How Nicola Peltz Beckham Remodeled Into Dorothy Stratten for Hulu’s Welcome to Chippendales

After we’re first launched to Nicola Peltz Beckham as Dorothy Stratten for Hulu’s Welcome to Chippendales, it’s Friday night time in late ’70s West Hollywood, and she or he’s arriving on the mirrored area that’s quickly to turn into an infamously oversexed membership. All in white, with blonde, brushed-out waves swept right into a hair comb, she orders a pink squirrel cocktail from the bar. What’s instantly placing is Peltz Beckham’s uncanny resemblance to Stratten, the very actual, very beloved mannequin and actress whose life got here to a disturbing finish. 

There’s nothing excessive about her onscreen magnificence; it’s gentle, it’s glamorous, and it’s surprisingly related in at the moment’s revival world (Peltz Beckham has said that she “loves” Stratten and that her husband Brooklyn Beckham discovered her fashionable). So it’s no marvel that the group behind the Emmy-winning make-up and Emmy-nominated hairstyling for Pam & Tommy had a hand in such a thought of character transformation. “In all of my analysis, it was clear how type, caring, and humble Dorothy Stratton was,” says lead hair designer Barry Lee Moe. “Though I used to be recreating numerous appears to be like that had been primarily based on precise hairstyles she wore, I wished to execute them with the identical softness that Dorothy embodied. Her story is extraordinarily tragic, and I wished to honor the sweetness that existed in her life.” 

Make-up division head David Williams agrees, noting that he, Moe, and costume designer Peggy Schnitzer had discussions of how Peltz Beckham must be offered in character each time she was on display. “Dorothy Stratton was recognized to be probably the most lovely girls of her day and was poised to have a outstanding Hollywood profession,” says Williams. “Consistency was key. I didn’t need something to be distracting.” In contrast to their work collectively on Pam & Tommy, no prosthetics had been required past the wigs that Moe ready each day for fast software within the trailer, which meant that your complete course of solely took about 45 minutes with the pair working in tandem. 

Mornings on set usually featured a VIP breakfast order earlier than lights had been dimmed low and a candle was lit to create a zen setting. “We liked to speak about Dorothy as we checked out all of her photographs that surrounded my station—we additionally liked our morning smoothies that Brooklyn so thoughtfully delivered,” says Moe. The trailer was stocked with Unite hair merchandise like 7 Seconds Leave In Conditioner, used to prep Peltz Beckham’s actual hair earlier than making use of the wig, and Lé:Play Hairspray, misted on for setting the ultimate type. The inspiration for that first scene “was Dorothy’s precise look from the Playboy occasion the place Hugh Hefner introduced her as Playmate of the 12 months,” says Moe. “It’s my favourite look by far. I really like how the hair is delicately swept up on the facet with a beaded, floral hair comb to carry it in place—our costume designer, Peggy Schnitzer, custom-built her hair equipment to match the unique.”