Sometimes, even “Star Trek“Boldly go where the TV series has never gone before. Michelle YeohEmperor Philippa Georgiou has been an unmatched Frienemi for Starfleet under much of ”Star Trek: Discovery“But she has finally got her own spinoff story in”Star Trek: section 31.“Or at least one version of her.
Much of ”Star Trek: Section 31 “Production team is taken from the proud rankings of” Discovery “craftsmen, including makeup department manager Shaunna Llewellyn. “They brought the whole family back,” Llewellyn told IndieWire. The work closely with hair department manager Ryan Reed and costume designer Gersha Phillips was the team’s mission to create a version of Georgiou and a sector of space that “Star Trek” fans have not seen before.
“It was really” everything goes “creatively,” said Llewellyn. “I have looked at all the other things (yeoh) did and I definitely made sure I had made color choices that we have never seen her in. We also made adapted lashes so she has these green lashes and the obsessed eyeliner, we made it Adaptation as well as adapted nails. She never carries that length. ”
The goal that takes Georgiou from a “I drive this intergalactic cabaret” boss behind the curtain to an echo of her black, commissioned outfit from “Discovery” was to give yeoh somewhat more elegant but still as wild as the daggers she can pull out from the dikrocken. Yeoh is equally skilled at practicing the longer nails, which Llewellyn had matched Cape for its initial costume and then in its final outfit that is obsessed with some attractive negative space, which really made them extensions of Georgious sharp, mystical persona in “Star Trek: section 31.”
Llewellyn’s starting point for the makeup design was initial illustrations of Phillips and Reed’s color choices to do something with makeup that drew more focus on Yeoh’s imperialist performance, but always in complementary colors.
Llewellyn also had to consider the amount of stunt work that would be required by Georgiou, which Yeoh tends to do himself. The solution? Llewellyn gave Georgiou a cheeky echo of the Starfleet emblem, angled aside, as a decal feed as part of her eye makeup. “It was always a darker look for her, but there were also some battles in it, which is why I didn’t go for a hand -painted graphic feed,” Llewellyn said.
It was a fun change for Llewellyn and for the character, to make something a little more playful and peacock from the versions of Georgiou that we have seen before. “This Philippa is almost like another version of Philippa from” Discovered. , she learned that she has a little more compassion, much for her dismay, “said Llewellyn. The version of Georgiou that we meet in” Section 31 “divides the difference, with just the right amount of driving force and power, cruel respect and care for those who Have earned it and a touch of amorality – but mostly for fun.
“I don’t think there were any” discovered “scenes (where) it would have been appropriate that she looks as elegant as we did in ‘section 31’,” Lewellyn said. “We could play because we are in this space sector that no one has ever seen before. So that she would blend in, it had to go the opposite path and we had to raise everything. And Michelle just knows how to play that role and carry himself. So there is always an element in what Michelle takes to the table. ”
But one of the most fun parts of “Star Trek: Section 31” played with the opposite of elevated – in Flashback we see Young Georgiou (Miku Martineau), who returns to his family to take the last step to become an emperor. Together with Martineau’s performance, a lot of exposure burns and wear on the face do the visual work of telling who this young woman is in the moments before she becomes the Georgiou who “Star Trek” fans feel and love/disgust.
It was a story that was also news for the “Discovery” team, and so fun to put together the missing bit of the character. “It was really fun with all the beauty and fun look in the bar room to get a completely contrasting look, (with) wear almost as if she went through a” hunger game “sample to get to the end,” Llewellyn said. “So we reflected it in her face. She looks raw and broken and has to do the ultimate task to become the emperor … I really wanted to play on how much she had to go through and see it immediately in the face. ”
Whether you work with the most amazing foreigners or the most grounded, subtle human look, it is ultimately the brand of good character design in film and television: being able to see someone’s story on the face. While “Star Trek: Section 31” leaves the possibility of more assignments open for Starfleet scrubs around Georgiou, Llewellyn and her team have left everything – including Diamond eyeliner floating in a victorious track – in the interstellar field.
“We are always ready with a vision, and then (YEOH) also know what works for her and where her comfort zone is. So we take it into account and we definitely always test the look, calculate it and we always land on something. It’s the beauty of working with someone like Michelle, ”Llewellyn said. “She definitely wanted to do something elegant but wild. And I think we combined all these elements and then delivered the three departments. I think we a little nailed it. ”
“Star Trek: Section 31” Flows on Paramount+.
