“Wicked” Beauty Interview: Behind-the-Scenes Look

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Executing the whimsical hair and makeup for “Wicked” is no easy task. The long-awaited film is an adaptation of the iconic musical and features the star-studded cast of Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Michelle Yeoh, Jonathan Bailey, and more. Fans’ expectations are palpably high — but that’s where Frances Hannon comes in.

The hair, makeup, and prosthetics designer worked meticulously with a trusted team of artists, costume designer Paul Tazewell, production designer Nathan Crowley, and director Jon M. Chu, to build the wonderful land of Oz. Previously the hair and makeup brains behind “The Grand Budapest Hotel” and Marvel’s “Eternals,” Hannon sat down with PS to reveal how the stars of “Wicked” transformed into cherished characters. Read on to learn everything before the film drops on November 22.

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Frances Hannon is the hair, makeup, and prosthetics designer for “Wicked.” She’s previously worked on projects like “The Grand Budapest Hotel” and Marvel’s “Eternals.”

Cynthia Erivo’s Elphaba

Getting Elphaba’s instantly recognizable green shade just right was monumental. Cynthia Erivo’s face and body makeup had to do two things: first, look as real as possible, and second, translate on the big screen. “On film, you’ve got big closeups, so it has to be beautiful, refined, and work well,” Hannon tells PS. “The biggest starting challenge was to find the perfect green for Cynthia’s skin tone and to make that green work in every different light. [It] was the biggest problem; in one scene, Cynthia might move through five or six different lighting setups, and she has to stay beautiful and green.”

This process started long before Erivo arrived in the U.K. to film. Hannon and her team used models with skin tones similar to Erivo’s and mixed whatever they could to yield the precise green shade they wanted. “It was difficult because it looked green in one light, but it went gray in another light or blue in another light,” Hannon says. “I discovered that [the right] product was neon-based, which we didn’t have in this country; it was Canadian.”

Hannon enlisted the help of makeup manufacturer David Stoneman, who is known for creating custom makeup for films. Stoneman took the neon mix Hannon discovered and tried his varieties to craft a bespoke green that worked perfectly on Erivo in every light. With that major formula cracked, the focus turned to fine-tuning.

Hannon reports Erivo was an incredible collaborator, suggesting tiny details to make Elphaba her own. “Cynthia might come in and say, ‘I feel like the lip liner should be stronger today’ or ‘My lips should be softer, my eyes stronger.’ All of that is part of your process with the artists as they develop their characters,” says Hannon. ‘So as much as you lay down a plan, your plan is very fluid to bring in everything that they feel every day they perform. You move with them.”

Since they began with a green base, Elphaba’s contouring was achieved with purple hues. Hannon mixed and matched various shades to define the eyes and lips. Hannon wanted to add freckles made from templates that easily transferred the freckle patterns onto green skin. She also harnessed templates for Elphaba’s brow looks, with hundreds created so that they had a new set for every day of filming.

For Elphaba’s hair, Erivo wore wigs, which were braided into micro braids and then styled into one large braid, a nod to the Broadway show the movie is based on, for most of the film. Hannon drew references from across the world and history for the micro braids. She aimed to strike the ideal balance of keeping the hair neat and away from Erivo’s face when performing, while also allowing it to be part of Elphaba’s story. “We gave her much lighter hair when she was younger and shorter, and then we developed that hair into darker, stronger, and longer as her life progressed,” Hannon says.

Erivo’s firm conviction that Elphaba has long nails invariably made the character her own. “It was very much something Cynthia brought to the table very early on,” Hannon says. “She wanted to keep her nails.”

Hannon characterizes the nails as a “lovely thread” that ties Elphaba’s story arc. When we meet Elphaba as a child and follow her journey through Wiz University through meeting the wizard, Hannon says her lengthening nails symbolize Elphaba’s growing strength. “When you see the film, you’ll agree that it was something she really used within her performance,” Hannon says. “It [makes] Cynthia’s Elphaba distinctive and is a lovely addition to her character.”

Ariana Grande’s Glinda

Ariana Grande’s passion for the character of Glinda is well-documented, and that devotion is a significant component of this movie’s lore. To portray the character Grande has always revered, trusting Hannon and her team came naturally. “She was an open book and just said, ‘I want to immerse myself in this,'” says Hannon.

Grande’s makeup utilized her own beauty brand, R.E.M. Beauty, to create iridescent looks with a soft, reflective sheen that contrasts with Erivo’s bold green while keeping Grande looking magical and princess-like. Hannon gives a special shout-out to R.E.M. Interstellar Highlight Topper in Miss Mercury ($25), which Grande would add to the top of her nose as a final touch to her overall look. “It was a lovely little addition to keeping those tiny details of the reflective quality in her ethereal look,” Hannon says.

While Grande dyed her hair blond for the film, Hannon says they still harnessed a wig to produce depth. They opted for a warmer blond for Glinda’s time at Shiz, and a longer, paler blond as she grows up. “It wasn’t overdressed or put in a high updo that is too removed from everyday life. [Making her hair relatable], that’s the important thing.”

And perhaps the biggest surprise for Grande fans: there’s no signature high ponytail in sight. Everyone prioritized keeping her hair moving and flowing like the dresses Glinda wears. “We didn’t want to make that structured, and the rest from her neck down flowing,” Hannon says. “And she has those wonderful scenes where she does ‘the toss, toss,’ which you’ve yet to enjoy.”

Jonathan Bailey’s Fiyero

For Jonathan Bailey, who plays Fiyero, Hannon wove in splices of blond hair throughout his wig to match the gold in his costume. “He had beautiful uniforms with big brass buttons that Paul [Tazewell, the film’s costume designer] had designed for him, and I took the gold of the buttons and put it into his hair,” she says. Without spoiling too much, she mentions that this blond is consistent as Fiyero grows and changes to keep a little piece of him constant throughout.

Michelle Yeoh’s Madame Morrible

Michelle Yeoh portrays Madame Morrible, the headmistress and high witch of Shiz University, who can control the weather. To match her magical abilities, Hannon opted for pure white wigs and enlisted the help of wig maker Samuel James to concoct them. “Michelle’s [hair] was lovely,” Hannon says. “Her costumes are spectacular with high collars, so we worked with that. She had to have height, width, and extravagance.”

Jeff Goldblum’s The Wizard

Embodying the omnipresent Wizard, Jeff Goldblum donned a silver toupee with a lot of height and width to impart the same extravagant feel of Yeoh’s wig. Wigs were preferred over styling Goldblum’s and other cast members’ natural hair because of all the movement each role required: “When you’re dancing and singing, your own hair and head gets very hot and flat very quickly,” Hannon says. “And you can’t take an artist off set to give them a wash and blow dry every time that happens.” So beyond looking fabulous, these voluminous and full wigs bore a practical function: “The extravagance was needed.”

If reading the behind-the-scenes scoop has you stoked to see the magical transformations of your favorite stars, Hannon offers this advice before watching the movie: bring tissues. “A large box,” she says. “I cried several times.”

Audrey Noble is a beauty writer who covers breaking news, writes celebrity profiles, and does deep-dive features about the ways race, gender, sexuality, and other forms of identity impact society via the beauty industry. Previously, she was the beauty reporter at Allure and has held editorial positions at Vanity Fair and Refinery29. Audrey’s work can also be seen in PS, Vogue, Harper’s BAZAAR, Bustle, InStyle, WWD, and more