Lee Grimes: special effects makeup artist

Makeup Artist Lee Grimes

By J. Jekyll
July 2009
Goremaster.com

Mr. Grimes started his career as far away from Los Angeles as you can get. He is from a small Florida town. He found a way to pursue his dreams of becoming a Hollywood makeup artist when Hollywood came to him! Learn more about his journey into the incredible world of film and makeup effects.

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GM: When did you make your decision to enter the field?

LG: By the age of 5 (mid 1960s)I knew I wanted to be either a stuntman, actor, prop man or Special effects Makeup Artist. It was a ritual in our house to watch the Wizard of Oz every year when it would air in October on network television. I think it was this movie that really took me away to a world of make believe and the great power Makeup can have in Films. Those Monkeys really scared the daylights out of me. It was not until much later in life that I pursued a career in film and television as I was a kid living in a small town ‘Winter Garden’ just outside of Orlando, Florida. As fate would have it Hollywood came to me when in the mid to late 80s Universal Studios and Disney’s MGM studios built back lots and soundstages just minutes from my house, had it not be for this I probably would have never acted on my dream to work in the industry as a special effects makeup artist. Still, however at this point I never thought I would actually be able to work on a television show let alone a movie because I was just a kid from Winter Garden, a town in which now has been the back drop for alot of Film & Television I’ve worked on over the years including, ‘Monster’, ‘SuperBoy’, ‘SeaQuest’, ‘Sidney White’, ‘Ace Ventura Jr.’, ‘Kermit’s Swamp Years’ and more. So its really bizarre filming these movies in the little town my dreams were born in.

GM: What or who inspired you to start? Who was your influence?

LG: Again the Wizard of Oz was an early inspiration and then, my mom bought me this book in the early 70s ‘How to make a Monster’ by Dick Smith. I would read this book cover to cover and do these makeup’s as crude as they were. Luckily in nearby Orlando, Fl. there was a Magic store that also carried a supply of stage type makeup, waxes, bloods, and bald caps. Before I had any actual stage type makeup I would simply use my moms eyebrow pencil and draw mustaches and sideburn and was fascinated with the transformations I could achieve with just a brow pencil. From that point on you could always find me in front of a mirror changing my appearance. Later on in the mid 70s I remember my parents talking of, and all the hype around, this movie called ‘The Exorcist’ although I was too young to see it and was scared to death about what I might have seen, I was aware of the great makeup achievements by Dick Smith. I do recall seeing his work in other movies of the time such as ‘Little Big Man’ and then some of Rick Baker’s early work in ‘The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman’. Finally when is saw the gory side of Makeup effects in ‘Dawn of the Dead’ in theaters in the late 70s I was hooked and learned of yet another early makeup hero Tom Savini.

GM: Favorite early special effects memory, movie scene, book, TV show?

LG: In the mid 1960s I went with my older brothers to see the classic ‘The Hunchback of Notre Dame’ in a local theater, I remember having to hide my face because it was to scary, I was crying, I was so afraid of this monster, then, in 1971 when I was 10yrs old I went to a movie again with my brothers to see ‘Four Fly’s on Grey Velvet’ it was unknown to me at the time this film was a classic of Dario Argento’s. There where several beheadings in the film and knowing that they were fake really intrigued my interest in special effect makeup. In 1978 I went to a film in the theaters called ‘Dawn of the Dead’ and it was that first on-screen bite, a zombie takes out of this girls neck ripping it open leaving a huge missing chunk of flesh in the opening sequence that I told myself, yes, this is what I want to do for a living.

GM: What are your top five special effects movies?

LG: Dawn of the Dead (the Original), The Exorcist, Evil Dead, An American Werewolf in London, The Wizard of Oz

GM: What is your favorite special effects scene from a movie? (it doesn’t have to be from one of your movies)

Dawn of the Dead, The opening sequence were you see the first victim get there neck/shoulder get bitten out with the tendons and muscles exposed!

GM: Who is your favorite special effects person?

Cant really name one… several come to mind but I must say the earlier ones are my favs, Dick Smith, Rick Baker, Tom Savini, Greg Nicotero, Ve Neill, Ken Diaz, Matthew Mungle and so many more.

GM: How did you get started working in the Special Effects industry?

LG: By the age of 24 I started learning how to make prosthetics from Lee Baygan’s book ‘The art of 3 Dimentional Makeup’. I did a life cast on myself, not an easy task, and started sculpting and making molds, running foamed latex prosthetics and doing the makeups on my own face, the first prosthetic was an old age makeup. My wife at the time and my family thought I was crazy, absolute nuts. After a year of doing this just for my own pleasure I met a makeup artist, Rick Gonzales, who had worked on ‘Day of the Dead’, he was giving a one day seminar on sfx makeup here in Orlando at a small makeup shop I used to by my supplies from, it was that same Magic and Makeup store I would frequent as a child, I showed him pictures of my work from the prosthetics I had done on myself and he called me a few weeks later to see if I would assist him on an episode of ‘The New Leave It To Beaver’ series, that was the first thing ever shot on the new soundstages at Universal Orlando, we did a Werewolf transformation, I was hooked when I walked into the makeup room and saw Eddie Haskell, Wally, the Beave, Lumpy and June all sitting there getting there makeup done, I had to pinch myself, I had made it. That first small job led to the next and so on until I was able to start getting jobs on my own. 21 years later I still remember those early days struggling and never giving up, this was the career I had dreamt of all my life. I feel very fortunate and don’t take any of it for granted.

GM: Whose current work do you admire?

LG: Ve Neill, Ken Diaz, and so many others. Really anyone and everyone that’s out there in the trenches doing makeup whether its spfx, glam, beauty or body painting. As long as its there passion and they are enjoying it, I admire them. People on the outside have no idea what it takes to make a film, it sound exciting and sometimes is but the hours are brutal.

GM: How have you gotten work in the industry?

LG: What I realized early on was that in order to go from show to show I needed to know everything about makeup including beauty makeup, I must say that nowadays I get most of my work by being able and being known for doing both special makeup effects and beauty makeup, when you think about it every script is going to have a beautiful girl, a guy and the random gun shot wound, blood or bruise, so the more you know about your craft the more work you will get. To me a true makeup artist should be able to do a great beauty makeup and in the same day apply a prosthetic, or lay a beard. For example a film ‘Sorority Row’ I did coming out in Sept 09 had a cast of 6 beautiful girls, most of them end up dying horrible deaths, I’m sure I would not have been able to Department Head that show had I only knew special effects makeup, and after awhile you become known from working with different producers, directors, & actors. Starting out, that is the hardest, not giving up, eating, drinking and sleeping makeup. It truly has to flow through your veins. I won’t say luck hasn’t helped me like being at the right place at the right time but most of all persistence and of course talent. I think you can be trained to DO makeup but you can’t be trained to be an artist, it’s just either in you or its not. It’s easy to draw a straight line, but it takes an artist to draw a crooked line.

GM: What was your toughest job?

LG: The TV series ‘Motal Kombat Conquest’. I was the department head and also in charge of all the prosthetics, so it was most difficult to do all the daily character makeups, stay on top of the weekly scripts, sculpt all the prosthetics, make the molds, run the foam, I did have assistants but when it all falls in your lap you have to make sure everything looks great. I remember days on that show when we would wrap at around 7pm, I would drive home exhausted, run a batch of foam. Throw it in the oven, set my alarm for midnight to turn the oven off, wake up at 530am, take the still warm mold to work and open it in the makeup room and pray that I had a good run, that is flying by the wire. We shot 32 episodes, about one episode every 6 to 7 days, so this went on for quite awhile. Television is very hard, that’s why I prefer film and that’s what I mainly do is film. Film is much more rewarding in the end. One of my favorite sayings in the industry is “Film is Art, Theater is Life & Television is Furniture.”

GM: What was your favorite job?

LG: Working on the Film ‘Monster’ has got to be the most memorable, my dear friend Toni G. did Charlize Theron’s makeup and I did Christina Ricci’s and the rest of the cast. The performances given on this movie were truly amazing to watch, I mean to stand right there and watch as Charlize spilled her heart in front of the cameras is an experience I will never forget. The rape scene and the last kill are the ones that really touched the whole crew, all we could do is just stand there in disbelief of what was going on before us. I was glad to see Charlize win the Oscar for this role and felt Toni G. should have gotten a nomination for her amazing work.

GM: How do you pick out materials to use for a project? Do you make your own? Are there any brands that you recommend?

LG: I really like the relatively new product 3rd Degree. I was first introduced to it while working along many other makeup artists on ‘Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest’. I rarely make my own prosthetics anymore because I’m typically keying the show so time doesn’t permit and if I can spread some work around to others I’m glad to, because it always comes back twofold. PPI makes a great palette called ‘Skin Illustrator’ its really good for making bruises, tattoos, or covering tattoos, they are widely used in the industry, I would say that is something you should have in your kit.

GM: Are there any new breakthroughs or ideas in the industry that excite you?

LG: Well of course all the new silicone type prosthetic appliances are great to work with compared to the old foamed latex. I’ve recently used a wide range of them for the last several movies I’ve worked on. They are intrinsically colored so once you glue them on and burn the edges down there’s not much coloring to do which saves a lot of time and effort.

Lee Grimes

GM: What is a current project you are working on? Or what project are you excited about?

LG: The last few I’ve worked on that come out this summer 2009 are ‘SHELTER’ (Makeup Dept. Head), ‘SORORITY ROW’ (Makeup Dept. Head), ‘FINAL DESTINATION 4’ (Key Makeup for reshoots and additional scenes), ‘ZOMBIELAND’ (Special Makeup Effects Crew) I’m always excited about projects I’ve worked on when they come out, its quite a thrill to see them in the theater for the first time or go to the premier. It’s also very scary because you want everything to look perfect. I get so nervous when I see them for the first time, it’s a feeling you can’t really explain.

Lee Grimes and The Girls of Sorority Row

GM: Do you have advice for a beginner or someone just getting started in the business?

LG: Be patient, be prepared, know everything there is to know about your craft. Success comes in small doses at first and you certainly don’t want to get over your head before you know what’s going on. There’s a whole rhythm a makeup artist has to feel while filming, knowing when and when not to go in for touchups, knowing what and what not to say, the makeup artist is really more than just an artist to the actors you work with you become a confidant, a therapist, a friend, its similar to what a golf caddy would be to a golfer. All this takes time to learn because there’s not really a manual for that part of the job. It beats working for a living so have fun, be proud. And remember you are not ‘just’ a makeup artist.

GM: What was the best advice/training you ever received?

LG: My best training was probably watching and learning form other artists, asking questions, they are usually more than happy to share there knowledge or at least there war stories. And remember it’s a VERY small world in the industry so word gets around fast whether its good or bad so stay in good light. A great attitude will go far. After working on more than 60 Film & Television shows over the last 20yrs I still work with some of the same people as when I started, whether I’m the Bahamas, Pittsburgh, Los Angeles, Miami or Atlanta. Again it’s a small world so you’re only as good as your last job. So you better be ready when you step out into the spotlight, that’s where the patients come in, wait until you feel comfortable with what you’re doing, be the best.

GM: How do you envision the future of makeup SFX? (do you think CGI is hurting the industry?)

LG: CGI is certainly taking away from a lot of the big effects houses but I feel there will always be a need for eyeliner some blood and a little powder. In the long run the makeup artist will survive.

Learn More about Lee Grimes Work:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MbdY3_vLc2k Sorority Row Trailer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M-cIjPOJdFM ZombieLand Trailer

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-v4osKSQrrk Final Destination 4 Trailer

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0342218/ Lee Grimes, IMDB Credits

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