Alien: Earth

Costumes, Hair, and Makeup

Costume, hair and makeup design are crucial in bringing the world of Alien: Earth to life and serve as powerful tools to help tell the stories of each of the characters.Costume Designer Suttirat “Anne” Larlarb attests, “I have a very heady approach to costumes. Of course there’s the visual element, of course there are the aesthetics, but to me, it has to come from somewhere else because it’s an extension of character behavior.”Providing an example, Head of Department Hair Sanna Kaarina Seppanen adds, “With Wendy’s hair, we wanted to bring up something youthful. I gave her that very blunt short bob with some really razor cut curls to give it a bit of wildness and a bit of texture so that it has a youthfulness about it.”Seppanen continues, “Boy Kavalier – he was a really fun one to design. I saw this guy walking down the street with one of those Japanese, perfectly precise haircuts, and I thought that’s a great inspiration for Boy Kavalier. It’s a really expensive haircut in this wild mop of curls, so it’s actually a very technical haircut under there.”

In a world comprised of influential corporations and different units and positions within those corporations, costumes also play an important part in guiding the audience through the characters’ roles. Larlarb notes, “It couldn’t just be a matter of an insignia – I really wanted the audience to understand that there were many roles involved. In a world that’s described mostly by uniforms, it’s really necessary to be able to understand what those uniforms’ roles mean.”In addition to the characters, the unique climate and environment of Alien: Earth are accentuated by costumes, hair and makeup design. “I designed all these aspects of their costumes, which are meant to service a life outdoors in a hot, humid place,” Larlarb remarks. “There are things that you probably will never see on the screen that we built into the costumes. There’s a lot of ventilation in them. There’s actually a water system so that you can keep hydrating – there’s a pocket in the back for a camelback watering system. You see on the top of their uniform – there’s a little spigot that we can actually pull out. It’s not just random cargo pockets; it’s all derived from the kind of survival you would need.”

Head of Department Makeup Connie Lynn Parker adds, “The scenes that we were shooting outdoors were hot and sweaty scenes, so it was okay if they were really hot and sweaty – that was all part of the scene. Even shooting in the studios, we’re making them sweaty because the studios are air conditioned, but we want them looking sweaty – we were adding sweat to them.”“It’s a case of extremes in Bangkok,” Seppanen recalls. “It’s extremely cold in air conditioning and extremely hot out on the streets. Lots of mopping up soaking wet hair, trying to keep the actors cool, blow drying them – it’s an enormous task – constantly chasing them around in the sun and the heat.”While an enormous task, the costumes, hair and makeup departments seamlessly worked together in service of the story and fruitfully brought the most out of each of the characters.&nbsp;

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Costume, hair and makeup design are crucial in bringing the world of Alien: Earth to life and serve as powerful tools to help tell the stories of each of the characters.

Costumes, Hair, and Makeup | FX's Alien: Earth