Inside Harry Styles’ creepy ‘Don’t Worry Baby’ Makeover

brake alert: Don’t read unless you see “Don’t Worry Baby” in theaters right now.

Olivia Wilde’s “Don’t Worry Baby” is set in the utopia of the Victory Project in the 1950s. Alice (Florence Beau) and Jack (Harry Stiles) are residents of an isolated desert town, where husbands routinely travel to work, wives say goodbye, take ballet lessons and attend dinner. It’s the “Stepford Wives” script.

But all is not well, as women must stay away from their husbands office building, Victory HQ, and not be allowed to know what they are doing at work. Soon, Alice begins to suspect that even greater secrets lie beneath the surface of their perfect life. After a neighbor goes missing, you dig deeper.

In the development of the second act of the film, viewers learn that Project Victory is a present-day virtual world where men can control women and turn them into “ideal wives”. In the real world, Jack is unemployed and sits at his computer all day, listening to a cult-like podcast where Alice works long hours in the emergency room – until he takes her captive and forces her into the simulation.

The Incel Jack is very different from the Victory Jack. Gone is his sleek and cool “Mad Men” look. Instead, he is unattractive with his ill-fitting clothes, long thin hair with grease and a face full of acne.

Head of Hair Jamie Lee McIntosh and Head of Makeup Heba Thorsdottir spent two hours creating the internet-buzzed look.

The key, Macintosh says, is not to push Styles to the point where his new appearance would be a joke. “It was about finding that balance and a fine line to push it in a different direction, but not yet,” Macintosh says.

Her first challenge was the singer-turned-actor’s hair. “I wanted to make it lean and more lifeless,” she says. But despite his hairdo, Macintosh jokes, “I couldn’t have sex. Harry’s hair is full of volume.”

In the end, I resorted to making a wig. “When he’s long and coarse, those were two pieces that were sewn together. When he had a short back and sides, I used the top of the wig and cut it short to blend in with Harry’s sides and back,” MacIntosh explains.

The pandemic turned out to be a blessing in disguise for Thorisdottir. When production was halted for two weeks, she had Styles grow a beard. Thorsdottir says she’ll “cut it up to make it look brittle and sparse. We cut holes in it.”

The team frequently discussed ideas with Wilde about what to do with his character. One of the things that was quickly crossed out was the idea of ​​giving Jack a scar. Thorisdottir says, “It’s very clear to do that. We felt that if there was a scar, we would need backstory on where he came from and how it happened, and you won’t understand why he did what he did.”

While brainstorming, Wilde suggested giving Jack acne, but Thorisdottir suggested going further and giving Jack’s character acne scars instead. Thorisdottir says, “I know people with acne scars, some of whom are very insecure and shy. So, I called Jason Collins.”

Emmy-winning special effects makeup artist Collins created the acne scars that flooded Jack’s realistic face. “He got them together really quickly, we tested them on Harry and he went for it,” Thorsdottir says.

Again, it was about finding a balance in the amount of youthful love that gives Jack’s character, staying within Styles’ comfort level and making sure he wouldn’t distract from his acting. Thorisdottir has gone through various versions of building a face with acne scars. You remember, “One [version] It was worse than the other. I remember he didn’t say anything, but I remember the feeling, we might have gone too far with it.” She adds, “I feel like we were able to tell the story with it. We weren’t trying to make Harry look bad, we were explaining his insecurities and why Jack the way he is.”

b . costumesThe Ariane Phillips Complete the look. Thorisdottir says the discussions centered around what size clothing should be. “It was always hoodies and loose-fitting clothes, like someone who doesn’t want to be noticed,” she says.

Macintosh adds, “Harry loved it. He really leaned on the character’s makeup. He had a lot of fun and was really ready for it.”