Pierre-Olivier Persin, special make-up effects designer, ‘The Substance’

0:12Hello and welcome to the Monaco Weekly. The Substance has undoubtedly been the surprise of this year's awards season. The gory body horror satire was nominated for five BAFTAs and five Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Director for Coralie Farge, and Best Actress for Demi Moore. The Substance was also nominated for Best Makeup and Hairstyling, after the incredible transformation of the main character portrayed by Moore. And yes, many, many gallons of blood are included. I had the pleasure to speak with the lead special makeup effects designer, Pierre-Olivier Persin, about his work.

1:01People always ask for something new. It's inevitable. At 50, well, it stops. Pierre-Olivier Persin from The Substance. Welcome to Monaco Radio. I loved The Substance. But I have to start with this because we've just got the news. You've been nominated for an Oscar for Best Makeup and Hairstyling. Where were you when you saw the nominations coming out? I was on set. as yeah that's the place to be when you receive an oscar nomination i was on set i was dragging a dummy around you know a dead body i would expect this from you you know yeah and so yeah i was on set and the first ad came to me and she asked me did you hear anything about the Oscars?

1:58And I said, yes, I have a nomination. And she said, oh no, I have to make an announcement. So she did in front of the whole crew and everybody laughed and that was great. And I'm so happy because, you know, for everyone that I've seen the film, of course, the acting is amazing. Coralie, what a fantastic director. But, you know, that side of it, the prosthetics, the makeup, her styling, everything, it's so important for this film. Was it perhaps one of the hardest projects from your career? I know you've been in this role for quite a while. Was that one of the most challenging ones? Definitely, yeah.

2:34For sure. That was the most challenging, demanding. It's always demanding. We love what we are doing. We are passionate about the work. So we always try to do our very best. On that show, we were making stuff and then we were starting over again to do them better and starting over again, you know, back to the drawing board. And also, Coali really wanted to use as many practical effects as possible, which was great. She wanted really that organic, even old school from the 80s, but feel, but also very organic and feel to the audience. So I guess that's why she wanted really to rely on practical effects.

3:18And that was really great on her side to give us. I mean, it was really demanding. it was 24 hours I mean 24 hours a day 7 days a week for pretty much a year and it's yeah I don't know if it's an overstatement it's pretty close from the truth but they gave us all the time we needed on set they were never rushing us like oh quick you need time to do that you need to shoot that in a couple of days maybe because you can make it better and it does not work perfectly yet go and do it and come back in two days no problem so that is really rare and that was awesome I love what you just mentioned about the organic feel of the of the film because I've noticed that as well and I think it's particularly challenging on the substance because the film there are a lot of close-ups I mean you really see what's happening with their bodies I mean you can't hide it if you haven't done a great job yeah people would notice right so I think you understood because some films, perhaps they're a little bit darker.

4:23Maybe you can't really see what's going on. It's not the case of the substance. No, that's a very good point. I remember many things happened in the bathroom. Most of the most complicated scenes, effects and makeup effects, and they happened in the bathroom. So I remember during prep asking Koali about the lightning in the bathroom, some shadows and some typical horror movies kind of lightning to help with the practical side of it and she said yeah yeah sure and then you know we arrived on set and i discovered the the harsh very harsh lights and the white tiles you know on the walls reflecting all the light and everything I knew about the tight close-ups but so wow but I guess yeah like you said it really helps to be sucked into the craziness and the organic craziness of the story and the movies and to prepare for example Demi Moore and Margaret Qualey for the you know all the prosthetics that must take quite a while that must be quite a big part of their day how many hours for example on a normal kind of day in the set they would take, especially Demi Moore, I would say.

5:42Yeah, yeah. Demi had anything between 45 minutes to 6 hours, 6, 7 hours, maybe for the longest, longest. The usual day would be 3.30 to 5 hours of makeup. The Substance.

6:09I'm Sue.

6:16You're hired. Let's go.

6:22That's incredible. I wonder what she was doing during the make-up. I mean, maybe it's time to meditate while you become like a monster or something. She was really great because some actors, and I can understand, you have to sit still for four hours with people poking at your face and you know using glues and it's not nice like going to the dentist all over your face for four hours and then you have to to act and to work for for eight hours so it's a lot to do and to ask she was she was the best friend you can have in a makeup chair from a professional point of view really she was with us and she was really looking at everything we were doing and it was yeah she was getting into character always nice in a nice mood but yeah she was she was not uh scrolling on her mobile for four hours and you know preventing you from doing a good job she was she was not at all she was not that at all she was just a great i have nothing but a good thing she was a trooper and she was nice person with us She was really great.

7:29A real professional there. What about Monstro Elisa Su, of course? What a fantastic creation and incredibly original. Was that perhaps the one that you took the longest to make? Because I'm sure Koh Ali gave you some directions of what you wanted with it. And then you had to create that magnificent creature. Yes, that took the longest. The design of Monstro was the hardest on the show. it was really important. The character was really important to Coralie. Everything was important for her, but Monstruo, yeah, she was, yeah, it was very important for her that it was kind of original, but at the same time, that all the tragedy and the emotion go through the makeup and the character.

8:19So she was not only a monster, but she was like a very human monster, a tragic monster. And sympathetic as well, you know? Yes. Oh, yes, yes, exactly. Yeah. And I guess I wonder if the character, I guess if she's not the happiest at that precise moment. I'm a mix of everything and I am still me. You know, I feel good. I feel good in my new body. I don't know. I wonder if she's, you know, she's surprised that people are rejecting her. but yeah we did everything from digital sculpting to traditional sculpting to photoshop to sometimes I was sculpting Kohali was sitting next to me for an hour or two at the workshop I was sculpting we're taking pictures photoshopping them a little bit and then I was finishing the sculpt sending pictures to her the next day and moving on and that was quite a process.

9:14A question about your work and Corralis as well. Do you feel, especially on a film like this, the use of prosthetics, that organic feel, do you bring kind of a French sensibility to it as well? You know, because it's true, some people say that some Hollywood films, perhaps there's too many like digital video effects and even the audiences, they can notice a little bit. How is it, do you think is this a French touch or perhaps is just unique to you in a way? No, nothing is unique to me. I mean, maybe apart myself, but maybe if we have a French touch, that would be that we are used to work on auteur movies.

10:00I did my share of auteur cinema. And so auteur cinema, you have a harsh lightning. and you know it's a tragedy in a kitchen with a harsh lightning and that's it and you you have to do prosthetics yeah under those conditions and um and so maybe my training in a way I still work from time to time on all-term movies I love them and um maybe I'm used to that I've done more I've worked on more older movies than on horror movies in a way, I guess. So I guess that was my training. That's fantastic. And finally, Pierre, where is Monstro Elisa Su now? Is she there in your studio? Are you keeping there safe and quiet?

10:48Bits of her, yes. Yeah, yeah. Maybe the legs are missing, but I have pretty much all the rest of her body. Maybe she'll have to join you in Los Angeles later. Yeah, maybe she should travel with us. I'm fine. Everything's fine. You have to... Cut! Throw! Your! Sound! Hold! Fat! Fucking!

11:30People are gonna love that.

11:38That was Pierre-Olivier Persin from The Substance, and the film is out now. The show was edited by Flynn Simons, and I am Fernando Gusto Pacheco.