Meet the leading Icelandic makeup artist behind Don’t Worry Darling’s retro glam looks

“Once you work with Quentin Tarantino….” says Icelandic makeup artist Heba Thorisdottir on why her IMDB page is particularly star-studded. There’s her work on Kill Bill (plus all subsequent Tarantino films), Bridesmaids, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, the more recent Spider-Man blockbusters and most other Marvel movies. She’s tended to the faces of Cate Blanchett, Scarlett Johansson, and Natalie Portman on numerous film projects.

Yet, according to the Hollywood veteran, she’s never experienced anything quite like working as the lead makeup artist on Olivia Wilde’s Don’t Worry Darling. To hear her tell it, there were daily obstacles, an unusual on-set culture, and often the inability to see a way forward. Like the film itself, the project featured a jolting plot twist.

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No, she’s not referring to the controversy and gossip that has surrounded the cast. She’s talking about a much more challenging professional hurdle: masks and period makeup. You see, the film was one of the first major motion pictures that was shot at the height of the pandemic, in summer 2020, when layers of medical-grade PPE were mandated. “And I wear glasses so it was foggy all the time,” she remembers. “Thank goodness for MAC and Stila,” she says. “They don’t come off every time you remove a face covering to begin filming a scene or between takes. The last thing [the actors] want is us constantly taking them out of the moment to do touch-ups. We try on films not to break people’s concentration.”

Thorisdottir would know. She has been living and working in Los Angeles for decades now, starting out in music videos (such as Berlin’s 1986 hit 'Take My Breath Away', the Top Gun theme song), before deciding to pursue larger scale film projects once her two children were more grown.

After the two worked together on Once Upon a Time In Hollywood, Oscar-nominated costume designer Arianne Phillips referred Thorisdottir to Wilde for Don’t Worry Darling. It was the makeup artist’s first time working on a feature film with a female director. “That was super exciting,” she says on what drew her to the project. “And it was fun, because you can talk makeup and colours. She knows brands and what I'm referring to, which is awesome. She was extremely well prepared. Look-wise, she and Arianne had put together all the boards and they were ready to fly – I built my makeup from there. Olivia's very organised as a director, and I think probably in her own life too.”

Thorisdottir also maintains that Wilde was extremely present and involved in the process, despite rumours that she may have been distracted on-set by a budding romance with her leading male actor Harry Styles.

There have been multiple other rumours too, involving the film’s lead actress Florence Pugh, whose makeup Thorisdottir did throughout the film. The film has also been the subject of conspiracy theories and text-message leaks suggesting coworker discord. And that's not to mention people poring over footage from the Venice Film Festival trying to work out whether Harry Styles spat on co-star Chris Pine. “I've never really experienced anything like this,” says Thorisdottir of the social media firestorm that has surrounded the film. “It’s crazy how the internet takes over. What do you do when people try to destroy your work before it’s even out?”

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In the end, such efforts were futile. In fact, they might have even helped with audience intrigue, with the film opening at number one at the US box office. “I was really happy for everybody. Because we all worked super hard. Flo was just phenomenal in the film. It was a joy watching her,” says Thorisdottir, who handled the English actress’ retro glam as Alice, a cunning late '50s housewife. “Her look was inspired by early Brigitte Bardot, from her hair and makeup to her costumes,” says Thorisdottir.

Pitch black cat eyes were essential for both Pugh and her fellow female castmates, with Thorisdottir relying on Mac’s Brushstoke for finework, and Diorshow On-Stage felt tip liner for the thicker liner in evening scenes. For lip colours that could withstand masks and some smooch scenes between Pugh and Styles, Thorisdottir relied on Mac Retro Matte, Smashbox, and Stila. To remove it from Pugh’s pout and erase kiss marks from Styles, she used Lip Lūffa, a miniature exfoliating sponge she swears by. “Oh yeah, we went through a lot of those,” she laughs.

To achieve Styles’ immaculate complexion as Push’s ambitious husband Jack, Thorisdottir used Armani Luminous Silk foundation. “It's mineral makeup, so it goes on really flat and smooth on the skin. We wanted him to look like a candle, basically.” One of her assistants also had the daily hour-long task of applying full-coverage body makeup to conceal his many tattoos. And without spoiling the film, it’s worth seeing just for the third act, where due to Team Thorisdottir’s movie magic, Styles appears like we’ve never seen him before: unattractive. Let’s just say it’s truly remarkable. “It was Olivia’s idea. We brainstormed,” reveals Thorisdottir. “He loved it and really got into it. Otherwise we couldn't have done it, if he wasn't not receptive to it.”

As for Wilde’s own transformation when she was in front of the camera as Bunny, a fellow housewife with a secretive backstory, Thoridottir says it was all about amplifying her assets. “She has the perfect 1950s face, we just exaggerated it. We made her eyebrows a little bit more pointed and had her eyeliner go a little too far and too perfect.” Often the biggest challenge was finding time on-set to ready Wilde, who was busy handling directing duties. “On the days she was acting, it was definitely tough on her,” says Thorisdottir. “We’d start with her skin, then during a break we’d do her eyes, and thankfully she wore a wig she could just pop on. We would do her lips right before she would step into a scene.”

From Thorisdottir's perspective, the on-set experience was positive, collaborative, and supportive. “These are strange times we’re in now,” she says. “There wasn't drama. I have a really good relationship with Olivia and with Flo and if anything happened between them, that was between them. Nobody else was involved in it. There was no screaming on-set or anything like that.”

And what does she make of the cliched media and societal narratives that often place powerhouse females in opposition to one another? “I think it's just really sad. I feel like in American society, women are built to compete against each other. From dating, to cheerleading, to beauty pageants – there's all sorts of competitions where they're pitting women against women. We don't have that in Iceland.”

Here are the tried-and-true (and trailer-worthy) products she relies upon:

Arcona Triad Pads
“It’s a local California company that's been around for a long time. I’ve been using their products for 30 years on myself and at work.”

111 Skin Depuffing Eye Mask
“In the morning, I put these on actors while they get their hair done.”

Sóley Græðir Healing Balm
“It’s Icelandic and full of wild herbs. I cannot go on any job without it. On Captain Marvel, I was going through so many jars for the cast. If you break out or have any irritation, it's amazing.”

Le Mieux Essence Moisturizer
“I love that their products are paraben free and work on everyone. And they have an oxygen machine that's really amazing.”

The Organic Pharmacy Antioxidant Jelly Cleanser
“I always want the actors to come into the trailer at the end of the day to clean the skin off because then I know that they won’t go home and go to sleep in it and shower off in the morning. This gel cleanser will remove all the makeup as well.”