, who was head of the makeup department, brought me in with a team of SFX men who were recreating a woman’s entire torso to represent a cadaver of the era. The type of autopsy that was done then was much different than how they cut into a body now, so they did a whole mold of her torso, which was then going to have the appropriate autopsy markings. When viewers would see her naked body, she needed to have an appropriate era bush, and they simply couldn’t find an actress with a full bush.
“Definitely. Just for discretion, not wanting to actually put themselves out there or have their own body seen. So whether it’s like wearing a body stocking or a dance belt, and then the hair [gets] put over it — you know, just layers in between the flesh, I suppose, for love scenes.”“For television, it’s all the script and what the director sees — their vision — and then working with the hair and makeup team to decide.
Do you think they would have to make a merkin differently if it were being worn for a sex scene versus by a cadaver on a table? “Yeah, definitely, and sometimes in sex scenes, they’re sewn onto a dance belt or to a piece of clothing. It’s all for discretion and comfort.”“I don’t think so. If there are, I don’t know them.”“No I don’t, ever. I’ve never actually looked to see if there’s a merkin or not. I do look at wigs that way.”
This month, we're sharing steamy personal stories, exploring ways to have even better sex, and wading through the complicated dynamics that follow us into the bedroom. Here's to a very happy February.