Makeup artist Ve Neill has produced some of the most creative makeupsin the last 20 years. She is a unique talent in the craft of filmmakeup, equally top of her game in special effects prosthetic makeupand in designing unique character and beauty makeups.She has a special connection with actors, often working with the samethespians over and over, like star of Pirates Johnny Depp. Shetransforms these A-listers into iconic film characters: Robin Williamsinto Mrs. Doubtfire, Martin Landau into Bela Lugosi in Ed Wood, andMichael Keaton in Beetle Juice. She won Academy Awards in the craft ofmakeup for each of those films.Neill is generous in her praise of peer Joel Harlow’s work on Piratesin making Bootstrap Bill come to life—a character whose bleached-outskin is covered with barnacles, courtesy of appliances and pieces madeby Neill’s own traveling laboratory, on site.”The Bootstrap Bill makeups were sculpted and molded in Los Angeles butthe appliances were all run at the location in the portable lab,” saidNeill.”We did a test makeup from one of the drawings [director] Gore[Verbinski] had artist Crash McCreery sketch of one of the cannibalsand from there Joel and I designed all the other cannibals makeups.Gore also had Crash supply us with the designs for all the stages ofBootstrap Bill. The final stage was altered slightly so that it couldactually be done as a makeup.””I designed the green mossed camouflaged makeup on the cannibal who washidden in the tree that captured Orlando [Bloom]. Joel and RichardSnell did the wonderful skeleton cannibal makeup. I also had fun doingthe crazy eyeball and bug makeup Johnny wore for the Cannibal scene.”Most of the teeth for all the background actors and many of theprincipals were made on site as well, along with all the scars andsores we used on a daily basis. The trinkets used for the cannibalsmakeups were accumulated during prep by either my team or myself duringa trip I took to Africa earlier in the year.”Neill says she is most proud of the collaborative effort of all thePirate makeup. “The whole film is a triumph for any makeup crew, and Iam equally proud of the whole picture. I believe it is impossible topick one thing [as a favorite] as it is the entirety that makes it sogreat.”Neill is currently working on the last Pirates installment, Pirates ofthe Caribbean: At World’s End, which is presently wrapping principalphotography.2004: Nominated, Oscar, Best Makeup, Pirates of the Caribbean: TheCurse of the Black Pearl; Won, BAFTA Film Award, Best Make Up/Hair,Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl; Won, HollywoodMakeup Artist and Hair Stylist Guild Awards, Best Period Makeup –Feature, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl;Nominated, Hollywood Makeup Artist and Hair Stylist Guild Awards, BestCharacter Makeup – Feature, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of theBlack Pearl; Nominated, Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy &Horror Films’ Saturn Award Best Make Up, Pirates of the Caribbean: TheCurse of the Black Pearl. 2000: Nominated, Academy of Science Fiction,Fantasy & Horror Films’ Saturn Award Best Make Up, Galaxy Quest.1998: Nominated, Emmy, Outstanding Makeup for a Miniseries, Movie or aSpecial, From the Earth to the Moon; Nominated, Academy of ScienceFiction, Fantasy & Horror Films’ Saturn Award Best Make Up, Batman& Robin. 1997: Won, Emmy, Outstanding Makeup for a Miniseries or aSpecial, The Shining. 1996: Nominated, BAFTA Film Award, Best MakeUp/Hair, Ed Wood; Nominated, Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy &Horror Films’ Saturn Award Best Make Up, Batman Forever. 1995: Won,Oscar, Best Makeup, Ed Wood; Nominated, BAFTA Film Award, Best MakeUp/Hair Mrs. Doubtfire; Nominated, Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy& Horror Films’ Saturn Award Best Make Up, Interview with theVampire: The Vampire Chronicles. 1994: Won, Oscar, Best Makeup, Mrs.Doubtfire. 1993: Nominated, Oscar, Best Makeup, Batman Returns;Nominated, Oscar, Best Makeup, Hoffa; Nominated, BAFTA Film Awards,Best Makeup Artist, Batman Returns; Won, Academy of Science Fiction,Fantasy & Horror Films’ Saturn Award Best Make Up, Batman Returns.1992: Nominated, BAFTA Film Award, Best Make Up Artist, EdwardScissorhands. 1991: Nominated, Oscar, Best Makeup, Edward Scissorhands.1990: Won, Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films’Saturn Award Best Make Up, Beetle Juice. 1989: Won, Oscar, Best Makeupfor Beetle Juice; Nominated, BAFTA Film Award, Best Make Up Artist,Beetle Juice. 1988: Nominated, Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy& Horror Films’ Saturn Award Best Make Up, The Lost Boys. 1980:Nominated, Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films’Saturn Award Best Make Up, Star Trek: The Motion Picture.
Written by April MacIntyre
