Ethan Hawke spent hours in the make-up chair for his role in FXNetworks' The Lowdown. Besides sitting through prosthetics applications for his facial injuries, he also had tattoos applied to his skin. The Lowdown's makeup department head, Sharon Tabb, walks us through the process of the tattoo application and the stories behind the designs.
From Reservoir Dogs showrunner Sterlin Harjo, comes The Lowdown, starring Hawke, Peter Dinklage, Keith David, Kyle MacLachlan and Jeanne Tripplehorn. Hawke plays Lee Raybon, a bookstore owner in Tulsa moonlights as an investigative journalist, digging into local corruption. When his reporting uncovers sinister connections, he must protect both his family and the truth.
For The Lowdown, Sharon needed to establish the looks for Ethan and other cast members (including Peter Dinklage and Jeanne Tripplehorn). For Ethan, she also designed and coordinated custom-made tattoos his character wore, like one of the Virgin Mary with a Confederate Flag, and bruises. It is also a contemporary production so for the bookstore attendant who is a series regular, Sharon customized colorful and out-of-the-box eyeliner designs that matched various outfits she wore. For the rest of the cast, she also coordinated more tattoos, gold teeth, and other unique looks.
