To say there’s a lot going on in Sorry to Bother You would be an understatement. The movie is fast-paced and forward-thinking, overflowing with looks that flash by. It’s a whirlwind, and though Boots Riley’s film clearly gets across its dystopian message, the makeup lover in me wanted to spend about two more hours staring at the beauty looks makeup designer Kirsten Coleman dreamed up for Detroit (Tessa Thompson), a performance artist and telemarketer alongside her on-screen boyfriend, Cassius Green (Lakeith Stanfield).
Especially considering that there are tons of Easter eggs packed into the film, heading back in for a second or third viewing would get the job done. But in lieu of that, unpacking the dimensions of Detroit’s beauty choices with Coleman was a more than welcome alternative, and one that adds another layer onto Thompson’s character. For those who haven’t seen the movie and clicked here out of pure fan love for Thompson, Detroit is a heroine unlike most we see onscreen. As the movie’s costume designer, Deirdra Govan, told Glamour, Detroit’s a self-made woman, and it feels revolutionary to see a female character express so clearly that she lives by no one’s rules other than her own. In her makeup, that means hot pink brow highlighter and golden lipstick, to name a few of her stand-out moments. As a character, she’s a moral counterpoint to Green’s shifting values; as a woman, she’s an example of opting out of society’s beauty norms, standing up for her outlook in all things, and making larger-than-life creativity look achievable in the day-to-day.
Glamour: What was the inspiration for Detroit’s makeup?
Kirsten Coleman: It was based around her character being Afropunk. It’s a really edgy, progressive style of wearing fashion and makeup by doing things you wouldn’t normally do. Putting eyeliner on your lips, or putting stickers or pieces of jewelry on parts of your face where they wouldn’t normally be applied. It’s a very artistic approach to makeup that I’ve always found very inspiring.
PHOTO: Pete Lee / Annapurna Pictures
Glamour: Why did you think that was a good fit for Detroit?
KC: She’s super independent, wild-spirited and wild-hearted. She’s very political, and she uses her entire body as a statement. Her clothing, her makeup, her hair—everything is a message. She doesn’t look at herself as a stereotypical form of a woman. She doesn’t use her body to be beautiful, she uses it as a statement. I respect that, because I think that everyone needs to be a little bit like her, and reshape how women are viewed in society. She doesn’t look at expressing herself the same way normal society would view women, and makeup, and beauty. It was all about re-approaching makeup and using things differently just ’cause. It might not even be super pretty, it’s just different.
Glamour: To me it was almost about disobedience, and breaking free of the norms of what you’re supposed to do.
KC: There’s rebellion there for sure, absolutely. And I think that was her thing—she had earrings that were penises covered in diamonds, you know? She was all about pushing the limits and making sure people noticed what she was trying to say. I appreciated her fierce fearlessness. She just wakes up, throws something on, paints something on her face, puts a bindi on and goes out the door. She’s constantly on the go, and she’ll change her makeup throughout the day. There’s a scene [where] they’re at a bar and she’s putting stickers on her hand as they’re talking. She’s constantly vibing on her look, because she’s constantly changing as well.
She knows what she wants. She’s very direct and honest, and she’s not passive, which is what this culture [teaches women] to be. I think that’s changing. I do hope people see this and look at Detroit, and go, ‘That’s the kind of the archetype I want to reflect, because she’s a strong woman and she doesn’t take any shit.’ I want people to look at this as a way of approaching life differently, and being risk takers. In general, just being a female in this lifetime, I think it’s good for women to have these different archetypes that are breaking out of the mold of women being expected to look a certain way. Women for thousands of years have been controlled by men, and that needs to stop.
PHOTO: Annapurna Pictures
Glamour: It seems like the idea of layers and special meaning was really important to the character. Blending all those influences must have been a challenge, especially drawing on other cultures with the bindi. How did you toe that line? Detroit is fearless, but appropriation is such an issue these days.
KC: What I like about Detroit and her approach with these things is that it’s like reassessing and reusing the things that we usually look at these cultures with. With the bindis, we had put bindis on her hands, on her nails, she’d have a bindi. There were these cool pieces on her hands, and I think it’s her way of re-approaching it. It goes back to how cultures look at beauty, how they express themselves. I think it’s a way of re-celebrating things in a new light. I think that was her mission. It’s not about misusing a culture’s influence, but it’s about recreating, re-exciting, re-celebrating it in a new way. If anything, someone would look at her and go, oh that’s different, look at that. Or, that’s kind of strange, and maybe does confuse me or frustrate me. But it’s not caring about what somebody thinks, and that’s always been her purpose.
Glamour: In terms of seeing things in a new light, the movie takes plausible ideas about things that are happening, like working conditions, and unionizing for wealth redistribution, and takes them to the next level. How did that translate through in the beauty choices?
KC: I think it’s a wake up call for people, that everything this movie expresses is just an accentuated version of what we live with everyday. It’s not far away. You can get caught up in all the glam, and money, all the things the world thinks that we need, but those aren’t the things that we need. It’s insane where we are politically as a culture, as America right now. It is a satire, and it’s sort of shoved in your face what the world really is. This film reminds me of The Handmaid’s Tale, which is another show that makes you think, “this could happen and it’s not that far off.”
I hope in general, it breaks the mold of expectations with makeup and how people look. Go home and be a little more experimental and take more risks, that’s definitely a message. I hope any woman who sees this film goes, “Hey, I can do that, and it doesn’t matter how old I am or what I do.” Be willing to take risks with yourself; be willing to push your own limits. Pushing yourself out of your comfort zone will absolutely be a case of learning and experience, and that’s the only way you grow as a person.
PHOTO: Peter Prato / Annapurna Pictures
Glamour: Lastly, we couldn’t discuss Detroit’s makeup and not talk products. Which ones were essential to her look?
KC: I used a lot of Make Up For Ever artistry palettes and foundation; plus a bunch of LimeCrime lipstick, which they have in all these different wild colors. We also relied heavily on Glossier. I used its Boy Brow on Tessa. Even in her most nude moments, her brows were always thick and defined and dark, even if she had blond hair with different colors in it. I also used Anastasia Beverly Hills powder sometimes to begin her brow a little bit. She wore a lot of the Generation G lipstick in Leo—it’s her favorite color. When her eyes were more intense I’d keep her lips pretty natural.
And then I was a frequent at Michael’s craft supply store for stickers, jewelry, flowers, and feathers. Things that have different textures, like glitters, shimmers, and foil—anything to just put on her that would be different. I really liked using a lot of these millennial brands, which are a little more simple, girl-on-the-go makeup. I felt like that reflected Detroit.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
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