Following up any movie with a sequel is tricky, but living up to the status of the 1988 cult classic Eddie Murphy vehicle Coming to America is an especially fearsome task. The Hollywood Reporter’s Hilton Dresden facilitated a conversation among Stacey Morris, Mike Marino and Nancy Farmer, the Oscar-nominated hair and makeup team behind the new film Coming 2 America, in a THR Presents discussion, powered by Vision Media.
Each artist approached the new project, directed by Craig Brewer, with extreme reverence and admiration for the original film. “When I first saw the original, I was blown away,” said Farmer. “As the visuals were spectacular: to see the African American culture, and the African culture, portrayed in such a beautiful way. Later on, it became more special to me, because I worked under Robert Stevenson (head hairstylist on Coming to America), he’s one of my mentors.”
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Added Morris: “The original Coming to America had a real influence on the work that we did in this one, because I remember when I saw it, I was in high school, and it was just so — the feeling that it gave me, that’s the feeling that I wanted this film to give to others. It was just so empowering and bold and different and dynamic. And so, the approach was to exemplify the hair looks and tell a story.”
Marino was similarly moved by the original film, explaining how Coming to America “was an absolutely iconic, life-changing moment.” He added: “Eddie Murphy was at the beginnings of his superstardom. And I was young, I don’t even think I was 10 years old yet, when I saw the film,” and continued: “That was like a masterpiece, of the timing, of the directing, of Eddie’s career at the time, just the enthusiasm of the whole thing.”
Designing the hair and makeup for the sequel involved not only paying homage to the original film, but constructing looks for two entire fictional African kingdoms. Inspiration came from all over the world: “I’m a fan of the Afro-punk movement,” Farmer said. “I gleaned a lot from the images that I would see on websites, and books, and information on Instagram, also, of Afro-punk imagery, images, and that scene.” Morris added: “I looked up a bunch of different images and things that had a tribal aesthetic to them. And I found that Amasunzu style, which is what [Wesley Snipes is] wearing in it. It’s East African, specifically from Rwanda. There’s a tribe called the Tutsi tribe, that back in the 1920s, they would wear these styles in — and to date as well not as much — and so I took those styles and I created a look of my own, with that style, for Wesley.”
Marino offers his gratitude for the opportunity: “Working on films and filmmaking in itself is such a beautiful art form, and it inspires more people than we think. I feel that making films and being a creator behind the scenes is so important in the world. If everything was so utilitarian, and there was no fun and entertainment, and artwork, what is good in life. We’re lucky to be able to put together a beautifully artistic exploration of cultures and colors and shapes and just cool stuff and fun and acting.”
He was faced with the challenge of transforming Eddie Murphy and Arsenio Hall into several completely different characters of varying races and ages using prosthetics, which involved handling an intense amount of various delicate moving parts. “The interesting thing is, each day, we need a new set of prosthetics that have to be glued on every actor,” Marino explained. “So each makeup, I think it consists of something like 15 to 20 pieces per makeup. And when you’re dealing with multiple characters, you have preparation and boxes and things on delicate pieces, designed and engineered to be sitting on these little forms. When you open a box up that contains literally: Eddie as [the character of] Saul, Eddie as Randy Watson. So you take them off, you trim all the excess off, you clean them, you prepare them, and there’s so many boxes and so many things, so when you see a trailer that is loaded with empty boxes and stuff under the trailer, that’s my trailer.”
Other challenges posed to the team included working in the climate of Atlanta. Morris said: “It’s hot and humid. When you’re working with wigs, and Mike with prosthetics and things like that, you’re dealing with sweat, you’re dealing with humidity, dealing with heat, you’re dealing with all kinds of things. That was a challenge.” Farmer agreed it was difficult “working in a city that I’d never worked in and working with the crew I wasn’t familiar with, and I had to trust the process.”
At the end of the day, the whole team expressed immense gratitude for their involvement with the project. Speaking on the group’s collective Oscar nomination, Farmer offered: “I felt so honored. I was so happy that the images — especially because they were beautiful African American images of royalty and culture — that they were identified and appreciated by the Academy. That meant more to me than anything, that those particular images were celebrated and nominated. And, of course, with the amazing makeup that Mike did, it was just a combination of the right recipe at the right time. I feel so blessed to work among these two amazing artists, they are the best of the best. I just feel so honored to be a part of this trifecta.”
This edition of THR Presents was brought to you by Amazon.
