“I [always think of myself] as a prop man to the face,” says Hollywood’s leading hair and makeup artist, British-born Daniel Parker, whose impressive CV includes credits on Troy (2004), Zero Dark Thirty (2012) and TV series Chernobyl (2019). Parker’s most recent work, though, can be seen lighting up the small screen on the hit Netflix show The Queen’s Gambit.
Written and directed by Scott Frank, and based on the 1983 Walter Tevis novel of the same name, the series stars Anya Taylor-Joy as formidable chess prodigy, Beth Harmon. Set in the late 1950s and early 1960s, it’s a coming-of-age tale which sees Beth evolve from an orphan child to headstrong young woman, fighting to be seen in a male-dominated world of chess. And it is Parker’s exquisite yet subtle hair and beauty looks that help narrate this journey.
There’s Beth’s clinical, utilitarian micro-fringe haircut to signify a stripping of identity as she first joins the orphanage, which eventually softens into a side-parted bob of cascading curls as she matures into an elegant young woman. Then there’s the perfectly powdered face, neatly lined eyes, and bold red lip, which smudges and smears as she falls into the grip of alcohol and drug addiction.
We caught up with Parker to find out more about his creative process, the importance of authenticity and why he chose to make The Queen’s Gambit’s Beth a redhead.
Source: vogue.com
