The Making of Bella Baxter and a Mad Scientist

On a December weekend, costume designer Holly Waddington (earlier credits include War Horse) missed a slew of holiday parties after getting called to meet Yorgos Lanthimos about Poor Things. She spent days in a mad dash, preparing imagery based on the script and eponymous novel. What she ended up pitching involved “strange Japanese dolls with these clothes [in which] the proportion of the cloth is far too big for the scale of the doll.” The surreality of the aesthetic that made it onscreen is discussed by Waddington, and the movie’s hair, makeup, and prosthetic designer, Nadia Stacey (both took home BAFTAs on Feb. 18), who join host Mona May. The trio dive into the visual influences of the film, working with Emma Stone, and the challenges of creating Dr. Baxter’s offbeat look. Transcript here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices