AN EVENING WITH... FAE HAMMOND

Fae, you defined the aesthetic of British crime cinema with "Snatch" and "Layer Cake". In "Snatch", the design included iconic tattoos and a very specific "street" texture. How did you work on the realism of these characters to make them feel authentic and dangerous, yet with that stylized touch that is so characteristic of the genre?

- Fae: How I loved working on these films, the energy, spontaneity, the pace. My team and I approached the look in the same way. I love watching people, sitting on the London Underground, east end pubs, greyhound racing. Texture, detail, blood sweat and tears.

I used a local tattooist to join us for Mr Pitt, the same on Gary Oldmans directorial first brilliant film "Nil by Mouth" we had no transfers then , our different drawing and writing hand helped create layers. I loved the honesty, the raw, building up details and texture, old scars, bad haircuts, smoke stained fingers, we tested bloods samples and used different colours to create realism.

In Layer Cake, Daniel Craig's look had to convey a different status, cleaners but equally tough. How did you use makeup and hair to mark social hierarchy within a crime narrative?

- Fae: Again love of realism, being an observer. Daniel Craig has difficult hair so a weekly haircut by a top hairdresser suggested by director Matthew Vaughn gave an edge, I added sideburns which created a suave assured presence, a light make up contrasted to the raw of other characters.

In "Life of Pi", the protagonist experiences an extreme physical odyssey. How did you plan the degradation of skin and hair due to sun exposure and saltwater to make the audience feel the passage of time and suffering organically in a film with such a heavy load of visual effects?

- Fae: What a journey for all departments, daily meetings for all HODs, we knew the day, the tide, the weather conditions, the light, we shot in sequence as Suraj weight loss crucial to the storyline. Suraj spent months learning to swim, the chlorine literally stripped his natural skin colour rather scarily! I had a blank canvas, we shot for many hours in heat, torrential water with 3D cameras, early rather scary screen tests revealed we couldn’t use any prosthetic pieces, bondos so all the scaring, texture and detail was hand painted, the face by the brilliant Robin Pritchard while a myself and a talented local Taiwanese trainee danced round the sleeping Suraj, spraying, painting in sync, airbrushing ribs to reiterate loss of body weight. The secret to the colour staying on in the water back then was trial and error, there was little else on the market, we tested every sealor possible, it was a real learning curve in such an intense conditions with the inspiring Ang Lee who was our spiritual leader. The only hair I could use was cut up acrylic wigs stitched into Suraj’s own, delicate lace had no hope of holding on in the gigantic wave machines, wind machines at storm levels, it was all rather hair raising!!!.

Airbase make up was our saving grace, I lost count of how much we used. Illustrator palettes the only way forward.

When designing for Fantastic Beasts, you had to bridge 1920s New York and the magical world. How do you manage such a massive department so that every extra and every protagonist maintains the historical and fantastical consistency required by J.K. Rowling's saga?

- Fae: The sets were enormous detailed and utterly fantastic likewise the costumes, so much to see, in the first film I felt we should take a slight back seat to create balance, it’s important to always remember the overall look, however tempting to do more. The second film gave us more of an opportunity to define the European style between Muggles and Witches, more stylised and defined.

"Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" by David Yates / Eddie Redmayne and Chris Wilson  Photo: Jaap Buitendijk/ ©Warner Bros Ratpac-Dune

"Pride and Prejudice" is praised for its naturalness. You decided to move away from rigid period hairstyles in search of something more "tousled" and real. How did you manage to convince people that this simplicity was the way to modernize a Jane Austen classic?

- Fae: What a glorious film, I felt so lucky to be involved, Joe Wright and I could not have been more on the same page both wanting to bring a freshness, a relatability, I had often felt distracted by perfect curls, the stiffness of hairspray. We didn’t use any make up at all except for continuity, eyebrows were grown out, cheeks pinched, flushed and natural rosy lips, the excitement of these young girls was so endearing, like the beautiful dresses and jackets the girls really lived in their country home happy and comfortable. The beautiful National trust and stunning private grand homes were very happy not to see a can of hair spray!.

"Stardust" is pure epic fantasy. What is the creative process for designing characters like the Witch Queen (Michelle Pfeiffer), where beauty must transform into decrepitude in a technically and visually striking way?

- Fae: Working with Mathew Vaughn again but only just ! I joined the film just days before shooting, I prepped as we shot, Michelle and her team were underway, beautifully designed hair and make up contrasting looks by Jeremy Woodhouse, hair by Carol Hemings.

I knew how Matthew worked but it was a mad rush to get everything up to speed, sometimes I feel results in these crazy situations often work better relying on instinct without overworking an idea, without brilliant wig makers and prosthetic crews it would be impossible, everyone as always pulled out all the stops, I’m forever grateful, again magic happens!.

In "Rush", the recreation of 1970s Formula 1 demanded absolute historical precision. How did you approach the design of Niki Lauda and James Hunt so that the makeup was not only a physical resemblance, but also conveyed the rivalry and tension of their personalities?

- Fae: I was a young woman in the late 70s, I could relate, James Hunt was our idol! Everyone had so much hair, there was no conditioner and make up lines so limited, my team so captured the essence and of course so much real footage to take reference from to re-create the spirit of 70s across the racing circuits of the globe. On a surprisingly low budget magic was created, the back ground to our two central characters so important, two very different men with a story to tell, the uptight contained Austrian Lauda, the bare footed floppy blonde heartthrob Hunt. Mark Coulier and team blew us away with extraordinarily prothetics which Ron Howard used to their full extent in many heart breaking painful moments. The best moment was when there was a knock on the trailer door and in walked the sparkling eyed real Niki, so handsome.

"Rush" by Matthew Vaughn / Daniel Brühl and Chris Hemsworth Photo: Jaap Buitendijk ©Universal Pictures

In "Buffalo Soldiers", the military and satirical atmosphere requires a very specific look. What logistical lesson did you take from this type of production that you later applied to more contemporary action projects like Kick-Ass?

- Fae: We shot the film on a real military base in Southern Germany that had not long been shut down it was eerie, I felt the atmosphere. We found ex military barbers who were still in the area then approached the large cast and crowd with military precision, no thrills, just get the job done. Also I was brought up in a military base so it all felt horribly familiar. We learnt all the names of the crazy hair cut, to capture the American feeling was so important, it’s such a particular vibe, a layer of late 80s thrown in!, also just remembered we had a crew member who was German plus crowd German team which all greatly helped the logistics.

You have gone through all roles to become a Designer. Looking back, how important do you consider on-set training, and why do you think a novice makeup artist should not try to skip the assistant or supervisor stages?

- Fae: Yes, I was so lucky to literally ‘climb the ladder’ ten years at the BBC, stepping stones, sometimes frustrating; however, I left to enter the freelance world with confidence and good overall knowledge of period and character, I could say yes -and mean it -to anything I was asked to do , this theory I then passed on to all who worked with me, my trainee, it was so important to me that even during retirement I have continued to mentor. A make up trailer, the crowd room can be sometimes be a very intimidating environment, our job has so many facets, I believe it’s a responsibility to teach, all of us have different skills, we need to share them, we all have our vulnerabilities, everyday there is something new to learn, all the team need to watch and listen, it’s not just hair and make up, it’s a real lifestyle, it’s very intense, months away together requires an unspoken love only to be learned by being in the thick of it, each stage brings so many rewards and it’s not worth missing any of them.

"Life of Pi" by And Lee / Suraj Sharma ©20th Fox Pictures

 Listening to Fae Hammond means reconecting with the very essence of British and global cinema. Her retirement has not diminished her lucidity, her sense of humor, or her love for detail; on the contrary, it has given her the perspective of someone who knows that success does not lie in the glamour of the red carpet, but in the truth created in a makeup trailer at five in the morning. She leaves us a legacy of characters that are now part of our collective memory and a fundamental lesson that we often forget: that true excellence is born from visual honesty and human respect for the actor who sits in our chair.

Throughout her career, we understand that although products change and technology tries to emulate reality, the art of understanding a face—with its shadows, its stories, and its texture—is eternal and irreplaceable. Fae Hammond not only designed looks; she designed the atmosphere of an era and paved the way for thousands of women and men who today see her name as a gold standard for aspiring artists.

Thank you, Fae, for gifting us so many worlds, for your generosity in recalling the craft with us, and for reminding us that, at the end of the day, our mission is to preserve truth in every frame. 

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Your shadow remains long and your influence lives on in every brushstroke of those of us seeking excellence in 2026. It has been an absolute honor to pay tribute to your career.

Continue exploring Fae's impeccable work on her projects via Imdb.
See you on the next set, Makeup Artist.