THR Presents: Hair & Makeup Team From Coming 2 America

The Hollywood Reporter’s Hilton Dresden hosts a Q&A session with Carla Farmer, Stacy Morris and Mike Marino, the hair and makeup team behind Coming 2 America.

The approach was to exemplify the hair looks and tell a story, and for us to show looks that have never been seen collectively in one film on screen.”

Hilton starts the session by asking the team about their relationships with the original film (Coming to America) and its influence on the design choices for the sequel. Carla was impressed with the way African and African American cultures were displayed in the film. She also felt a connection to the film because her mentor, Robert Stevenson, was one of the leads in the hair and makeup team for Coming to America. Stacy believed the original was a love story of cultures from both Africans and African Americans. She wished to continue defining differences and character identities for the sequel as a highlight of the original. For Mike, seeing Coming to America was a life-changing moment. As a big fan of Eddy Murphy since age eight, Mike believed that Eddy was at the beginning of his stardom with the film Coming to America. Mike’s biggest inspirations were Eddy Murphy and hair-makeup expert Rick Baker.

“Once you get the script, your mind just goes. It’s like, okay, what am I gonna do, how do those characters from before gonna be brought up to date?”

When asked about their response to receiving notice for being accepted on the hair and makeup team for Coming 2 America, each team member gave animated responses. Carla had early access to the script which allowed her to work on images early on. She took inspiration from afro-punk styles. Stacy, having worked with Eddy Murphy in the past, was given a copy of the script from him. Once she read the script, her mind went in many directions. She had to hone those ideas to come up with a good plan. Mike felt that he was blessed to receive the position. He believes that it was a privilege to work on a film because the work can inspire others and feels that films are an artistic art form that's needed in society.

“This is not going to take away the vision we want to give to this film, but we just have to do more work to obtain it.”

Hilton then asked about the reference images that inspired them. For Carla, when she read the script, she had ideas about the film’s fictitious African country. She believed this was her chance to put together something that would be a love story of cultures. Carla drew inspiration from the fact that she had landed in the fictitious countries for the first time. Being allowed to do what was already in her head, Carla only had the problem of communicating her ideas to the rest of the hair and makeup team. Despite this, she received constant praise for her work on set.

Stacy researched tribal hairstyles. She then adapted those styles through drawings influenced by European and American cultures. Mike believes that both Carla and Stacy were innovators for the hairstyles found in Coming 2 America. He even stated that many on the hair and makeup team were unable to replicate Carla’s and Stacy’s work. He felt that their hairstyles were so new and when put into a large-scale display through the film, it felt like an art gallery of hair.

“I wake up every morning happy to go to work and do what I do. It’s a joy. I mean, there are challenges, but they’re welcoming.”

The subject of their greatest challenges while working on the set of Coming 2 America was discussed. For Stacy, her biggest challenges were the weather, running in between trailers, and the prep work. The heat and high humidity greatly affected the hair and wigs, and moving to different trailers proved difficult and time-consuming. No fittings were made at the beginning of filming so prep work time limits ranged from two weeks to a day. As a result, improvisational work was frequent. For Carla, working in a city she had never traveled to before and being away from her family were her biggest challenges. Mike also felt that the prep work was the biggest challenge he faced. He confided that each new makeup setup required dozens of prosthetics prepared for each character and scene. He became frequently exhausted when going through the dozens of boxes of prosthetics.

The team was asked about their favorite look in the film and the availability of resources in Atlanta. Mike couldn’t decide on a favorite look, but Carla felt that the character Keke with her large earrings was the best, and Stacy believed the hairstyle of the character Wesley was the best. As for the accessibility of resources in Atlanta, each had nothing but praises for the city. Stacy managed to find a hair store a few blocks away by accident. Carla was able to duplicate everything she brought from Los Angeles, and Mike was even visited and assisted by actor Tyler Perry.

“I was so happy that the images, especially because they were beautiful African American images of royalty and culture, that they were identified and appreciated by the Academy. That meant more to me than anything.”

Hilton closes the interview by asking about each member’s reaction to receiving the nominee notification. Carla felt shocked and proud at receiving the nominations. She shared that her daughter recorded her reaction and posted it on Twitter. As a result, the recording went viral with over a million views. She felt the hair and makeup team had “the right recipe at the right time” regarding the staff, especially when including Mike. Stacy expressed shock. She reasoned that it was due to the unexpected nature of the reveal. According to her, everyone on set gives a hundred percent in what they do with the expectation of completing the work, not in anticipation of receiving an award. Mike felt happy to just be considered. He was the happiest while working with the team. He hoped that his work would inspire youth to work harder to get into the film industry.

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