GIVING CREDIT
Saluting the behind-the-scenes talent making movie magic.
Diana Estrada Hudson is a make-up artist for film and television. She’s worked on Bridgerton while her upcoming credits include The Witcher: Blood Origin and Wonka.
“I breathe and live hair and make-up and wigs,” she says. “It’s in my blood. I absolutely adore it, and I never get tired of it.”
How would you describe your role in simple terms?
I do hair, wigs, make-up, everything. In the States, you do hair or makeup. But in the UK, you need to be what’s called an all-rounder.
How did you get into it all?
I grew up in Los Angeles. As a child of immigrants, it never occurred to me that creativity could be a career. I went to university in San Francisco, where I was pre-law. As luck would have it, I was working for an events company [while at uni] and my supervisor was an MC at San Francisco’s most historic drag revue. He invited me to come watch the show, and I was just flabbergasted by how amazing these men looked. They let me hang around backstage, and wash their wigs. I was hooked. So I dropped out of school and got a job at a make-up counter, and I freelanced for various cosmetic companies. And then I met a woman who turned out, at the time, to be Sharon Stone’s personal make-up artist. She said, “Listen, kid, you’ve got to be in LA or New York. It’s not happening in San Francisco.” So I literally hopped on a bus, and went to LA, and just started working.
What is the biggest misconception about your job?
That it’s “so glamorous”. I almost want to shake people. Or that it’s easy to get into. One of my pet peeve questions is: “What celebrities have you worked with?” It’s not celebrities. They’re humans. We’re all artists. And also, the beauty about this business is, you never know. Someone you worked with 20 years ago could be a huge star today. And I’ve seen that happen quite a lot.
What’s been your most memorable moment so far?
When I worked on Bridgerton,I absolutely loved the transformation of a short-haired woman to a countess. And I was doing a Guy Ritchie film earlier this year, and I loved turning all these wonderful Spanish men into Taliban, laying on beards. At the moment I’m working with Loulia Shepherd and Louise Young. These legends have created an environment that’s so inspiring and so safe and so magical, that I’m constantly learning and pushing myself to do better.
What’s the best thing about your job?
I always tell people that what we do is 20 per cent artistry, 10 per cent chemistry, and the rest is psychology. We spend long hours with people. You spend more hours with your co-workers and artists than you do with your own family. You form a camaraderie. We’re full of secrets! There’s so much that we’re not allowed to talk about – for security, for professionalism, and also just for downright human reasons. There’s a real trust that goes on between you and the artist sitting in your make-up chair. And I do have to say, we might not work the best hours, but in my experience, we have the most fun.
And the worst thing about your job?
We work long hours, people get tired, people get hungry. I always try to lead with kindness. When I’m putting on rollers: “I hope I’m not burning you. Do you have any allergies?” I’m very much a mom in the make-up room. But the worst part is probably when a contract ends. You miss everyone. You work so close, you become a family.
If someone wants to get into hair and make-up, what should they do?
Everyone’s route is different. Some people go to make-up school. Many people go the route I did, which was working retail – if you can work with normal people, you can put make-up on anybody. I would say: ask yourself why you want to do it? If it’s what your soul wants, then you’ll get it. But if you’re doing it for the ego, or because you want to work with celebrities, just don’t even bother, because it’s a very difficult industry – physically, mentally, emotionally.
‘There’s a real trust that goes on between you and the artist sitting in your make-up chair’