![Fight club: Sylvester Stallone (second from left) with Carl Weathers (who died Feb. 1) in Rocky.](https://cdn.statically.io/img/www.hollywoodreporter.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/MSDROCK_UA002-H-2024.jpg?w=1296&h=730&crop=1)
With a range of work that includes classics from Rocky to Raging Bull and an estimated 600 episodes of Star Trek, makeup artist Michael Westmore will be among the special honorees at the upcoming 11th annual Make-Up Artists & Hair Stylists Guild (IATSE Local 706) Awards. He’s an Oscar winner for 1985’s Mask and has earned an astonishing 45 Emmy nominations, including nine wins. In advance of the Feb. 18 ceremony at The Beverly Hilton, where Westmore will accept the guild’s Vanguard Award, the makeup pro talks with THR about a range of subjects, including working with Sylvester Stallone and the late Carl Weathers on Rocky, creating Vulcans and Klingons for the Star Trek universe and musings on the potential impact of artificial intelligence on his art.
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What do you remember about working with Carl Weathers on Rocky?
Carl was amazing, such a nice man, he would do anything — he wore the rubber faces, the bruises — and he and Stallone were constantly playing around. He was always laughing, always had good humor. It’s like if you had degrees of people, Carl would be one of the people on top. He was such a wonderful person.
What was the research process like for Rocky?
I had to do so much. [Stallone even] took me to the fights. I had never been to a fight. Well, we were so close, I got a little blood on me. And I said, “OK, I don’t think I need anymore research for that.”
Tell us about doing the makeup for the final fight.
I had to put a hair dryer in each one’s [Stallone and Weathers] hand. I would be working on one while the other one was drying himself. I was running back and forth, doing both of them at the same time. There were cheek pieces and eye pieces, and then a lot of it I would do just with color and makeup and then putting red splotches on their bodies because of the body blows. … I worked for Sly for eight years; we became really good friends. My whole career’s been very collaborative.
What was it like to be part of the Star Trek universe?
In 1987, I got a call from Paramount asking me about Star Trek, and I accepted it because I thought, “This probably isn’t going to last very long, but it’d be fun.” And I wound up being there for 18 years, creating aliens on one show after the other, without a break. That was the most ideal job for any makeup artist. The scripts didn’t tell me what the alien was to look like, so I had free rein. I had to have new aliens every seven days, and it wasn’t just one. It might be a whole city’s worth. I’ve become really great friends with all of them, especially the cast of Next Generation.
What are your thoughts on AI’s potential use in your field?
When it comes down to it, there’s something about putting people mechanically into something or using a real person. People go to the movies to see the movie stars and love that. I think it’s an experiment now and they’re just going to have to see what happens. If it totally took over, it would be the end of an era.
Tell us about your documentary project, based on your 2017 book, Makeup Man: From Rocky to Star Trek, the Amazing Creations of Hollywood’s Michael Westmore.
For the past two years, we have been interviewing a lot of people. It’s wonderful because it gives me a chance to sit down and really have a conversation. We’re going to have a 10-hour movie when we’re through! I think it’s something on a bucket list I wasn’t planning on.
This story first appeared in the Feb. 14 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe.
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