We speak to Babylon costume designer Mary Zophres about the incredible amount of work & intention behind her contributions to Damien Chazelle’s film, and how minutely she planned out details for everyone from Margot Robbie and Brad Pitt to Tobey Maguire:
Damien Chazelle's highly ambitious early Hollywood epic Babylon, which has garnered multiple Academy Award nominations, is already out on digital platforms and coming to Blu-ray on March 21. The film is a tour de force on behalf of its entire creative team, featuring a refreshingly unique vision from Chazelle brought to life in jaw-dropping fashion, a standout score by composer Justin Hurwitz, a best-yet performance by Margot Robbie, and much, much more.
Mary Zophres: It's the biggest project I've ever done, and it's big because everything is in camera. Damien, in my meeting I had with him, was like, "Yes. I wrote that there are a thousand men on the battlefield, and there will be a thousand men on the battlefield." They're not tiled, there's no CGI, and what they're wearing is what they're wearing. And the aging is what they're aging. He didn't want to manipulate it; it's all in camera.
I love building because it gives you absolute freedom, but it also can cost a lot of money, and you have to be time efficient about how you do it. We managed to make it so that we built a lot in-house. I had an incredible crew on this film who worked tirelessly. We were functioning on adrenaline and like this feeling of like - I mean, I know I felt it, and I tried to tell my crew this every day - "I've never had an opportunity to like this, and we may never have it again.
Full disclosure, the day after we wrapped I had to have hip replacement surgery; I did the whole movie on crutches. I thought I pulled a muscle the weekend before I started prep, and then had an MRI, and they were like, "No, it's your hip. It's bone-on-bone." By the time we did our camera test, I was like, "I can't put weight on this leg," and I was on crutches all during the battlefield [sequence] - the whole movie. I never sat down because it hurt to sit.
There were not stylists in those days, but to me, [Brad's character Jack Conrad] was one of the first movie stars. You have to remember that being a movie star was a brand-new thing. There were Broadway stars, [who] were famous in Broadway, and perhaps in Europe, but this worldwide or nationwide fame was so new, and he's one of the first.
Tobey Maguire['s character James McKay] is definitely more of a deviant. We were going to go one direction with him, and then we decided to go in another way. His makeup that Heba did, and his hair that Jaime did was so inspiring. At first, we were going to put him all in green and make him green in pallor. The other choice was this more traditional suit that we built out of this incredible vintage fabric, which was the best.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Mary Church Terrell: Black history icon and early architect of the civil rights movementMary Church Terrell can be credited for laying the groundwork of sit-ins, civil disobedience and peaceful protest for the civil rights movement. She was a role model for women such as Rosa Parks, Fannie Lou Hamer and many others.
Read more »
Saint Mary's College student helping others find donors after battling leukemiaDylan Cazin is now lead ambassador for his campus Be the Match club and will celebrate five years of being cancer free in June. He hopes to meet the donor who saved his life.
Read more »
Dick Van Dyke, 97, says ‘beautiful young wife half my age’ keeps me goingThe “Mary Poppins” legend has been married to Arlene Silver since 2012.
Read more »
Hasbro Drops Best Look at Adam Warlock's Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3. CostumeGuardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 fans just got their best look yet at Adam Warlock's costume. [...]
Read more »
This 97-year-old star reveals himself as the gnome in shocking 'Masked Singer' premiereDick Van Dyke, 97, concealed his iconic face and gray hair in a giant, red-headed gnome costume during the show's premiere on Fox Wednesday.
Read more »