Transforming Viola Davis into ‘First Lady’ called for research
HAIR stylist Louisa Anthony “did a lot of Google searches” to get to grips with how to “recreate” the 58-yearold wife of former US president Barack Obama’s hair with “accuracy” on the 56-year-old actress.
Anthony told Harper’s Bazaar: “The scene where Viola is at a photo shoot with the now historic blackand-white dress – Ms V embodied Michelle”, adding “research was key to accuracy.”
She added: “I did a lot of Google searches to study the hairstyles of Michelle Obama over her eight years in the White House. Each style has its own identity, and it was important to recreate the styles with accuracy.”
Jamika Wilson, the How to Get Away With Murder star’s personal hairstylist, who collaborated with the Black Panther hair stylist on-set of the Showtime series, agreed that their needed “precise measure and attention to detail”.
She said: “Michelle Obama had many iconic hairstyles over her eight years in office, each with its own identity.
“The hairstyles were curated and created specifically to her, and as such, re-creating them had to be done with precise measure and attention to detail”.
The anthology series also brings to life two other US presidents’ wives: Eleanor Roosevelt, played by Gillian Anderson, and Betty Ford, played by Michelle Pfeiffer.
Valli O’Reilly, Obama’s personal make-up artist, was tasked with turning the 63-year-old actress into Betty, the wife of president Gerald Ford.
“Betty Ford was not a woman who wore a lot of make-up. She did wear some, and it was always subtle. She always looked put together in public in a classic way. Most women in those years never left the house without lipstick and their hair done.”
| Bang Showbiz