S26 - Ep 4 - 98th Oscars - Makeup and Hairstyling

Makeup and hairstyling are among the most visible crafts in filmmaking — shaping how an audience understands age, history, and identity before a word is spoken.

This week on Below the Line, Skid is joined by Yvonne De Patis-Kupka, Angela Nogaro, and Lynda Armstrong for an in-depth discussion of the nominees for Achievement in Makeup and Hairstyling at the 98th Academy Awards. Drawing on a wide range of experience across film and television, they examine how hair and makeup choices shape character, period, genre, and emotional tone — and how those choices are evaluated within a single, highly competitive Oscar category.

As with the rest of this year’s Oscar series, the conversation is available both as an audio podcast and as a full video episode on YouTube, giving listeners the option to watch the discussion or continue enjoying the show in its traditional audio format.

Our discussion ranges across:

• The contrast between large-scale prosthetic work and more restrained, character-driven approaches to makeup and hair
• How transformation functions differently across genres, from the mythic world of Frankenstein to the grounded period realism of Sinners
• The challenges of evaluating culturally specific styles, including the kabuki-influenced work in Kokuho
• When subtlety becomes the hardest achievement — and why “natural” work can be the most demanding
• The relationship between budget, resources, and creative problem-solving, particularly in films like The Ugly Stepsister
• How continuity, aging, and wear are tracked over time to support long-form storytelling
• The ongoing difficulty of judging hair, makeup, and prosthetics together within a single Oscar category
• What this year’s nominees reveal about the Academy’s evolving expectations for the craft

The conversation highlights makeup and hairstyling as disciplines defined by precision, restraint, and collaboration — crafts that help actors fully inhabit their roles while anchoring the world of the film.

🎧 Press play — or watch the full conversation on YouTube — and join us Below the Line as the 2026 Oscar series continues. For more, visit belowtheline.biz.