The Best Makeup And Hairstyling Award at Oscar 2023 went to the Prosthetics Makeup Team of The Whale. The 95 Academy Awards once again recognised makeup and hairstyling as an integral aspect of the movie making process.
A truly fit man in real life, actor Brendan Fraser was in fact able to play the role of a morbidly obese father in the 2022 film The Whale. Especially due to the expertise of the prosthetic makeup team. And it was this look in particular that won them the Best Makeup And Hairstyling Award at the 95th Academy Awards. While India rejoiced on bagging two awards at Oscars 2023, the beauty community worldwide commemorates with the excellent efforts put in by artists Adrien Morot, Judy Chin and Annemarie Bradley in creating Charlie, Fraser’s onscreen persona.
The Whale is an American psychological drama directed by Darren Aronofsky and written by Samuel D. Hunter, based on his 2012 play which is similarly of the same name. Furthermore, Fraser plays Charlie, a reclusive English teacher with morbid obesity, is really trying to mend his relationship with his teenage daughter. To list apart from Fraser, the film stars Sadie Sink, Hong Chau, Ty Simpkins and Samantha Morton.
Above all, this motion picture tells a story, which millions of people lived. Heroes and villains etched in our memories due to their acting skills. But little do we realise that their looks are also a big contributing factor. The Academy Awards are certainly at the forefront of recognizing makeup and hairdressing talent. That in fact brings characters to life on the silver screen. The prosthetics team of The Whale made use of digital prosthetic makeup in particular for the first time. Which especially enabled the accurate depiction of Fraser’s emotional expressions as Charlie. So, by acknowledging such accomplishments, the Oscars are motivating and including more talent pool in this field.
Termed as ‘prosthetics wizard,’ however Morot had a challenging time indeed while creating the prosthetic makeup for Fraser. As a result, he and his team had long hours of work on the sets. This was in order to model every part of the body – from chin to legs – for a real life look.
Morot too was in the nominations during Oscar 2011 for Best Achievement in Makeup for the film Barney’s Vision.
Even the Indian entertainment industry has been extensively using prosthetics, especially in real life adaptations. One such makeup artist is Subhas Shinde, who is in fact part of the Indian film industry from the past 28 years, and has certainly created magic with prosthetic makeup in movies to list are Mary Kom, Sarabjeet, Ramleela and soon upcoming ones like Mein Atal Hoon and Haddi.
