AN EVENING WITH... COLLEEN QUINTON

Colleen, in "Arrival" you worked under the direction of Denis Villeneuve on a film where atmosphere is key. How did you design makeup that was almost imperceptible yet managed to convey the emotional weight and exhaustion of the characters?

- Colleen: On Arrival, working with Denis Villeneuve meant fully embracing subtlety - he wanted everything to feel grounded, intimate, and emotionally real. The makeup design followed that same philosophy: if the audience noticed it, it was already too much. 

I think that as we were going through the film, the goal was to reflect a psychological fatigue rather than create obvious “tired” makeup, so we focused on micro-details that could help tell the story. 

Sheer layers to let natural skin show through, slight unevenness that helped sell realism  using very muted colors to match the film’s cool, atmospheric palette. Colors were muted down on lips and cheeks to suggest slightly drained energy and subtle shading under the eyes suggested lack of sleep. Nothing was too “drawn on” or obvious. The actors told the story here with the Director, and the makeup really was  just a backdrop to help tell the story. Collaborating with the Director of Photography and watching closely what kind of lightening atmosphere they are creating is really important here as it really helps you define the world that these people live in and helps to give you a total overall color palette for the show.

This was definitely a case of “less is more” and in the end it was more about stripping things back until what stays supports the performance without every distracting from it.

In contrast, "Transformers: Rise of the Beasts" is a massive-scale blockbuster. How is a makeup department organized so that the look of the human actors maintains visual coherence against the franchise's impressive digital effects?

- Colleen: On a film like Transformers, the challenge flips completely from something like Arrival. Instead of invisibility you have to design characters within a highly controlled effects-heavy visual world. Every human face has to sit beside large scale CGI characters and explosive elements. It was really actually a little confusing to me at first as I read the script as I had never seen a Transformers movie before so I had to go back and watch at least three of them to see how the actors interacted with the Transformers. As a makeup designer you definitely have to look at the VFX element that is going on in a project like this and try to make it look like the actors are actually there with the Transformers.

The CGI world is interesting for makeup departments and definitely for actors as we are all working with things we cannot see. They will be added in later on in the post production but while we are shooting, they exist…invisibly… so what you are adding to the actors in terms of dirt, sweat, grime or blood must coordinate with the world the actors are in and how the Transformer is interacting with them. Eventually as I started to understand that world, I  treated the Transformer like another character in the show and created looks that followed the story line of what was happening to the actors.

Working on a project that relies heavily on VFX is always interesting in that we share closely with the VFX teams. Photos, notes and often 3D references are shared between the two departments and often we will use tracker dots on actors faces so that they can do face replacements in certain scenes and accurately enhance or replicate practical makeup digitally if needed. In addition you would be looking at the Previs action scenes which are animated and sort of like storyboards which helps you visual where the actors and the Transformers are in the scenes and what the action would be on the shooting day.

For this project we worked in Montreal and in Peru, primarily in Machu Picchu  and then up  in the Inca city of Cusco and also in the Amazon rainforest. These locations presented their particular challenges such as working in sweltering humidity in the jungle or battling altitude sickness while up in the mountains but its all part of the process and experience and seasoned film crews are very used to working through conditions like that. We  were supported by a very large Peruvian makeup and hair team who were absolutely fantastic at their job.  It was a true honor to get to climb up Machu Picchu every day and work in a sacred place. 

You were Sigourney Weaver's personal makeup artist on "My Salinger Year". What is the process of collaborating with such an iconic actress when proposing a look that uniquely defines her character?

- Colleen: Working with someone like Sigourney Weaver is less about "imposing a look" and more about building one together from the inside out. She's deeply thoughtful about character, so the process always starts with conversation, as it does with most actors, not with makeup brushes.

First, we would probably sit down to talk about the character’s psychology, history, and environment. Sigourney brings a strong, intuitive understanding of who the person is, so I would probably ask her questions like: What does she care about? How much time does she spend on herself? What has this character been through, and what can we portray through makeup? Those questions guide everything from skin texture to how polished (or undone) the makeup needs to feel on any given project. Then we translate that into a visual language.

With Sigourney, it becomes a dialogue, and what's unique is how much of a role restraint often plays in the makeup applications. Sigourney doesn't need heavy transformation to be compelling in any role, and sometimes the ultimate choice is what you leave off, versus what you put on.

Sigourney is very present in the process, overseeing, but also trusting the team. If something changes emotionally in a scene, we would subtly adapt the makeup to support the arc, so the conversation about makeup is continuous throughout the project. It's always an honor to be in front of actors who have such presence and to help design the character's look that the actor is portraying.

On "Pawn Sacrifice", you worked closely with Tobey Maguire. How important is the time an actor spends in your makeup chair to fully "get into" character before filming begins?

- Colleen: The time in the makeup chair is often the first, and can be the last, uninterrupted moment of the day where the actor can fully arrive in character. The set is busy, schedules are always tight, but the makeup trailer needs to create a sort of controlled stillness where there is calm and actors can run lines, grab a coffee or tea and think about their day ahead and, essentially, be in a safe space. We try to keep the makeup room as quiet and pleasant as possible, especially for those early morning calls.

For someone like Tobey, who approaches roles with a great deal of internal focus, that quiet space in the morning allows him to settle into a role like Bobby Fischer in Pawn Sacrifice as we go through the makeup process.

The physical transformation, even when it's subtle as in this film, plays a psychological role from the moment an actor starts to see the character reflected, whether it's with a different skin tone, adding light and shadow to give the face a different shape, or also using colored lenses as we did in this film to change his iconic blue eyes to a dark green. These types of subtle character details and choices are what I like to call "subconscious makeup"... where changes are made to get closer to the character the actor is portraying, but are never actually seen by the audience.

So, basically, time itself is not just about duration, it’s also about intention. Twenty focused and grounded minutes can be more powerful than an hour of rushed work. When it’s done well, the actor doesn't leave the chair thinking about the makeup at all; they leave already halfway into the character. As you go through the makeup process with them, you can watch them really settle into the character while they're still sitting in the makeup chair. That's something I truly love to see happen during the process.

"My Salinger Year" by Philippe Falardeau /Sigourney Weaver ©Micro_Scope

"The Pillars of the Earth" is a benchmark of historical drama. How did you approach character makeup to make it feel authentic to the 12th century but visually appealing to contemporary viewers?

- Colleen: "Pillars of the Earth" is one of the most challenging but also one of the most beautiful projects I have ever worked on, as it is one of the most widely read and loved books ever published. The challenge for me was to honor the reality of the 12th century without creating a barrier for a modern audience and also trying to interpret, by reading the script and the book, what members of the audience who had read it might be expecting to see in the characters on screen.

The process began with deep research into medieval portraiture, religious iconography, and written accounts of what daily life would have been like at the time. Online research is important and valuable for doing these types of shows, but it is also interesting to look at books and even go to a museum to see paintings from that particular era.

Another challenge was that in this story we had about 15 characters who aged up to 30 years, so we had to create charts and timelines that we constantly referenced in the makeup room to keep everyone at their correct age. Being able to make people look younger, or older, by understanding morphology, how light and shadow work, and how a particular face moves, is essential to being able to create these characters at different ages. It was truly fascinating to look at the faces and add the details so that everyone looked like they lived in that era. Color plays a quiet but important role. Although the makeup was minimal, the undertones and details were adjusted to reflect diet, lifestyle, social status, and environment. These are details that the audience doesn't consciously notice, but they feel them.

Nobility would look different from, for example, workers or religious leaders of the time. I love working on every small detail in the makeups on these types of projects. The faces, nails, hands, and facial hair tell the story of who the character is. It takes immense collaboration with the costume department, director of photography, and hair department, as we all work together to achieve the same look for the character and for the project. The goal is to do the job and have the audience enter the world of the series without questioning it.

You've worked on high-impact series like "The Recruit" and "Jack Ryan". What is your strategy for maintaining aesthetic continuity and department quality during such long and dynamic international shoots?

- Colleen: On shows like "The Recruit" or "Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan", or any other television or film for that matter, continuity is not just a technical requirement: it's a storytelling discipline. These productions move fast, jump across timelines and locations, sometimes even countries, and are almost always shot out of sequence to how the audience views the series, so the strategy for maintaining looks and continuity, especially with injuries or special makeups, needs to be meticulous.

We build a continuity bible that we religiously follow every day and I’m a bit old school in that where even though everything is digital now and yes we do input all our looks into a digital system, I always have a paper call sheet and also a paper continuity breakdown that once I have read the script I input all my notes into the scenes by hand. When I arrive each morning I scan the scenes that are going to be shot for that day and check my notes to be sure that no one in the makeup department is missing anything. I also take the call sheet and input my continuity notes onto it so I can look ahead and know what is coming, so I am not surprised by anything or unprepared for anything.

Every character on any show has detailed visual documentation: photos, notes on products used, skincare, makeup charts, and we also usually keep their makeup bags intact with their cast number and makeup products stored inside so we don’t have to look for anything when that particular artist comes into the trailer.

Every makeup artist in the trailer must execute with the same eye and have the understanding of why a certain look exists. That way if something suddenly changes on set, the crew can adapt and react without breaking continuity.

One of the most important things to keep in mind when shooting a long TV series or a film is durability. These productions involve long days, physical scenes where the makeup is constantly changing, and readjustments where we would have to re-assemble everything in just a few minutes. Everything has to hold up under heat, sweat, sometimes freezing temperatures, and high-definition cameras, while still looking the way you want it to look. The makeup team will constantly be fighting the elements during production to keep the looks where they need to be.

"Chaos Walking" by Doug Liman / Mads Mikkelsen ©Lionsgate

Many young makeup artists aspire to be Department Heads. Based on your experience leading teams on projects like "Chaos Walking" or "The Walk", what is the most valuable leadership lesson you've learned?

- Colleen: Heading big movies like "Chaos Walking", "The Walk" or "Arrival" and really any other project has without a doubt taught me that the most valuable leadership lesson is that I am only as good as my team. The job is not necessarily to be the best artist in the room, but to create an environment in the makeup trailer and on set where the entire team can consistently do their best work under pressure and also feel that their input to the characters is valued and appreciated. I will always try to surround myself with the best possible team and also be open to the fact that every team member has something valuable to contribute. This way everyone can flourish and do their best work. Each person in the makeup department is an artist in their own right, so conversations and interpretation of the character with your team members are essential to the process.

A strong Department Head must interact with their team, their producers and directors, and of course, the actors. That always starts and ends with clarity: clear standards, clear communication, and clear expectations. When everyone understands the visual language of the project and their role in it, the work becomes fluid even on the most demanding days. People like to work in a good atmosphere and I really hate to see egos get in the way of that. People respond to trust. You can't do it alone, so investing time early in the project to get all makeup team members on the same page is essential. That way, when you delegate, you can truly let go and know that everyone is working with the same vision. When human beings feel ownership, the quality of work improves across the board. Teamwork makes the dream work, as they say.

You have worked with directors of very different styles, from the realism of "19-2" to Xavier Dolan's artistic vision in "Laurence Anyways". How does a makeup artist train their eye to adapt quickly to such opposing visions?

- Colleen: This really gets to the heart of what makes a strong makeup artist. Adapting between something grounded and naturalistic like "19-2" and the bold, stylized world of "Laurence Anyways" is less about changing skills and more about training perception and interpretation. It's important to read the director's language, as every director communicates visually, even when they're not using technical terms, which would be in the makeup world. Someone like Xavier Dolan might speak in terms of emotion, color, or symbolism, whereas a director on a TV series like 19-2 might emphasize authenticity and invisibility. It all truly starts with the script and the director's vision. Then we also incorporate the actors' visions. You train your eye by carefully listening and translating those abstract ideas into concrete choices on the face: skin textures, color palettes, and intensity.

Makeup artists build a visual library over time, whether from previous projects they’ve worked on, movies, photos, paintings, or fashion. For realism, you observe real skin under different lighting techniques, whereas for something more stylized, you might pull from art history, runway looks, or real-life stories. The more references you absorb in your career, the quicker you can shift gears and interpret the language of the project.

A gritty cop show like 19-2 often uses harsh or available practical lighting, so the makeup needs to be subtle and really almost non-existent, whereas on something like Laurence Anyways, the lighting and color are expressive and the makeup becomes part of the character’s storytelling.

Realism is about knowing when to stop. Stylization is about knowing how far you can push. Ultimately, this skill comes from doing the work across different projects and learning from each one. No two projects are ever the same and that is what keeps it interesting. Training your eye to adapt to different storylines is about becoming visually bilingual: you learn to speak both "invisible realism" and "heightened artistry" and switch between them depending on the story being told.

"The Last Frontier" by Jon Bokenkamp & Richard D´Ovidio / Jason Clarke ©AppleTV

After a successful career with current projects like The Last Frontier, what still excites you about this profession and what advice would you give to someone who is cleaning their first sponges today?

- Colleen: SI feel and have always felt that it is a privilege to be able to tell stories through the lens of makeup that millions of people can see and enjoy. Storytelling has probably been around as long as human beings have. I love history, I have always loved stories since I was a child and now I get to interpret stories, not through books but through makeup on screen. It has been a gift in my life to be able to do that.

I think what keeps it exciting is that every story is different, so you never truly "arrive" at mastering this craft and the learning never ends. Every face is different, every director sees the world differently, the subject matter of the story is always different and we tend to move locations very, very often, so where we work never gets boring. I have also had the pleasure of traveling the world with different projects and I love working with local crews. I learn something new every time!

Even after years of experience, we are still problem-solving in real-time – under pressure, under different lighting situations and mixed personalities and emotions. Being able to navigate all of this is key to success. I think, in fact, that kind of having to "think fast on your feet" is slightly addictive and keeps your brain and body moving all the time.

Being on projects like The Last Frontier brings its own specific challenges and narrative demands. We were dealing with extreme weather in the cold, so working hand-in-hand with the actors keeps them looking the way they should in those kinds of temperatures. Deciding where to put frost and snow to achieve a certain level of coldness is always interesting, as you can overdo it, but you have to make the audience believe they are freezing. There is always something to solve on any set and that keeps the work alive. It never becomes mechanical if you stay curious.

I think curiosity is key to being creative... what if we do this? What if we do that? Constant questioning of how to do it better or more realistically.

I think what really helps keep me in the business is not just being able to create different looks and be part of different stories, but also the human connection in the film and television industry. Being part of the actor's transformation to help them get into character quietly behind the scenes is incredibly meaningful. Developing camaraderie with team members is enriching and interesting and spending time with other crew members from different parts of the world is truly a gift, as you get to see that country in a truer light.

For someone just starting out, I would suggest trying to get onto a crew with a Head of Department, even if it's just working with background artists (extras) at first. This trains your hand and eye and allows you to learn set etiquette while being protected by your HOD. Consistency beats flashes of brilliance. If people know you are calm, prepared, and adaptable, you will keep working. Although sometimes the makeup artist working in the background might think the HOD isn't watching their work as we move around a set of possibly 25 extra makeup artists, believe me when I tell you we are.

We see everything... every makeup on set and how those individual makeup artists are working. Eventually, the hope would be that these makeup artists can move into the main makeup trailer and start working with day players or lead actors. In this business, fully learning the craft before taking on the role of Head of Department is paramount to your success... You are safer and it's better to slowly ascend to that position while learning from your Head of Department that you are working with.

You will receive feedback and it is important to integrate it. The makeup artists who will grow are those who listen, experiment, and adjust without taking it personally.

It's a high-pressure business and I always say, never forget it's called the film BUSINESS... conduct yourself as you would in any other business... on the surface it looks like a very social place, and it can be, but don't be fooled into thinking it's just that. It's deadly serious. I started my career doing anything I could... very low-budget productions, but I made sure to answer every call and get out there to practice my craft. There are no small projects. They are all a place to practice your approach and your makeup skills. Do your best to work your way up and it will come. As it came for me.

This is a creative and hands-on craft, and you get to do things with your hands and your eye that help tell a story. If you hold onto that, the excitement of making movies and television series never fades. For me, it deepens with the years to come.

My best wishes to everyone in your career.

"Tom Clancy´s Jack Ryan" by Carlton Cuse & Graham Roland / John Krasinski and Wendell Pierce Photo: Jan Thijs ©Potomac River Productions Inc

Talking to Colleen Quinton is much more than reviewing an enviable filmography; it's attending an open lecture on the sacred respect for cinema and the mystique of our craft. Her career reminds us that there are no small projects, but rather visions that expand through technical precision and human empathy. For new generations of artists, Colleen is the living example that true excellence is not found in artifice, but in the ability to become invisible to let the story breathe.

Thank you, Colleen, for your generosity in sharing your vision and for reminding us that each face is a map of emotions that only an artist with your sensitivity knows how to decipher.

Your legacy is a beacon of integrity for all who today choose to pick up a brush and dream of creating worlds that transcend the screen. It has been an honor to review your career, and we are eager to be captivated again by your mastery in 2026. 

We invite you to continue exploring Colleen's impeccable work on her projects through her social media Instagram and IMDb.

See you on the next shoot, Makeup Artist.