Mandy Moore filmed her intense makeup chair “aging process” for “This Is Us”
She somehow pulls it off flawlessly, but Mandy Moore’s makeup transformation into her 66-year-old This is Us character is truly remarkable. Mandy just gave us a behind-the-scenes look at her This is Us makeup routine, and it involves lots of weird face-pulling and odd positions, oh my!
Mandy took fans through her transformation on Instagram Live, admitting that getting into (and out of!) playing a character that’s double her age in real life is not the most fun part of the role. Mandy pulls it off like a pro though, and says the hardest part isn’t even sitting through the intense makeup process…it’s taking it off that causes the trouble.
Mandy described how she becomes the older version of Rebecca Pearson in the Instagram Live sesh, saying,"This is 66. Look how incredible all of this is. We haven’t even done any of the painting and stuff yet."
Makeup artists create wrinkles and age spots on her face and neck, paying close attention to detail to make sure she appears as authentic as possible.
Though it would seem like sitting in the makeup chair for so long is the most tedious part, Mandy says that’s not entirely true.
“The hardest part is the removal process. It’s pretty tricky and it’s really hard on my skin. I have really sensitive skin.”
When the show debuted last fall, Mandy’s makeup artist Zoë Hay described the process to E! News, saying, “I think it’s very easy to go, ‘Oh, we’re going to stick a gray wig on and grey eyebrow, and make her look old,’ but that really is not who she would be as she aged.”
She explained that the process involves “using 12 small prosthetics, then applying an aging makup using a ‘stretch and stipple’ technique where the skin is stretched, the makeup goes on and dries, and then when the skin goes back to its normal position it wrinkles up a bit.”
To get the final look just right, Mandy sat through three or four test runs, with each test taking several hours in the makeup chair.
We admire Mandy’s dedication to her craft, and simply can’t wait for Season 2!
