Marvel’s Moon Knight Hair & Makeup Designer, Donald Mowat, discusses creating several looks for Oscar Isaac as well embracing the natural with May Calamawy’s Layla.
Donald Mowat is one of the film industry’s most sought-after makeup artists. He has served as make-up department head and designer on such films as The Fighter, 8 Mile, Sicario, Nightcrawler, Prisoners, Nocturnal Animals, Stronger, Blade Runner 2049, and as personal make-up artist to Daniel Craig on Skyfall and Spectre. He is the Head of Department for hair and makeup on Marvel’s Moon Knight, and fans everywhere applaud the wonderful job he has done.
This show is unique in that the main actor plays three different characters. Not to mention all the new protocols that are in place after the last few years. Mowat has shined through, however, and did a phenomenal job with this series. Fingers crossed there will be a season two of Moon Knight, and that Donald Mowat will be back. In this exclusive interview with Mama’s Geeky, Donald discusses creating several different looks for the main character, as well as embracing the natural Egyptian look for May Calamawy’s Layla.
Creating Several Looks For Oscar Isaac
Mowat says that his inspiration came from things like Roman Polanski and Spider or Dead Ringers because a lot of people read it and think what are you going to do? He’s the same guy. “You’d be surprised how many people ask me. I would have to say guys, stop it. That’s the part of what I do that gets very annoying — that everybody has an opinion.” Oscar Isaac actually reached out to Mowat seeking his advice, and brought him on the job for Moon Knight.
“One is going to be jet lagged with the dark circles, sticky, sickly, paler, doesn’t sleep. And the other is more healthy. But it’s got to happen within a believable timeframe. I loved it, the very subtle changes. It can’t be one and the other, like Jekyll and Hyde. It just can’t be. So it’s subtle and nuanced. I thought it worked. And you feel it and the sweatiness of Steven. It was kind of fun.”
There is a point in the show where viewers stop distinguishing between Marc and Steven and it becomes a “who is it now”. In regards to the mirror reflective shots, the hair and makeup team had to work with a lot of doubles. “That’s really where I give a lot of thanks to my team because of the hair and makeup prosthetics. We matched people up to do over the shoulder — wigs, makeup — and then twist it and do twinning. Then great cinematography and visual effects and costume to make these guys bring them together.”
As far as Jake Lockley goes, fans only get to see a quick snippet of him in the teaser at the end of Moon Knight season one. Still, this was a whole new look to create for Donald Mowat and his team. He explains that they didn’t get a lot of information on Jake. “I think that was Oscar’s idea to put the cap on. And he wore a cap and I think he was a bit scruffy. That was a bit of a confusion, I’ve got to say for everybody.”
How Quickly Can They Turnover Between Marc & Steven
There is always a tight schedule when filming on a set, so when we asked Donald Mowat about transitioning from Steven to Marc, and vice versa, he said it was actually pretty quick, because it has to be. If it wasn’t, it would have been impossible to do. Especially because the doubles have to change over as well.
“That’s why I had a significant hair makeup team, because he’d have to change over sometimes three times, sometimes just twice. I wanted to keep the hair very, very simple. Sometimes I felt like, you know what, it’s really his face. I could do that makeup shift quickly. I think we could do a half hour change it up. Because you’re doing sweat. You’re doing dark circles. I was putting menthol in his eyes. So you could clean that up and bring him back to Marc. That takes a bit of cleanup, so that was a little bit harder. And then you take a double who was appearing as Steven and we would quickly have to shift and get him ready as Marc and vice versa. So there’s a lot of work to do.”
He goes on to explain that it took Oscar under an hour to get ready in the morning, and for Mowat, that’s actually long. He likes things to be quick and for people to be ready fast. It is important for the hair and makeup time to respect that the actor also needs time for costume and to do whatever they need to personally do to get into character.
Layla’s Hair / Makeup as The Scarlet Scarab
As fans know, the final episode of Moon Knight season one introduces Layla as The Scarlet Scarab. Her look is very subtle and natural, which is what makes it so stunning. Of course, the costume is incredible, but allowing her to channel those Egyptian roots gives it something truly special.
“May is fantastic. Because she’s newer to the business, she’s a breath of fresh air. Mohammed was very specific about her look. She is an Egyptian Palestinian, living in America. But he wanted to not have this exotic perception of Egypt that we always see. It’s an unfair representation. For her hair, we just made her hair bigger and more natural. I’m very proud that we are part of something that celebrates that and she’s a great lady to work with.”
Moon Knight season one is now available to watch in its entirety on Disney+.
NEXT: 50+ Of The Best & Most Bonkers Marvel’s Moon Knight Quotes
About Moon Knight
The series follows Steven Grant, a mild-mannered gift-shop employee, who becomes plagued with blackouts and memories of another life. Steven discovers he has dissociative identity disorder and shares a body with mercenary Marc Spector. As Steven/Marc’s enemies converge upon them, they must navigate their complex identities while thrust into a deadly mystery among the powerful gods of Egypt.
“Moon Knight” stars Oscar Isaac, Ethan Hawke and May Calamawy. Mohamed Diab and the team of Justin Benson & Aaron Moorhead directed the episodes. Jeremy Slater is the head writer, and Kevin Feige, Louis D’Esposito, Victoria Alonso, Brad Winderbaum, Mohamed Diab, Jeremy Slater and Oscar Isaac are the executive producers. Grant Curtis, Trevor Waterson and Rebecca Kirsch serve as co-executive producers.
Moon Knight is streaming exclusively on Disney+ now.
