Samara Weaving spent two hours daily in make-up chair for Nine Perfect Strangers
Samara Weaving spent two hours a day in the make-up chair before filming Nine Perfect Strangers.
In the limited series, based on Liane Moriarty's novel of the same name, the Australian actress plays Jessica, a young influencer who is obsessed with social media, seeks validation from online strangers, and suffers from body dysmorphia. The character, who signed up to the retreat in an attempt to fix her marriage, is heavily self-tanned, piles on the make-up and has had many cosmetic procedures.
In an interview with Cosmopolitan U.K., Samara revealed the extensive make-up and prosthetics work that went into achieving Jessica's look.
"The wardrobe and prosthetics departments were incredible at creating Jessica. They would pull the skin on my face back with wire, and cover me in fake tan. I had fake boobs and a fake bum, as well as fake teeth. I actually kept them from set," she shared. "What took me by surprise was how people looked at me while I was in character. It made me think about how much society judges face value, and how people would assume things about Jessica based on how she looks."
In addition to the daily prep, the Ready or Not actress did a lot of research for the role to help her understand Jessica's headspace.
"I spoke to friends of mine who have body dysmorphia, as well as someone whose mum has it. We went into what it was like to grow up around it. There was one case where a woman had liposuction on her kneecaps, which summed up for me how unwell the illness can make you," the star explained.
Nine Perfect Strangers, also featuring Nicole Kidman, Melissa McCarthy and Bobby Cannavale, is streaming weekly on Hulu in the U.S. and Amazon Prime Video in the U.K.
