You don’t become a star with the wave of a magic wand. Before Hollywood’s awards shows climax with next week’s Oscars, an army of make-up artists and coiffeurs work for weeks to perfect what you see on the red carpet. Sabrina Bedrani is one of these magic fairies.
The French woman first made her name in the fashion industry working with top photographers such as Peter Lindbergh. She then moved to Los Angeles, where she rapidly became one of the most sought-after make-up artists in Hollywood, with clients including Julianne Moore, Heidi Klum and Felicity Jones.
She is the one who has looked after Jones’s face since the young British actress was nominated for an Oscar for playing astrophysicist Stephen Hawking’s wife Jane in The Theory of Everything.
“An Oscars campaign is a long haul, like for a presidential election,” said Bedrani, who follows Jones everywhere she goes, once she arrives in Los Angeles.
The promotion of The Theory of Everything began with its Toronto International Film Festival premiere in September, followed by its release in the United States in October and the ongoing awards season, including the Golden Globes last month and right up to the Oscars on February 22.
“Because Felicity doesn’t live in Los Angeles, each time she comes her diary is jam-packed. She goes from public meetings to magazine photo-shoots to interviews and gala soirées,” Bedrani says.
And between each event, Bedrani performs her magic to keep Jones looking like a princess. “If it’s a morning television show, she needs a more relaxed look and more natural make-up... If it’s the Oscars’ Governors Ball then it’s the Hollywood glamour look, [with] lots of rouge,” she adds. “You build a relationship of trust. You have to have the same point of view,” says Bedrani, who prefers light make-up in general.
Before a huge event such as the Oscars, the styling team gets together with the star involved. “Everything starts with what she’s wearing. You can do the make-up light, or you could opt for a standout lipstick, [such as] orange, [which is] more modern,” Bedrani explains. Sometimes, when the celebrity is travelling, or in a rush, the team meeting can involve simply “an exchange of photos, or sketches by email”.
On the day itself, final preparations are usually made in the star’s hotel, two or three hours before the event.
“For the red carpet, I usually use more powder, because the make-up has to last. In LA it can get very hot, and with traffic jams you can take two hours to arrive,” says Bedrani. Before sending them off, she gives her client special “papers” to absorb any shine, as well as “a powder compact and a lipstick so that she can do her own touch-ups”.
The celebrities themselves are usually feeling a mix of “excitement and a little stress, because they know they’re going to have their photo taken, and have it dissected. Not all of them are relaxed in front of photographers,” says Bedrani.
As for hair, Arnaud Ozharun, who styles stars such as Michelle Monaghan, is totally against extensions. “I really can’t stand that,” he says. He recalled once being hired to help the True Detective team do Monaghan’s hair via Skype, on set in Louisiana.
Even with 50 years of experience, Ozharun says he sometimes doesn’t sleep the night before a big event.
For the Golden Globes, where Monaghan was nominated, the actress was nervous.
“She felt I had cut her hair too short. And then the next day, she sent me a message saying she was very happy,” he said.
