Making Churchill work on Oldman’s face was difficult, however. The actor’s eyes are much closer together and the shape of his face is much slender than that of the iconic UK Prime Minister. It took five months of tests to get it right and Tsuji and his team ended up creating 45 plus versions of the make up for production. They also created five different wigs because they were “so delicate they would fall apart after 10 days.”
Tsuji found out about his nomination in Tokyo around 11 PM local time while watching on a laptop in his hotel room. During our conversation he seemed much happier that the film earned six nominations overall than his own individual honor. And, no, the reception doesn’t mean he’s changed his mind about leaving the movie industry. Sure, he might return if there is a project he’s passionate about, but for the moment he’s concentrating on his artistic efforts. He teaches classes around the world and has his work appearing at galleries throughout the year (the next show might be in September). In the meantime he’ll head to the Oscars where he might be more excited about Goldman potentially winning then himself.
“Darkest Hour” is still playing in theaters nationwide.
Editor-at-Large Gregory Ellwood is one of the entertainment industry's most respected journalists and critics. Based in Los Angeles, he's the only current awards expert who previously worked on Oscar campaigns at a major movie studio. Over the years, he has written for the LA Times, Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, and Vox, among others. He also co-founded the entertainment news site HitFix, which spawned a legion of influential Emmy and WGA Award-winning alumni.
