apart, and you don't know what to do. That's learned through experience."

Daily Rewards

Fleur loves working with colleagues and helping actors. "We don't just make people look pretty. Sometimes the actors are having hard days. We all have our emotional ups and downs – actors go through the same things. They break up with their boyfriends and can be a total wreck. You have to help them get it together and look good. I like feeling like I'm helping somebody through something. The actors appreciate and remember it."

Another joy of Fleur's work is the variety and the opportunity to travel. Working on location in Belize was "my best and my worst movie ever," she recalls. "Every day something went wrong – the generators were down, the hours were really long, the conditions were rough. It was kind of brutal, but I had so much fun on the project. If you have good people to work with, you laugh at all these crazy situations, and you end up having a really fun time."

For Fleur, simply riding the emotional rollercoaster of film production is the greatest reward of being a make-up artist. "There are all these huge ups and downs, and at the last minute you have to throw things together. You're trying to scrounge to put it together, and you do. The more challenging and the harder it is – for me, that's fun."

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