WiHM Special - Melissa Pöpsel

An upcoming and emerging make-up artist, Melissa Pöpsel is quickly making a name for herself with her talents either in the make-up world or through her general beauty work. Now, in honor of Women in Horror Month, I talk with her about her early interest in the industry, working on the recently-released remake of Castle Freak and other upcoming projects.

Me: Hello and thank you for taking the time to do this. First off, when did you get into horror in general?

Melissa Pöpsel: I am a make-up artist for 14 years now, a few years ago I got bored of my job because I was only doing beauty. I was at a point that I wanted to quit and search for a new adventure. I had a conversation about this with a friend and she asked me why I didn’t take a few extra classes to challenge myself again because I was good at my job and I had built a good network over the years. I never thought of it and decided to give it a try. I took face and bodypainting classes and FX. And I loved both! My first FX class was more of a trigger to expand my knowledge but I didn’t stop after that first course 

Me: Were you into genre films growing up? What films specifically got you into watching horror movies?

MP: I loved film as a kid and I still do! I guess I got it from my mom, she loved horror movies and I was allowed to watch them with her from a very young age.

The films that got me into watching horror movies were definitely Child’s Play and the Gremlins. But especially Child’s Play. I think I was around 7 or 8 when I’ve seen those for the first time and I know that’s young but I never got nightmares and I absolutely loved them. I got this huge teddy bear which I called Chucky and it had to be in my bed every night.

Me: When did you first discover a passion for makeup work? Was there a specific appealing aspect to you?

MP: Not really, I have always been into make-up but I never realized it was a job really. My first make-up course was to learn how to do my own make-up properly. All my friends knew I was doing this course and asked me to do their make-ups when they had to go somewhere. That time was the early start of social media, I posted everything on Facebook and photographers got interested and wanted to work with me. The more I did, the more I posted and the more jobs I got. That is how I got into the industry, completely unexpected as I just did a course to learn how to do my own make-up.

Me: Growing up in Belgium, did that hinder your interest in the genre or force you to turn to the local cinema for inspiration to get into the industry?

MP: Not really, the industry isn’t very big here and everyone knows everyone. The great thing about working in Belgium is that I always have the feeling we all work well together. Like even though there are a lot of make-up artists, we do work together as colleagues and there’s not much competition. We grant each other success.

The other nice thing about working in a small country is that you can do so much more yourself. If you think about making movies in America, you have a make-up designer, you have a sculptor, there is a mold maker, someone else runs prosthetics, another person pre-paints, there’s someone who does the hair punching and then there is someone completely different again to do the application on set. There are so many people involved to do one make-up. Here I can do all those stages myself and that is so much more satisfying because it is completely your make-up. No one else's.

Me: What was your special training like? What tools and skills did you acquire there that carried over to future projects?

MP: The first FX class I ever did was with Chad Washam, a well-known FX artist who flew over from America to teach in Belgium. It was a crazy expensive course and I didn’t learn very much. But it did trigger my interest in the FX industry. There weren’t a lot of options to learn FX in Belgium, I took more classes but the techniques were aged. So I went to Imats in London and followed all the FX demo’s there were. One of the demos was a Pumpkin make-up, done by Tate Steinsiek, known from Face Off and Ali Gordon. Steve Johnson, a Hollywood make-up FX icon, was there as a host to talk the boys through the demo and they literally blew my mind. The guys on stage gave so much information about the products they were using and about the industry. They inspired me so so much. I had a chat afterward with Tate and Ali and they had a booth at the fair to promote their FX workshops. Short classes, loads of information and that for a fair price. I took a one-day class with Ali in Dublin and he’s been training me since that day. I took all his classes and got him over to teach in Belgium, cause there were no decent FX classes over here. Today we hold classes together and work on make-up projects as partners.

Me: You started off on the recently-released remake of 'Castle Freak.' How did you become involved in the project?

MP: Well for the bigger classes, Ali always flies an FX artist over from America. Tate Steinsiek has been teaching with us before and he was the director of Castle Freak. He asked me to join the FX team because he had seen what I was capable of and loved my work. I was so honored and excited I got that chance! I still am actually!!

Me: How much involvement did you have in the design and execution of the titular freak in the film? What kind of inclusion did you have with the rest of the effects team?

MP: The prosthetics and creature suit of the freak were designed and created by Wayne Anderson (The Predator, Jurassic World, Bright, The Nun, It, Star Trek, …)

The key make-up artist who was responsible for the make-up of freak on set was Eric Zapata (Fear the Walking Dead, …). On the freak, I was only meant to do the hair-work. But Eric had to leave a few weeks early because he was starting off with another project. So he trained me to do the complete freaks make-up when he was gone. I prepainted the prosthetics while he was still there so he could make adjustments where necessary and I did the full application only once after he left because it was usually so busy onset that we worked as a team and we all did something on the main character to help each other out. Besides the freak, there were also a lot of kill scenes and bloodwork, so we didn’t really work like ‘you do this and I do that.’ The timings were a bit crazy sometimes, but our department head, Ben Bornstein (Gotham, 300, Slender Man, …) was so good at scheduling everything. He told us, this actor is coming in, that has to be done and we have this much time so let’s all jump on that one together. And so we did, as a great working team.

Me: What are some of your memories working on-set of the film? What kind of odd or funny on-set stories do you have about yourself or any of the other cast/crew members?

MP: The funniest was that we always had night shoots. We started around 6 PM and worked till the sun came up. 7 days a week. And what do you want to do most after a full day or night at work? Of course, go have a drink with your team. But that was in the morning. We got to the hotel after work, food was ready when we arrived and then we always had a few drinks before we went to our rooms. But that was in the morning. So locals went to the bar for their morning coffee and there were we, still covered in blood, laughing our heads off, with big pints in front of us at 9 o’clock in the morning.

Another funny thing is that when we left to go home, after the wrap, we left fake heads and fake bodies in trash bags at the castle. I wonder if anyone found them.. haha

Me: You also recently worked on the short film “Lippen.” What can you tell us about that project?

MP: That movie literally wrecked my brain! The movie was about cosmetic surgery but not the way we know it. There was a catalog with different kinds of lips. The person who wanted new lips, could choose from the catalog. Once she chose, the ‘owner of the mouth’ was tracked down, drugged and her lips got replaced by the ones of the client. So I had to make the perfect lipswitch.

At the time I got the go for this project, Hollywood FX icon Steve Johnson (Ghostbusters, Men in Black, Blade II, Species, The Shining and many many more), was over in Belgium to teach a class with Ali and me. So I asked him for advice and he told me, ‘Melissa, don’t do it. You are gonna burn your fingers and you are only as good as your last job. This is never gonna work and you will never get another job in the FX industry.’ To convince me to drop the project, he called big studio’s in America and asked them about their thoughts. They all said the same thing: ‘Never gonna work’. But I already gave my word and preproduction had started so I couldn’t pull back anymore. I had to make this work somehow. It gave me so much pressure because someone like Steve who’s been at the top of the industry for over 40 years, someone we all looked up to, telling you (while taking your first real babysteps in the industry) it will never work and if you fail you’ll never get another chance, that was quite stressful.

But there also was Ali, who had to leave early for an emergency at home. I talked this through with him, called him for hours, crying on the phone because I was so scared to fail but I couldn’t pull back anymore. We’ve called every day and every day he told me ‘Melissa, I know what you are capable of, you can do it. Don’t listen to Steve, I trained you for so long and I know you can. I would never let u take a job if I thought you couldn’t do it.’ He got me through this, emotionally and practically. Every step I had to take, I was insecure because of Steve’s advice. So before every step, I called Ali and he talked me through the steps I had to take. You can not believe how thankful I am to have this man in my life. He always has my back and he is the only one who never stopped believing in me, even when I didn’t believe in myself anymore.

So the make-up happened, I pulled it off, flawless. Sent it on to Steve and he was ‘literally blown away.’ Not only by my skills and talent but also because I had the guts to try it, while he would never have.’ And these are his exact words.

Me: As well, you’re also involved in the series #LikeMe. Is there a difference working on a series compared to a feature film?

MP: The job is the same but series are mainly harder to keep the continuity because they are shot over a longer amount of time than a film is.

Me: What else are you working on that you'd like to share with our readers?

MP: I’m currently working on a tv show that has a lot of FX in it. FX is my department and I can design the make-ups, do all the lab work and the applications myself.

Last year I had a job for a film as well, the film will be released in 2021 and is called Hearts of Stone. It is about statues coming to life. So I remember I got a phone-call very very last minute. 3 or 4 days before they started shooting because they weren't happy with the wig of the actress. So what happened was the production went to the UK because the actress was from there. They've put the actress in full costume and wig and made a 3D print of her that was gonna be the statue for the film.

So I got a phone call that the actress just flew into Belgium and had a make-up test a few days before shooting. But the wig they used for the 3D print, was still too much of a wig on the actual actress compared to the 3D printed statue. So they asked me to come lifecast the statue and make a prosthetic replica of the hair. At that moment I was teaching a make-up class. Made the budget for the job while my students were working, got approved and after class, I went shopping for materials for the job so I could start that same day.

Once I had the materials, I went to the place where the statue was to lifecast. I got there, saw the statue and had an ‘oh-fuck-moment’ immediately. I thought I was lifecasting an actual statue but when I got there, the statue was a PU-foam 3D replica of the actress. PU foam!! First of all, featherlight with  0 carrying capacity. If I was gonna life cast that, with silicone and plaster bandages, which is not light at all, the brittle neck was gonna break. Second, PU foam is very porous.. The silicone could stick to the foam and never release.

Very tricky, cause there was a big chance that I could destroy the statue which had a price tag of 6000 euro. So the pressure was on, not only because of the price tag but also if something happened to that statue, there was no film. Knowing what making a film costs. If I didn’t buy my materials yet, I would have pulled out at that moment but I already spent money on materials, which aren't cheap. So I had to think of solutions and solve every problem I could have to reduce the risk of damage. Problem 1, the carrying capacity and making sure the neck wouldn’t break. I needed an armature around it to catch the weight. There were enough guys in the room so they built it for me.

Then porous and making sure my materials would release from the foam. I could release the shit out of it with Vaseline and release agent but I had be make sure the Vaseline or release agent (yes I used both to be sure it would release) wouldn’t damage or break down the foam so I did a test on the inside of the statue’s dress. Went well so I could go ahead. Everything went well but it was a nerve-wracking job and the adrenalin was racing through my veins from the start to the end because one wrong move and the tiny neck would break. Once everything was set and I could remove the negative, it was stressful because even though I released the shit out of it, you never really know until it comes off. And it did!! Big hooray and I could take it home and finish the job. Which took me day and night because the timing was so tight. But again, when u can pull off such a hard and nerve-wracking job, in those conditions and a crazy time limit. The result is so satisfying. I can’t wait to see the movie :D

Me: Lastly, being that this is Women in Horror Month, what special message do you have for any women out there looking to join in the industry in any capacity as you are one yourself? Thank you again for your time!

MP: Well, the movie industry is mainly male but it is changing and for my opinion, the advantage women have is our eye for detail and finesse. I always have the feeling I have to prove myself more on set because I am a girly female in my personal life and FX is known as a male job. And I get where it is coming from because by example opening a mold is a tough job. I sometimes call my dad over for help because I’m just not strong enough.  But once you show your team you are there for a reason, you get so much respect. I love my job so much and I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world.

And the biggest lesson I learned, and I really hope this inspires everyone in the business, is to never stop believing in yourself and what you are capable of. If you want something, go for it! If you need extra skills, invest in education. If you need to push your own boundaries, push them! And my life motto is, ‘If opportunity doesn’t knock, build a door!’ You know what you are worth and you are the only one who is responsible for turning your dreams into plans.

This interview ran as part of our Women in Horror Month celebrations. Click the banner below to check out all of our reviews and interviews about the occasion: