One of the witchier titles on the 2024 TV schedule, Marvel’s Agatha All Along didn’t shy away from campiness and that was especially evident during Episode 7. The installment saw several of the main characters dress up like iconic characters, with Kathryn Hahn’s Agatha Harkness styled as the Wicked Witch of the West. Upon my first time seeing the installment I was enamored with the look. However, after speaking to the head of the show’s makeup team on behalf of CinemaBlend, I’m even more impressed by how everything came together.
I had the pleasure of speaking with Agatha’s Cindy Welles and Vasilios Tanis, who led the hair and makeup teams, respectively. During our conversation, I couldn’t help but ask about how they managed to put a fresh spin on the Wicked Witch of the West’s iconic look for “Death's Hand in Mine.” Tanis – whose Marvel Cinematic Universe credits include WandaVision and Spider-Man: No Way Home – confirmed that two people had to apply that makeup and revealed the personal flourishes that were added to update the look:
That makeup took two people to do. It was myself and Addison Foreman, who did the special effects. He basically applied the silicone appliances. And I wanted her to have the essence of Agatha, even though she's going to be portraying a version of the Wicked Witch of the West. So part of that, for me, and for Kathryn, because she has the utmost trust in me and my esthetic. We work simpatico together throughout WandaVision as well as Agatha, and we just all agreed that [the character] should have the color palette of Agatha, which is purple, which is the color of her purples. So I really focused on a different type of color palette. I didn't want her to be completely all green, green lips, green eyes, green, green, green, green, green, green. I wanted her skin to be green so you could actually assimilate the fact that she is the Wicked Witch of the West, and the costume sells that point across very, very well.
I’d like to bet that I’m not alone in having seen The Wizard of Oz and other Oz-related films over the years. And, in most of those productions, the iconic witch sports a black ensemble and a totally green visage. I found it incredibly astute that Vasilios Tanis and his team sought to use Agatha’s purple motifs not just to stay true to her as a character but as a way of conveying a fresh take on the wicked witch. Going that route may seem obvious on paper, but that’s hard to say if you consider that some makeup artists may feel tempted to pay homage to what’s come before, to a fault.
Most versions of Oz’s notorious witch tend to portray her as relatively grotesque. However, that’s not what the Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania artist was seeking to do. As he went on to explain, he wanted to inject a significant amount of sheer “beauty” into this interpretation. He explained that to me as well as how this corresponds with what's known about Agatha Harkness as a character:
I also wanted, like, a beauty aspect to it and a type of vanity attached to it. Because she's such a large character, and you could see by the way that she portrays that specific character in that specific episode. You know, it's a very big, big character. So everything was more animated, more exaggerated. Her chin was more exaggerated. Her nose was more exaggerated. Her skin tone was completely altered and exaggerated. So I felt like there should be a beauty element to it. So I went for a more dramatic flair, you know, and added her color palette of purple to the green, which I thought kind of worked pretty good in the mixture of pinks and, you know, just a little bit more like of a ghoulish palette to reflect the zaniness and the largeness of Agatha in that specific episode.
Honestly, I’m exhausted just thinking about the painstaking work that had to go into this. And, while this is far from the most important aspect of all this, it’s also intriguing that the debut of this version of the iconic Oz character coincides with the release of the Wicked adaptation. So it’s great that Vasilios Tanis, from the jump, made an effort to have Harkness’ witch be different:
I wanted it to stand out. I wanted to stand out. I didn't want to be a complete and utter replica of every version of the Wicked Witch of the West that we've seen in pop culture. I wanted it to be different. I wanted to be a dramatic contrast to anything else you might see with an actor portraying that type of character.
Episode 7, which also saw recreations of Maleficent, Glinda the Good Witch and the hag version of the Evil Queen, was incredibly entertaining. It was also heartbreaking, as it featured the tragic death of Patti LuPone’s Lilia Calderu. Nevertheless, the producers were able to find some light amid the darkness, and I’d definitely argue that the hair and makeup efforts are among the highlights. Here’s hoping that others take notes when it comes to crafting the Wicked Witch of the West and more moving forward.
You can stream Agatha All Along in its entirety now using a Disney+ subscription. Also, now that the series is over, be sure to read up on upcoming Marvel shows.
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