Kazu Hiro is an expert at making famous people look like other famous people.
It’s a talent the prosthetic makeup and hair designer honed through decades of work in the film industry. Having started his career in special effects makeup and contributing his craft to various sci-fi/fantasy and comedy films, Hiro has largely focused on the biographical drama genre in his recent films.
Through “Darkest Hour,” “Bombshell” and “Maestro,” he has received three Oscar nominations and two wins for best makeup and hairstyling, making Gary Oldman Winston Churchill, Charlize Theron Megyn Kelly, and Bradley Cooper Leonard Bernstein. Now, as Dwayne Johnson steps into the ring for his own dramatic twist, Hiro uses his skills for a new challenge: transforming The Rock into MMA fighter Mark Kerr.
“It’s not just about makeup,” Hiro said. This philosophy drives his work as he tries to enhance the actors’ functions without obscuring their performances. Upon meeting Johnson, Hiro created a 3D model of the actor from a scan and life task. After making a 3D print, he began to develop two versions of Johnson’s makeup – one that made the star “as close to Mark Kerr as possible” and another, more subtle version that would “give the essence of Mark Kerr in Dwayne’s face.” Wanting the performance to come through and fearing that any mishaps during a fight scene would require extensive corrections that cut production time, Hiro opted for the more subtle option. For him, it’s important that the make-up remains “part of the storytelling” and fits seamlessly into the story.
Many changes, both understated and explicit, went into turning Johnson into Kerr. Johnson’s eyes, eyebrows, nose and body scars were changed to help bring his appearance closer to Kerr’s without completely changing the actor’s own vision. One of the more notable changes was covering Johnson’s often bald head with the wigs he wears for most of the film. (In a late scene, Hiro punched his hair through a bald cap so Johnson, like Kerr, could shave his head.)
“An important part of similarity is how the audience feels at a glance and how people recognize the difference or similarity between two different people,” Hiro said. “The shape of the hairline and how low the hairline is will also determine what they’re looking at. Those are the kinds of elements I can play with to bring the likeness closer.”
When Hiro turned Johnson into Kerr, his work was far from over. “The Smashing Machine” may be a biographical drama, but it’s also a fight film that involves a number of intimate injuries and physical effects. Near the end of the film, a close-up shows Kerr getting a scar, with practical effects depicting every gory detail. Earlier, a lengthy sequence involved the fighter injecting himself with drugs as he battles addiction – a moment Hiro said was achieved with a fake prosthetic arm on top of Johnson’s actual arm, loaded with blood to create the desired effect.
If the blood made you bloody, don’t worry: you’re not alone. “I usually avoid jobs with injuries and blood stuff because I don’t like it myself,” Hiro said. “I especially don’t like gory stuff, so I don’t do horror movies. I don’t watch fights either.” But Johnson’s passion for taking on this role drew Hiro into the project. “What most of the actors I work with say is, ‘Every morning I look in the mirror, there’s a new me as a character already there,'” he said. “It really helps them become that character, too. At the same time, I need a great cast to make my work work, so I just provide a vehicle for them. A vehicle needs a good driver.”
The legendary makeup artist began his career on a string of genre films and blockbusters with acclaimed prosthetics: among them Ron Howard’s “How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” Tim Burton’s “Planet of the Apes” and Guillermo del Toro’s “Hellboy.” Shortly thereafter, Hiro received a pair of Oscar nominations for the effects-heavy comedies “Click” and “Norbit”.
He has moved on from genre pictures and found more meaning in biographical projects. “I had a difficult childhood, so I was always afraid of people,” he said. “As a kind of self-protection, I started studying. This person in front of me: What are they thinking? What are they thinking under the surface? What’s going on? Just studying them. It became a fascination. I started studying people, and that combined with this job.”
This story first ran in the Below-the-Line issue of TheWrap’s awards magazine. Read more from the issue here.
