‘Hold Your Breath’ Makeup Artist Says Sarah Paulson Is A Baddie-Boss.

Actress Sarah Paulson has returned to her horror roots with this unsettling tale. Directed by Karrie Crouse and Will Joines, ‘Hold Your Breath’ sees Paulson play a mother, Margaret Bellum, during the dust bowl that ravaged Oklahoma in the 1930s. She cares for her two daughters Rose (Amiah Miller) and Ollie (Alona Jane Robbins) during the deadly windstorms while her husband is away at work. They could have joined him, but she wants to be close to where her third child is buried — a loss that she’s still recovering from to this day. However, things take a turn for the worse when the legend of The Grey Man is told and enters the family’s collective psyche: it’s a malevolent spirit that floats like dust in the wind; and once breathed in by a person, makes you do very terrible things.

As the story unfolds, Paulson’s character loses her grip on reality and the threads of her family and small community unravel very quickly. Paulson and directors Karrie Crouse and Will Joines sought out a SFX makeup artist who could showcase these emotional touch-points throughout the film. Jennifer ‘JQ’ Quinteros was perfect for the role due to her ability to support the visual narrative required to bring Margaret Bellum to life.

In my conversation with JQ, she sheds insight on what it was like to collaborate with Paulson and her thought processes as a SFX makeup artist while working on this film.

NOTE: Film spoilers ahead.

Can you delve into how you supported the visual storytelling through your SFX artistry?

JQ: Makeup and SFX makeup were a key part to the visual storytelling of this film — because subtlety was key — even when it’s graphic and right in front of your face.

One thing I made sure to constantly keep in the back of my mind when designing the SFX makeup, was the conversation I had with our Cinematographer, Zoe White, in pre-production. I asked her what the most important thing for me to know about this film was. She said it was close-ups. Zoe wanted to tell this story in a very intimate way, and she let me know she would be spending lots of time up close and personal with Margaret and her world.

With the help of Autonomous F/X, I was able to create and design pieces that would help me ensure we could be close and not run the risk of seeing anything that would make it look like makeup. Margaret is such an intentional character. Everything about her is thoughtful and meticulous.

For one key scene, we created a prosthetic for her hand to be sewn into, and we needed to ensure we had a pristine gag for that hand. Sarah helped by mimicking how she would be sewing. I sent that video info to the lab so we could put the protective plate under the exact spot needed to poke through the piece, without requiring Sarah to adjust too much for the makeup. As a result, she could just focus on being Margaret, instead of trying to make a gag work while also giving a credible performance (although we all know Sarah is capable of all of that and more).

Our Costume Designer, Colin Wilkes, helped by giving us the exact thread Margaret would be sewing the dress with so we could test it, even to see which blood color would look the most realistic on it if Zoe was going to be so close. Our props department helped us have the correct needles to sew with, and practice the gag with, to get approved by Karrie and Will. Everything was considered. And every SFX makeup Sarah came in contact with mattered. We are, after all, seeing this through more than Margaret’s gaze. So what she sees versus what’s real was where those subtle cues could be carried out. All of these makeup looks help us see what Margaret sees.

Jason Collins, Mike McCarty and their incredible team at Autonomous F/X helped build likeness silicone doubles of our actor’s bodies for Margaret to really be able to interact with. They had one of the best SFX painters in our industry, Rich Mayberry, creating all the details on these bodies, so they would be both realistic and true-to-life of our real actors.

What was the working dynamic like between yourself and Sarah? Did you spearhead the looks and transformations entirely yourself, or was it a collaborative endeavor between the two of you and/or any other team members?

JQ: One thing to know about Sarah Paulson is that that woman works her butt off. She is literally one of the most hardworking actors I have ever had the pleasure of working with. I knew I was going to need someone dedicated to being with her on set, even though I wanted to be that person, that wasn’t possible. Margaret is in almost every scene of this film.

This is where co-department head Sheila Trujillo came in. I had worked with Sheila, a local 480 makeup artist in New Mexico where this was filmed, before. So she was a name that naturally got thrown in when Searchlight asked who I wanted with me. Together, we met with Sarah via Zoom in pre-production, to really grasp how she saw Margaret. I had the best conversation with Sarah’s personal hairstylist, Michelle Ceglia, to see what her vision for Margaret was.

And, of course, we followed the lead of our incredible Costume Designer, Colin Wilkes, who had a very specific color palette for Margaret. I think doing all of that before meeting in-person set Sarah and I off on the right foot immediately. She never hesitated to make the time for me or the needs of a particular design for Margaret. There was so much to get designed and fabricated, and not much time to get it done.

Sarah met with me at Autonomous in LA to get life-casted for her makeup before we traveled to New Mexico. All this was absolutely integral for me to do my job well, and I don’t think this film, or this character, would be what they are if it weren’t for everything Sarah brought to the table. If you don’t work as hard as Sarah Paulson does, and show up with the level of drive she has, I’m not sure you should be standing in the same room or be on the same project. Period.

At the beginning of our conversation, you noted the power of subtly in horror films. Can you speak to this a bit more in terms of how you prepped Sarah?

JQ: I want you to track this throughout the film. Her exhaustion. Has Margaret slept or not? This is really important to the story. My favorite thing about my job is visual storytelling by tracking the body. We added very subtle cues to her eyes and skin tone, based on how much rest Margaret was getting. We wanted you to see her sleeplessness and grab on to those clues throughout the film. It helps the audience gain clarity of the reality of the situation, not necessarily Margaret’s reality. It helps the other characters in the film start to see whether she could be believed or not. Her own daughters, the two closest witnesses to Margaret’s most intimate moments, began to see their mother break down with these subtle makeup designs. This also helped Sarah track her own performance, and where Margaret’s mind might be at any given time.

Another is about the dust. This film is about the dust bowl of Oklahoma in the 1930’s. It is what sets the world our characters live in and suffer from. The entire crew worked so hard to make this really authentic. EVERYTHING had a layer of dust. Margaret was one of the best in town at keeping her home, family, and herself as dust-free as possible. As you watch the film, you can see if she’s healthy and sleeping, based on lack of dust. In fact, the dust was the hardest part about doing the makeup on the film. We had to paint everything so the colors could still be seen under layers of beige/gray dust. We learned very quickly how fake things look when covered in dust.

Do you have any final thoughts to share about working with Sarah and on this film?

JQ: Although I designed the makeup and SFX for this film, Sarah was the one who helped me flesh out Margaret. I left this project with the utmost respect for how Ms. Paulson rolls. What a baddie. What a boss.