Interview Craig Gillespie, Jenny Beavan, Fiona Crombie and Nadia Stacey (Cruella)

To mark the release of ‘Cruella’ on Disney+ (premium access) and (as it looks now) in theaters on June 9, Disney hosted a global press conference via Zoom with the talents in front of and behind the camera. If you were very lucky, your question (which you could post in the chat function) was presented to the cast and crew. Our questions didn’t make it, but we did get a lot of information about the challenges and the special moments during the filming of ‘Cruella’. Speaking are the director, Craig Gillespie, costume designer Jenny Beavan, production designer Fiona Crombie and makeup artist Nadia Stacey.

Not black and white

Australian Craig Gillespie, director of ‘I, Tonya’ and ‘Lars and the Real Girl’, among others, tells what attracted him to ‘Cruella’. “Bad guys are always great fun to play, after all: you have a lot more opportunities to show things that are actually unacceptable. You can push your limits a lot more with bad guys.” He adds that it was important that it was not a black and white story (no pun intended). “There had to be a gray area, I wanted to allow the viewer to identify with Cruella’s choices, because of the situations she finds herself in and what she acts on.”

tipper

About finding the young Estella/Cruella (Tipper Seifert-Cleveland) he has this to say: “It is not easy to find the young version of Emma Stone, she is such a nuanced actor and her strength and humor are very present. The search in London was quite intensive. Tipper has just that kind of spice we were looking for. It was essential that we find a child who could show some form of resistance; someone you can tell she believes in her ideals. So yes, with Tipper’s contribution I’m definitely over the moon.” According to Craig, the three-minute montage of her school days shows exactly what kind of character she has. “And she has a sense of humor, which is great.”

Old

Jenny Beavan has been a successful costume designer for decades. Previously she won an Oscar for ‘Mad Max: Fury Road’ and ‘A Room with a View’, but a look at her curriculum shows that she has been able to make her mark on many more well-known films. When the moderator of the press conference points out that she grew up in London in the 1970s, she admits with a good dose of sobriety: “Yes, I’m afraid I’m very old. But I can still vividly remember this time. I had just graduated and started working on stage. I really wanted to be a set designer. Thanks to working on ‘Cruella’ a lot came back.” Jenny references the scene shot outside Liberty’s. “I wore clothes like that back then! This is indeed what we looked like at the time!”

Glenn Close

The script was the main guideline in shaping Cruella’s development in the film from anarchic, rebellious teenage girl to adult Cruella. “We know, of course, that fifteen years later she ends up as Glenn Close. So that was on my mind. It had to be possible that she eventually becomes that character.” There has not been one specific source of inspiration for the design of Cruella’s costumes, says Jenny. “Of course I looked at Westwood, McQueen, Galliano (Vivienne; Alexander; John, ed.) and BodyMap (influential British fashion label from the 1980s, ed.). I went back to my past at Biba (a London fashion store in the 60s and 70s, ed.), and I picked out what fit the story.” She adds: “But I also wanted to pay tribute to the times, with regard to the reuse of materials, and that of course is that red dress, which she finds in Artie’s second-hand store.” The funny thing is that Jenny herself doesn’t care about fashion at all. “I’m a storyteller, using clothes. That’s why ‘Cruella’ is perfect for this. Fashion here is a means to conquer. In fact, Cruella and the Baroness are at war.”

Garbage truck

The absolute showstopper when it comes to costumes is, of course, seen in the garbage truck scene. “It just felt like something Cruella would do, arrive nice and aggressive in a garbage truck. They (Estella, Jasper and Horace, ed.) had the resources, so that’s how it grew.” Craig agrees: “I wanted this to make a huge impact visually.” Jenny lets it be known that the credits for this dress are with Kerstin Fletcher. As big as Jenny’s name is in the film industry, she remains humble. “I hope I’ve never acted like Emma Thompson in this movie, it’s much better to be nice to your team and support them.”

The bar

Fiona Crombie, production designer, points out that the biggest challenge in filming ‘Cruella’ is the number of sets. There were about 120 of them and the film has a fast pace. “There are many small, but important, moments, where the details of the set are very important. I am very proud of that.” But it was very hard work, she admits. “In fact, I’m currently working on another film and feel like I’m not busy enough because the bar was set so high with ‘Cruella’.”

When it became clear to Fiona that the camera work would often consist of 360-degree shots, she realized that every detail was important. “Every corner, every little detail, had to be right.” The color palette of the different balls was also a challenge. “The first consisted of many pastel shades, then the white ball, then the Viking gala. All these celebrations consisted of specific color palettes. That was very exciting to work on.”

Mask

Nadia Stacey, makeup artist, explains that the biggest challenge was that Estella’s makeup was also initially intended as a means of deception. “After all: she has to disguise herself for the Baroness. So in all of her red carpet appearances, she wore a mask in one form or another. The difference between Estella and Cruella here is huge.” Nadia recognizes the feeling Fiona had: “I’ll never get something like this again. I never have to work on so many different looks in a movie again.”

White hair

One of the difficulties Nadia encountered while making ‘Cruella’ was the lack of wig makers available. “We had one wig made for the young Estella. But it was very difficult for Emma Stone, because there was hardly any white hair available. So it took a long time before I had more than two wigs at my disposal. I had to come up with all kinds of tricks to solve this, for example loose hairpieces. But in the end it all worked out and it was worth it!”

Panic

A very special experience was visiting the place where the wigs were made for the last party. “It was a massive operation,” says Nadia. “It was almost assembly line work, 120 wigs were made.” It almost went wrong. “I ordered a prototype,” says Nadia. “Something wasn’t right though, the black and white was reversed. I did have panic attacks from that, imagine if I had ordered 120 of them and that they would all be wrong and that we would only find out at the moment supreme?”

Music

The soundtrack in ‘Cruella’ is very important. Craig says about this: “I thought from the start that music would play a big role. When determining how to visualize something, I have already taken into account the fact that there should be room for music. While we were filming, I put on certain songs that I thought would go well with it, such as the first scene with the Baroness, The Doors. That has always been the case. The same goes for when Estella is in the elevator at Liberty’s, and we hear Nancy Sinatra’s “These boots are made for walking”. That’s when I thought ‘Music belongs to this’ and I looked at my phone and this song came to mind. Music is always playing in my head, so I’m constantly looking for opportunities to use it.”

Dalmatians

Then the dogs. Craig says it was important to him that the Dalmatians appear in Cruella’s life in a realistic way. “They are definitely linked to her emotional development. It was just really nice to have them on set, the dogs make for fun times.”

Trio

Finally: Paul Walter Hauser and Joel Fry, in the roles of Horace and Jasper. Craig: “I had already worked with Paul at ‘I, Tonya’. I love working with him. His humor beats a deeper, human layer, you notice that there is pain, that he uses the humor to hide something. Joel is so approachable, he has a big heart. He forms the moral compass for Cruella and is like a brother to her. That dynamic between those three worked so well.”