As the special effects makeup artist for FX’s zombie drama “The Strain,” now entering its final season, Emmy-winning artist Sean Sansom uses prosthetic makeup to make actors appear anything but pretty.
An actor’s face informs special effects makeup.
“Generally, we use the actor’s features as best we can, because we don’t want to cover them up to the point where they’re not recognizable anymore. [But] we don’t want to go so minimalistic that there’s no point. We also don’t want to go too far, where we’ve completely covered them up and they can’t really act through the prosthetics.”
READ: How to Communicate with Your On-Set Makeup Artist
Effects makeup helps get the job done.
“Special effects makeup [helps actors] because they’re becoming a different person. It brings out something that they wouldn’t do as themselves. Sometimes, actors say they don’t even really have to act in the makeup because it kind of does the performance for them, as far as the look, [like] they don’t have to have an angry expression. They just have to deliver their lines and go through the motions.”
Drinking and effects makeup don’t mix.
“[Actors should avoid] drinking the night before the application day. If you drink a lot, alcohol tends to seep through the pores and removes the makeup prior to it even going on. We use a solvent-based adhesive that reacts funny when mixed with alcohol. It tends to crystallize on the skin so it doesn’t even stick anymore.”
Bigger roles receive more intricate makeup.
“On ‘The Strain,’ and on some other zombie shows, we’ll have various degrees of makeups. We’ll have the ‘hero makeups,’ which will be front and center. Then we’ll have a B group that will be mid-ground and they’ll be more generalized. They’re usually generic prosthetics [for] which we just have multiple molds and we pick and choose on the day. And then usually the background, depending on what it is, it’ll be a pullover mask or it’ll just be color, which will be done by regular makeup artists.”
READ: How Special Effects Makeup Can Help You Get Into Character
The chair is a cell phone–free zone.
“A big issue is actors on their phones while we’re trying to do the application because they tend to put their phone down in their lap and then they’re always looking down. That makes it harder because we need them to focus and we need them to either lift their head or look up because when you’re gluing pieces on the face, it has to be in a neutral position. When they’re constantly looking down at their phone, it takes much longer.”
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