FILM & TELEVISION PROJECTS

THE BUTLER

Derrick says on transforming OPRAH for this character “I would make her up according to the outfit and what I thought she should look like in the scene and he [director Lee Daniels] was happy. During the course of when the movie started he said to bring the make-up down. Lee said, ‘If Gloria is too glamorous it won’t be believable.’ Lee wanted people to identify with the character; he thought it would be more realistic without make-up. We discussed that in order for her to be believable at the young age, I have to apply make-up. In order to see that she’s different when you first see her, you have to see the progression of age with the make-up. Lee and I [discussed] about how I’d transition her from when we first see her all the way to age 90, using prosthetics, so not too much that the character would be unbelievable.”