Courtesy of Apple TV For a series about a young working-class woman who gets impregnated by her college professor and must find a way to make ends meet, to be described as “fun” seems paradoxical. But in the television adaptation of Rufi Thorpe’s best-selling novel Margo’s Got Money Troubles, the hair and makeup department’s main task was to bring Margo’s (Elle Fanning) OnlyFans alter ego, a sexy, insatiable green alien named HungryGhost, to life. “It was crazy but really enjoyable work,” says Erin Ayanian, head of the makeup department and Fanning’s longtime collaborator. “We had a blast.”
Before they could tackle HungryGhost, everyday Margo — the 20-year-old daughter of a former Hooters waitress and a pro wrestler from Southern California — first had to be established. “It’s really important to represent a person and let there be flaws so that she looks like an average person,” explains Ayanian, who relied on minimal touches, adding only subtle references to Margo’s mother, Shyanne (played by Michelle Pfeiffer), in the form of eyeliner and lip gloss. “Even if the character isn’t aware of it in context of the story, I wanted there to be a flavor of the fact that she was raised by Shyanne.” Hair-wise, department head Jaime Leigh McIntosh wanted to show the struggle of being a new mom. “Elle has a natural texture with a bit of curl to it, so I thought it would be nice to lean into that,” says McIntosh. “Having that texture, we had more room to play — from messy, unwashed, scraped up into scrunchies to a more polished look.”
Related Stories
TV 'Your Friends and Neighbors' Showrunner Is Surprised Jon Hamm Didn't Get an Emmy Nod: "A Performance That Should've Been Recognized"
TV The War on Literature Depicted in 'The Librarians' Is Still Being Waged
On the first season (the limited series has already been renewed for a surprise second), there were two versions of Fanning’s OnlyFans character: a full-blown fantasy version of HungryGhost, complete with a Barbarella-esque pink wig, and a more down-to-earth character that Margo creates herself to bank more money. For every look, except the dream sequence, there was one mandate: “It always needed to look like she had done it herself,” says McIntosh, who purchased a synthetic pink wig online and used it straight out of the bag. “The only thing I did to it was cut the bangs,” she says. “I couldn’t believe my luck that I found this wig that was just like something that she could find, pull out of a bag and put on her head. It was very believable.”
Nick Offerman as Jinx Courtesy of Apple TV To achieve HungryGhost’s deep teal skin color, Ayanian ended up using cream eye shadow, which she and her makeup artists applied by hand to Fanning’s entire body, like lotion. The process of applying the makeup took up to two and a half hours, and removing it was equally labor-intensive, but Ayanian found the aesthetic worth the effort. “The eye shadow didn’t move and had an incredible pigment,” she says. “I decided I wanted to use that, which was a little tedious because it came in a little, hard plastic container.” Ultimately, the makeup department went through more than 100 containers of the product. “If we need to do that same look for season two, I’m going to contact that company and say, ‘Can we get a bucket of it?’ ” Ayanian says with a laugh.
While Ayanian applied an additional layer of shimmer for the heightened version of HungryGhost, McIntosh upped her game by combining three wigs for the fantasy look. “We loved the idea of it being long, having the height and ’60s kind of vibe to it. Then it was just figuring out how to do that,” she says. McIntosh tasked that to Celeste Gonzalez, whose experience in the wig department at Disneyland and a clientele of drag performers made her the right person for the project. “It was massive, it was beautiful and it was heavy,” says McIntosh. “She used zip ties to hold the main structure of it together, which I think is an old drag trick that she learned over the years.”
Co-star Thaddea Graham painted Fanning green Allyson Riggs/Apple TV. While the creation of Fanning’s look took up the bulk of the departments’ time, there were also other characters demanding their attention. For Margo’s father, Jinx (played by Nick Offerman), Ayanian created an arsenal of tattoos. “It’s tricky with tattoos because everything has to be cleared. You can’t use someone else’s art,” she says. “The little star behind his ear and the WWE on his inner arm, I designed those. And all the Japanese ones are 18th century folklore demons. I knew that anything before 1931 is now public domain, so I pulled [some] and [makeup artist] Michelle Sfarzo made transfers of the tattoos.” Evoking some of the can-do spirit of the characters, McIntosh got creative while making an ’80s wig for Jinx’s glory days. “I went to Nick and asked, ‘What are your thoughts?’ and he was like, ‘Glam rock,’ ” she recalls. “If I’d given him a full Bon Jovi with the beard, it would have been a lot of hair going on. But I love a mullet and will try and squeeze one in wherever I can.” When she tried to dye the wig, however, the streaks turned gray. “It just wasn’t working, and in my stock, I had some bleach-blond curly wigs. And I was like, ‘OK, we’re just going to have to sew these streaks into this wig.’ And it gave it a really good look.”
Elle Fanning as her OnlyFans alter ego HungryGhost Beth Garrabrant/Apple TV This story first appeared in an August stand-alone issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe.
THR Newsletters
Sign up for THR news straight to your inbox every day
Subscribe Sign Up
