‘Hacks’ Knows Good Comedy Looks Effortless — and So Does Its Makeup Design
Makeup design doesn’t always mean prosthetics or extremes — that’s why the Emmy Awards smartly single out contemporary makeup design as its own category. But too often, those more immediately arresting designs are the ones that get all the attention. Not anymore. Join IndieWire in celebrating the makeup artists creating subtle, character-specific work for contemporary shows.
“Hacks” is a show of contrasts, and that tells in the makeup design, too. Part of the joy of the three-season sparring match between Vegas standup stalwart Deborah Vance (Jean Smart) and L.A. comedy writer Ava Daniels (Hannah Einbinder) is how different they are. Their makeup reflects this. Deborah requires a base level of glam before she considers herself fully dressed, while Ava, representing smart girls everywhere who grew up post-Title IX, actively repels the idea of cultivating a look. At least initially.
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One of the things that makeup department head Debora Schrey is proudest of with Season 3 is getting to push Ava a little bit more as she experiences success. “We’re trying to get her just a touch edgier,” Schrey told IndieWire. “[In earlier seasons], she didn’t have any makeup on. So we give her a lip now or just a pop of color.”
Those vivid color hits in the makeup serve as visual cues that Ava is stepping up — or has internalized something from Deborah. The two leads of “Hacks” have very different styles, but now that they both have styles, how their makeup looks often says a lot about how Deborah and Ava feel in regard to each other in any given episode. Schrey enjoyed putting together several moments in upcoming episodes where Ava adds a more dramatic color or a particularly strong visual match between her makeup and costume. They’re moments where Ava gets to truly be on even footing with Deborah.
These adjustments exist, however, on a pretty subtle spectrum. Much of the makeup work on “Hacks” is creating looks that don’t call attention to themselves. In fact, Schrey told IndieWire that a lot of effort goes into “covering tattoos on guys, since they’re all so groomed. You’d never know that they have them.” And a lot of effort goes into finding looks for Einbender that work without requiring a ton of product.
“It’s easy when people put on makeup, and you see they have makeup. You’re trying not to have [Ava] have makeup on or to look like it,” Schrey said. “That’s one of the hardest makeups on the show.”
The nice thing, according to Schrey, is there’s a lot of support around what makeup gets to say about the characters on “Hacks” and it happens in a very “Hacks” way: a group text thread between the hair, makeup, and costume department heads as well as and the show’s co-creators, Jen Statsky, Paul W. Downs, and Lucia Aniello. “We call them the JPLs,” Schrey said. “And so when [an actor is] out of our chair, we shoot a photo so everybody can see what we’re doing, and if someone doesn’t like anything, we’ll pull it back or add to it. And so everybody feeds off of everybody.”
It’s kind of like comedy — which is perhaps why the makeup of “Hacks” does such a great job of heightening the essential dynamic that makes the show funny.
“Hacks” premieres new episodes Thursdays on Max.
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