Latest / The Art of Costume Podcast / Death and Other Details with Costume Designer, Mandi Line

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Death and Other Details with Costume Designer, Mandi Line · The Art of Costume Podcast

0:11
Because let me tell you once, you don't know who's going to
0:14
kill you. You know tomorrow.
0:15
No, you don't know. They're not given tomorrow.
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To die in. Seriously.
0:21
Oh my God, that is so good. I hope these people make them
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really focus on what they would die in if they to.
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I love how this ended all like dark and twisted it.
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Was going to happen, actually. Hello, and welcome to the Art of
0:44
Costume podcast. I am your host, Spencer
0:47
Williams, and thank you so much for joining me for another bonus
0:52
episode. What's going on, Costume nudes?
0:55
Happy Tuesday. I hope you had a fun weekend at
1:00
Coachella if you were there. I, of course, was not there.
1:04
I was having a good time at Couch Chella, where I watch
1:07
along on the couch like I have done every year for the past
1:13
couple years. But I did catch YG Barley set on
1:17
Sunday with Miss Lauren Hill and The Fugees, so I had a good time
1:21
from the couch. Oh, and Lana Del Rey set too.
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That was amazing. Yeah.
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You know, I'll go one of these years, so if anyone wants to go
1:31
with me next year, feel free to hit up my DMS because I need, I
1:36
need that push to get out there some year.
1:40
Anyways, I hope you all had a good weekend and thank you so
1:43
much for listening to our Dune Part 2 episode.
1:46
It is doing really well. Gained lots of comments, lots of
1:50
messages, lots of people sending us their one costume to rule
1:54
them all from that episode and continue to do so.
1:59
Yeah, please send it in. e-mail us, DM us, message us on TikTok
2:03
Instagram. I love to read your messages and
2:05
I can't wait to share them with Elizabeth.
2:07
When we meet up next week for our highly anticipated episode
2:13
with Christine WADA, costume designer for Loki seasons one
2:17
and two. It's gonna be such a good
2:19
episode. Make sure you join us on
2:22
Tuesday, and we even talk about our Flag Means Death season one
2:26
for a little bit. So if you're a fan of that, make
2:28
sure you tune in. It's gonna be a good time.
2:32
But today we are here for a extra special episode because we
2:36
are being joined by one of my absolute favorite people, one of
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my dearest, bestest, closest friends, costume designer Mandy.
2:47
Line man, I've known Mandy for a hot minute.
2:51
I I owe so much to her. Really.
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I mean, she's giving me so many opportunities, made so many
2:57
introductions for me. I don't think this podcast would
3:01
exist without the motivations that Mandy Line has given me
3:06
over. I only know the past four or
3:08
five years. Yeah, Mandy's been there for me.
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We've been going to FYC events together, going to screenings
3:16
for a lot of the films and shows that we've talked about here on
3:20
a podcast. So yeah, I'm very excited for
3:23
this episode and I can't believe this is the first time I'm
3:25
having her on the podcast. We talk every day, so this is
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gonna be fun with that. Today's episode is about the TV
3:34
series on Hulu, Death and other details.
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Such a good show. Let's dive into it first with a
3:42
summary. Imogen Scott finds herself in
3:46
the wrong place at the wrong time and becomes the prime
3:49
suspect in a locked room. A murder mystery.
3:53
To prove her innocence, she must partner with a man she despises,
3:57
Rufus Coatsworth, the world's greatest detective.
4:01
And that is Death and other details.
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Oh, I love a little murder mystery, especially on boats.
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And lots of people seem to get murdered on boats.
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So with that, let's go behind the costumes.
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Death and Our Details was created by Heidi Cole McAdams
4:15
and Mike Weiss. And getting to the costume
4:18
design. First we have to mention the
4:21
costume designer. Mary Vogt designed the costumes
4:24
for the pilot episode and then costume is iron.
4:27
Mandy Line came in and finished out the rest of the series and
4:31
even a few of her costumes appeared in the first episode as
4:34
well. You won't know Mandy Line from a
4:37
plethora of projects. I have to shout out first her
4:41
work in music and styling. I have just grown up a big fan
4:47
of Linkin Park and System of a Down 2 bands for which Mandy
4:53
Line has worked closely with the Indian music video from Linkin
4:57
Park designed by Mandy Line, so already a big fan.
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She also worked with Corn which was one of my favorite bands and
5:05
of course 30 Seconds To Mars, Godsmack and Power Man 5000.
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Then into her TV shows and films.
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She did, of course, Greek Pretty Little Liars, The Congress,
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Shameless, The Arrangement, Travelers, Charmed, Beverly
5:23
Hills, 9O21-O, Monarch, And of course, the Bold Type.
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And the Bold Type is kind of special to me because one not
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only was an incredible show that I tell Mandy Out of Time is such
5:35
a good show in terms of costume design, but Mandy was nominated
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for a Costume Designers Guild Award in short form for a
5:43
commercial for The Bold Type. It was a commercial that blended
5:47
together The Bold Type, and Cruella and Mandy Lyon had yours
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truly on set for that specific commercial.
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I helped as a costume PA, so that was pretty insane.
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So but I guess that kind of, you know, by association makes me
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for this episode ACDG nominee. This is the only time I could
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say that with it only being kind of true.
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But so, yeah, you know, no big deal or anything.
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Now with that, I'm so excited to get into this series.
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Costume designer Mandy Lion is here right after this break.
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We'll get right into it. I am so excited to introduce
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someone very special to me. I can't believe this is our
7:00
first time doing a interview. Costume designer Mandy line one
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of my bestest friends. Mandy, what's up?
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It's so funny when you say like, I can't believe we haven't done
7:10
this ghetto. I think we interview each other
7:13
every day pretty much. So just normal we've.
7:16
Done like 100 mini podcast. Exactly about life.
7:20
So glad to be here. Thank you.
7:22
I'm so glad to be here. I mean, so much of what I do is
7:25
because of, you know, the things I've learned from you.
7:28
You've kind of been a bit of a mentor to me.
7:30
And thank. You and for like the same age
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mentor, right? Like same age.
7:35
Same you like my sister. Yeah, that's right.
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Well, I'm excited today to talk about your work for once on
7:44
Hulu, death and other details. I'm obsessed with this show.
7:47
So much fun. You know?
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I love a dark murder mystery, so I'm so excited to get into it.
7:53
But first, you know, you've had quite the versatile career,
7:56
always retaining that unique eye for style.
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So what drew you to death And other details in this boat full
8:02
of controversy and murder? Right, That's sexy murder
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controversy. It's hot murder.
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Right. That Is this a hot murder show.
8:16
You know what's interesting? I this, I really like this
8:18
question because I actually was talking to my agent the other
8:20
day and I said, who knew me on this show because most classroom
8:23
designers get calls from someone they worked with before and it
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was such an honor to be like searched out and wanted.
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And I I didn't know. I knew anybody.
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Come to find out, I knew one of the executive producers, Mark
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Webb, from my music video days. But the coolest thing was,
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number one that drew me to this project is the feeling of being
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wanted. I mean, let's admit it, it feels
8:50
good. #2 is I was on Monarch with Susan Sarandon in Atlanta.
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And when I interviewed with the two showrunners and the
9:02
directing producer, there was this already almost like
9:09
secondhand nature between us. And we just vibed off of each
9:13
other. And I felt what I felt when I
9:16
interviewed for Pretty Little Liars.
9:18
And the bold type was, wow, they're going to let me do what
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I'm good at. And what better to, you know, be
9:24
able to come on to a project where you don't have 75 cooks in
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the kitchen? And and truly, I think picking
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jobs the longer in your career that really matters.
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And that was the number one thing that drew me to this is
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that I was going to be able to do my best work.
9:41
Right. They gave you a space to be you.
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And I feel like that shines actually through to costumes.
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I mean, it has like a Mandy Lyon style to it, which I recognize
9:49
talking to you all the time, but I feel like fans of costume
9:53
design will also see it. Which leads me to my next
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question. You know this story takes place
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on a Mediterranean ocean liner with full of glamorous suspects.
10:02
Everyone is suspicious in this show.
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How did you go about your research process and capturing
10:08
the essence of all these characters 'cause there's so
10:10
many of them? OK, so I don't really know what
10:13
the Mediterranean is. I just know it's like on a
10:15
pretty ocean somewhere. No, I.
10:18
They're on a nice boat. On a nice boat with really nice
10:20
clothes. Well, one of the coolest things
10:24
is like most costume designers say is that you're continually
10:27
learning your craft and really honing it.
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And I was gifted with this diverse cast.
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I had Broadway actors, Tony Award-winning actors like Mandy
10:39
Patinkin and Linda Eamond, and I had Tambrella Perry and Danny
10:44
Johnson this these amazing epic actors.
10:48
And then, which I didn't even realize, Lisa Liu is, she plays
10:55
celium, the Asian grandmother who's up to no good.
11:00
She's one of the most. Famous Chinese.
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No good. Exactly.
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As big as suspect. Oh my.
11:06
She's one of the most famous Chinese actors, and I knew her
11:11
from crazy rich Asians. But when Taylor came in, who was
11:15
also Chinese, his hands were shaking and he was like, I don't
11:18
know if I can do this. And so as far as my research is,
11:22
I have been lucky enough, you know, raised in LA with such a
11:27
diverse culture here. But you will see on the show
11:30
there are backstories going back 40 years to ancient China and
11:36
everyone's back story. And so I really, my biggest
11:40
research factor was sitting with the actors.
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Here's my game plan. How do you see it?
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Because, you know, I'm not blind to the fact I'm this white shave
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head tattooed rock'n'roll costume designer coming into
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this. But don't get it twisted.
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I do my research, I sit with the actors.
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I really want to hear them to make sure I'm on the right path
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and telling their story, even though it is glitzy and glamour
12:06
and murder. But each character still has a
12:09
voice and and to me one of you know the most important parts of
12:14
research is is getting with that, besides the showrunners
12:18
really getting with that actor when they do look different than
12:21
you and really sitting with them and hearing them.
12:24
And I was so grateful to my cast that we got to have that time to
12:27
do that. That's awesome.
12:29
We all really had like that space to collaborate and really
12:32
bring these characters to life through the storytelling in the
12:35
costumes. Yeah, in the middle of dead
12:37
winter in Vancouver. But they made that.
12:39
They made the time for me, which a lot of, you know, actors I I
12:44
can attribute this, I think to so many of these actors are from
12:46
Broadway and really know what theater means.
12:51
That's why everyone hung up their clothes.
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Nobody was a mess. And I think getting into that
12:56
character, sometimes you get on shows where they don't have that
12:59
experience. And I, you know, I really am
13:01
grateful for the stage on this one.
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Yeah, there's a professionalism to the theater actress.
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And I'm like, let's just wing it.
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They're like, no, let's talk about it.
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I was like, OK, we can do this. We got it.
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Focus. Focus.
13:14
Which, by the way, when did you all film this?
13:17
I remember you disappearing for a while and I I can't remember.
13:20
It's kind of a blur. What's crazy is you have people
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that like, don't know the film industry, like my mother, She's
13:25
like, Oh my God, tell everybody said hi.
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I was like, cool if I can go back in time.
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We shot this. I got two.
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So it was right after Monarch in 2022.
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I had like 3 months down and then went from Atlanta home,
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went to Vancouver in June. So it was June, July, August,
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September, October, December 2022 rewrapped.
13:48
The strike happened. We're like, when is this going
13:50
to come out? And I think, you know, the
13:53
strike is unfortunate, but lucky for us, it came out right at the
13:57
end when everyone was, you know, wanting something tasty like
14:01
this. So, yeah, we wrapped December
14:03
2022, in fact. That makes sense.
14:06
I'll have to check my Mandy tracker notes to see if that
14:08
matches up so. Funny, 'cause people, I've had
14:13
so many people reach out to me recently.
14:15
They're like, Oh my God, I need a job.
14:16
I was like, that was a year ago. And they're like, oh, that's.
14:21
Weird. It's wrapped well.
14:23
This show to me feels quite large in scale.
14:25
I mean, there's so much detail, but that's actually quite
14:28
intimate. And the key is kind of in the
14:30
name death and other details. So are there symbolic elements
14:34
or details in a? Seems that maybe the audience
14:37
should be looking for to figure out what the hell is going on
14:40
here. I mean, I want to say yes,
14:43
there's like all these little Easter eggs, but honestly me and
14:47
my assistant designer Jill in Los Angeles, we would crack up
14:50
because when we got the pilot, so they shot This is something
14:53
to that's really interesting too.
14:54
So even more crazy, they shot the pilot in Los Angeles on the
15:00
Queen Mary 2021, literally even that much longer ago.
15:05
And then we came back, and this happens a lot.
15:08
When a show gets picked up, they will almost reshoot, you know,
15:13
3/4 to half of the pilot. They want us to tell the story a
15:15
little bit different. So we got the pilots.
15:20
We weren't able to talk to the showrunners yet.
15:22
And so Jill and I were trying to figure out.
15:25
We kept on saying fashion school A+ SAT is really low and so
15:31
we're trying to put together like this murder board of we are
15:35
trying to figure out the suspect and we're like oh she's here.
15:38
And here's here's the main thing was I suggest and which what we
15:42
had to really take in you're on the you're on the boat I think 3
15:47
days but the story's like 8. So it's going back and forth.
15:54
So we would have liked to have put more Easter eggs into
15:59
people's outfits but the truth is we would dress say Anna.
16:03
I'm not going to give too much away but we would dress Anna and
16:06
then find out in episode blah blah blah that she does AB and C
16:11
and I'm like holy crap we put in a YSL shirt pants that I can't
16:16
find any more. We need 10 of them now.
16:18
So I could see one of the biggest Easter eggs which just
16:23
happened in episode 4 are the Valentino rock, stud gold and
16:28
black heels that Teddy wear. So it's funny because the
16:33
showrunner Mike's like, no, we need these.
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And I was like, are they dated? I'm not like, I would give him
16:39
so much shit and he's like, trust me, we need these.
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And then now that I saw them on the episode last night, I'm
16:45
like, Oh my God, they're so good.
16:47
So I. We ate that.
16:50
And my my sister was the fashionista of it all.
16:54
And every now and then we would have like you know, we would
16:57
have discussions and most of the time, I'll be honest, he knew
17:01
his shit and he knew that they would just shine and be so
17:04
memorable. So note to self, Mike knows
17:07
best. Well, that leads me to my next
17:10
question. Actually, Death and Other
17:12
Details was written and executive produced by Mike Weiss
17:15
and Heidi Cole McAdams. Can you discuss the
17:18
collaborative process with the show's creators?
17:20
I mean, you kind of just touched on it, but sounds like this
17:22
entire show was really a collaboration.
17:25
It's funny because I say sometimes you'll hear me.
17:28
I'm like, this was the hardest time of my life and the other
17:30
time, you know, I'm like, this was such a blessing.
17:33
I think it was such a hard time because you take some heads of
17:37
departments from America, you throw them in Vancouver at the
17:39
busiest time, the coldest time. Then you go right to work.
17:43
You're recreating this pilot and you know you don't want to
17:47
reinvent. So Mary Bo did the original
17:50
pilot. You want to, you know, help
17:53
these characters tell their story bigger, but you also don't
17:57
want to insult anything that happened before.
17:59
But you know that wow she did a really good job with her.
18:03
I want to kind of push the boundaries with Celia and
18:06
Eleanor. You know different characters.
18:07
But to to to get back to your question about the showrunners.
18:11
It was so crazy and chaotic because the magnitude of the
18:17
show. But I don't know if I've had
18:21
necessarily since Greek or Pretty Little Liars where I had
18:27
Heidi and Mike speed dial as such A day to term to say but.
18:31
I use speed dial. When I when I needed Heidi,
18:36
Heidi was the voice of of. She knew every single word in
18:41
the script and why someone did something and what page number
18:44
and what scene. And I told her I said I had
18:47
never in my career met an alpha, that an alpha and alpha usually
18:52
do this. We were like, I just, I mean,
18:55
she's married, but I'm in love with her.
18:56
Oh my God, the respect I have for that woman.
19:00
And then coming back to Mike. I had never met a man that was
19:06
so in touch with fashion. What's happening now?
19:09
And the brand come to find out his wife is into that too.
19:13
He's into the fashion culture. And it was, it was never he knew
19:19
better. It was like, let me hear your
19:20
thoughts, Mandy, and why. And he would go like, Oh my God,
19:24
that makes total sense. You're right.
19:25
She's running. She can't be in that.
19:27
So I would say as far as the logical mind of Heidi and the
19:32
the true nature of this back story told through fashion of
19:36
Mike, it was I never felt more heard or more respected since
19:43
since Greek and Pretty Little Liars.
19:45
And you know that time span's been a good ten years and I I
19:50
don't even know what I'll do. But that doesn't happen again.
19:53
I'm like wait a minute, what happened to Heidi and Mike?
19:55
Like I need where where'd you guys go?
19:58
So hopefully I just work with them again forever.
19:59
Right. I mean, projects work best when
20:02
people collaborate together, so I'm so glad you got to have
20:04
that. So and and sorry, one more thing
20:06
too, is that when you have a studio, Hulu and ABC that trust
20:10
their showrunners and they don't micromanage, that is something
20:14
that any costume designer will tell you as a gift.
20:17
Yeah, let's take creativity, flow, really.
20:21
So let's talk about some of our key characters first.
20:24
We gotta start with the whole story kind of surrounds Imogen
20:28
who She has a really nice style, and I feel like I see a lot of
20:32
Mandy Lyon in this character, honestly.
20:35
Do you do you feel the same? Well you know what's funny is I
20:39
had talked about Trish Somerville, you know her, you've
20:42
interviewed her and I always say if you watch Trish's shows,
20:46
there's like 1 character where I'm like that's Trish, right.
20:50
And in this one I literally couldn't help it.
20:52
I mean even down to the priest, I'm like I'm going to make him
20:55
in a yellow priest outfit. So I I couldn't help but put
20:59
myself in in most of these characters and Imogen had to.
21:03
I mean that face. I didn't want to distract that
21:07
face. That haircut Violet was Violet
21:11
is on another level, She's like this punk rocker with tattoos
21:14
everywhere. She's a music video director,
21:17
animal lover, sexiest being, but so, like edgy and loves feel.
21:22
Is it cool? And like, yeah, I got dirty
21:24
hair, whatever. And she gets on camera, and I
21:27
had to find the balance between always being next to Rufus and
21:32
making sure that her clothes had this like respect towards Rufus.
21:36
So I made sure she had a lot of collars, everything was fitted.
21:41
If you see there's a lot of shoulder work in there, which I
21:43
jumped off. The original costume designer
21:46
who did part of the pilot, she, she really highlighted her
21:49
shoulders and I love to continue with that.
21:52
Too bad. It was like negative 3° in
21:57
Vancouver and the poor girl was freezing.
21:59
So you'll see it from scenes. All of a sudden she goes from a
22:01
crop top to like, some big jacket that Sue Neil gave her.
22:04
You're like, that's weird. She did a lot of clad.
22:08
She did a lot of smart silhouettes and fabrics.
22:12
I wanted to make it, you know, a little more studious with an
22:14
edge. Yeah, you would think it's like
22:16
85° throughout this entire show. Actually, I've.
22:19
Got the poor. I'm not even kidding you.
22:21
The actors had on electrical vests, hand warmers, they call
22:27
them hot shots. They have them in every pockets,
22:29
those little like shakable hand warm.
22:31
And no one knows how to keep cast warm better than Canadians.
22:35
Because when I went up there, I'm like, oh, just get them like
22:37
a little robe. They're like, no, yeah, it gets
22:40
like naked to five here. And so they, I mean they
22:42
literally have warming down to a science.
22:45
So our poor little Americans are like, it's freezing.
22:48
I know. I'm literally sitting next to my
22:51
heater right now and it's probably like 50°.
22:54
So literally, I'm like, Oh my God, it's me too.
22:56
I'm dying. It's so cold.
23:00
You spoke a little bit about Rufus, our detective.
23:04
I I thought this was such an interesting character because
23:07
we've seen detective characters done 100,000 times.
23:11
But there's something about this character that was like, subtle.
23:13
Were you able to say he was a detective?
23:15
But he also blended in. He also just seemed like someone
23:19
who was just there. Do you get what I'm saying?
23:22
He was. I love that you.
23:23
I love that you said that because you're spot on.
23:27
No, we. It's to the point where Heidi
23:31
said to me once she's like bulls move.
23:33
I was like, if I always take, I take credit for him.
23:36
Well, thank you so much. What would you be talking about?
23:39
He's like you had put Layla and Rufus in this green against the
23:44
green and I was like that was totally on purpose.
23:47
I look at my crew. Did that mean did I mean to do
23:49
that? But with the pilot and the peak
23:52
lapel double breasted linen? Feel it Just the nod.
23:59
In my original interview, you know, I had done his boards and
24:04
one of the most consistent things that we wanted to keep
24:07
with him is what suit wasn't crisp.
24:10
So when we did do flashbacks, he's super crisp.
24:13
Super different fabrics. I mean, pretty much everything
24:16
on him was custom made beard. I'm dead serious.
24:20
He's got this beard and if the collar hits his beard, it's
24:23
like, I can imagine, like you know if anything hits this like
24:26
really tight skin, I get upset. But he's so he's got this beard
24:30
and he doesn't want the collar. So he literally had the shirts
24:32
custom made, the scarves custom made, half the suits custom made
24:37
just because he he, I mean he's an alcoholic in the past and you
24:42
all, you're kind of suspect like oh is he drinking?
24:45
Has he been drinking? Has he stayed up all night?
24:48
There's flashbacks telling the story of who he You know, they
24:50
call him the greatest detective in the world.
24:52
And it's like he was at one time until he got broken.
24:57
And now he's trying to get back in the game, trying to get on
24:59
top, trying to pass down his knowledge with looking like he
25:03
belongs on a ship. Not sticking out like you said,
25:07
but also looking like he didn't pack 75 different outfits like
25:11
Eleanor. Eleanor had like 75 bags and
25:13
like 10 people taking them on the ship.
25:16
We wanted to keep him real but different.
25:18
And I I don't know if there's anything I want to do for Mandy
25:22
Patinkin. I I can't even tell you I'm in
25:25
love with him. So much fittings.
25:28
And he would just sit down and I would walk the fitting with him
25:33
and he would ask, you know, why you chose that, why you chose
25:37
that color, What scenes are these four?
25:39
And he would look at me and he would say, are they going to
25:41
fit? And I said, well, I think so,
25:44
Mandy. But just in case, let's try them
25:46
on. And he goes, you have to try in
25:48
the pants. I'm like, you don't have to do
25:50
any. I mean, we knew they would fit
25:52
because we had, we had done, you know, the initial fittings.
25:54
And sometimes when someone works so much, you don't always want
25:57
to bring them back. But the trust that he had and
26:01
then you know, if he was in a mood where he's like, yeah,
26:03
let's get into it, let's try this stuff on.
26:05
And other times he's like, honey, just put him in my room.
26:07
I trust you. And I just I I love.
26:12
I loved his generosity to the character and really his why
26:19
every time I saw him was a why. But it wasn't, you know, it was
26:23
more. You tell me why you did that.
26:25
Because I'm here to listen to you because you're the costume
26:27
designer. I just that's everything that
26:29
everyone says about him. That is good.
26:32
He's that good. Oh man, it sounds like the real
26:34
deal. That's really cool.
26:37
Two of my favorite characters are actually Anna and Layla.
26:40
I mean, I'm obsessed with them, so.
26:43
Hot, right? So hot.
26:45
But also their costumes too. Every time I'd see one of them
26:48
I'd be like, oh, like I that's one of my favourites.
26:50
That's one of my favourites. So you must have had fun with
26:53
these two characters. Oh my God.
26:55
OK, I could talk forever about them, but I'll try to just
26:58
quickly sum it up. So Leyla party.
27:01
So she was, I think she was my first fitting in Los Angeles
27:05
because I had a team in Los Angeles.
27:07
I had a team in Malta and I had a team in Vancouver.
27:10
What's up, Baller? No.
27:13
And so we knew that we could see her.
27:15
She lives in Los Feliz, and when she came in for a fitting, I
27:20
didn't even know how to start with the clothes on the rack
27:23
behind me. I just started asking her
27:24
questions like, so like on your free time, do you like, take
27:27
pictures of yourself? And she's like, what?
27:30
She's so pretty? It's.
27:32
It's insane. It's so ridiculous.
27:35
But on top of it, she's a total goofball.
27:39
I told her all the time, I'm you're so silly.
27:42
She's so humble with her appearance.
27:45
She's like, I would take the fitting photos and I'm like,
27:49
sometimes actually we had to rein it in.
27:52
There was a scene last night and she'll know exactly what I'm
27:55
talking about. There's like she comes out of
27:57
this like locker and she was so hot in a couple of the outfits.
28:04
I'm like, hey Rufus, it just got too much where she was like hey,
28:08
what's up? We're like Rufus would have to
28:10
be blind to not be like what's up Layla, like he had to rein it
28:15
in. So it's like the first outfit
28:17
that you'll see that's like long sleeve and has a collar.
28:20
I mean, it's totally see through lace but still.
28:23
And Heidi and Heidi and Mike were really adamant with making
28:29
her grounded and vintage, but they gave me freedom to figure
28:33
out who that was. And I really jumped off research
28:35
with what's the one with Penélope Cruz and Javier Bardem,
28:41
the threesome one where she's like this crazy Prince.
28:44
Shoot. He too, Mama.
28:45
No, that was not no, that's not it anyways.
28:49
But her character was a little out there, a little off dress,
28:54
like effortless with these cool headbands and these like vintage
28:57
dresses. And she was 100% the inspiration
29:02
for Layla. So Lauren, the best thing about
29:06
Lauren is it's like you have this whole idea with characters
29:11
and then you meet them and you're just like, oh shit, how
29:14
am I going to tweak that? But that's why I always say I
29:16
cannot put together boards until I, you know, see who they're
29:19
casting. And I think I still have a crush
29:22
on Lauren. Like I she came into my fitting.
29:28
She comes in, she's just like kind of broish and she's got
29:32
like, like a flat bill cap on and like dunks and like
29:36
basketball shorts. I was just like, Oh my God, Oh
29:38
my God. I am so in love with all this
29:41
queerness that is happening in front of me.
29:42
I brush on him. But her character, even though
29:47
they're this queer couple, it's like, and and being a queer
29:51
human, it's like, I don't want to do anything on the nose, but
29:55
you also want to take who that person is and you're like, OK,
29:58
well I can't pull off like what I'm doing with Layla, with Anna
30:03
and and so them themselves help me.
30:07
Yeah, they have to work together.
30:09
That's, that's it. It has to mesh.
30:11
It's like you're not going to take Mandy and make her a
30:14
Scarlett Johansson. By the way, that's the name we
30:16
were looking for. And so I, you know, sometimes we
30:22
had to reign back in, probably to like my fantasy of, like,
30:25
Danny, Lauren, I'm just like, Oh my God, I want to put you in
30:29
something super masculine. And I'm like, wait a minute, but
30:31
that's not Anna. So you'll see her.
30:34
Once you see her in a suit, though, it's beautiful and
30:37
bright and fitted and not boxy. And her undergarments are
30:42
feminine and sexy. And they each definitely had
30:46
their colour palettes. And you saw why they were
30:50
attracted to each other and why they put up with each other's
30:53
neuroticness and craziness. And I mean sexual chemistry.
30:57
I mean, who knows what the heck was happening without, you know,
31:00
other part of the relationship. But when they got together, it
31:03
was like everyone was like it was and in the World Cup help,
31:08
except we always knew that the border was going to come off.
31:10
So it's like how do I make sure this comes off easy?
31:14
Well, they worked really well together.
31:17
Anna is definitely one of my favorite characters.
31:20
For our next character, we have Jules, and you were telling me
31:23
the other day about the story of his windbreaker, and I just felt
31:26
like we had to talk about it. Oh my God, Jules.
31:29
So Jules. So Jules came in.
31:33
He was. So he was actually really into
31:35
his character, which made me so happy because sometimes you see
31:40
like, oh, there's a pretty face and a good body and all this.
31:43
And, you know, he was so dedicated to who he was.
31:47
And you see Jules's character on the ship.
31:50
And it's so cool. We got to see his back story,
31:52
why him and Sunil were friends and he was like this like Thug.
31:56
And it, you know, took me to Lock Stock and Two Smoking
31:59
Barrels and, like, it really reminded me of who Hugo was, his
32:04
name, who he was when he was young, growing up there.
32:06
So I went out and, you know, you got this culture in Vancouver
32:12
that's predominantly white and Asian.
32:14
And I was like, we got to look for some thug shit up in here.
32:16
And I'm like, where am I? I'm so I found this vintage
32:21
bomber, well, this Windbreaker. And never in my history of being
32:26
a costume designer have I been such like an asshole to my crew
32:30
going. We got to remake this and I want
32:32
this exact fabric and we need 10 of them.
32:35
I did it this time. We had, we had the resources.
32:39
We had the tailoring team bow down.
32:41
Paul and my team really made it happen.
32:44
And then I mean he pretty much lived in that windbreaker for so
32:50
much of the show and we had that like unzipped with a pira
32:54
necklace and it just it it worked with his back story.
32:58
Like that Windbreaker really told so much of his you know his
33:04
thug life and why he is and why he did you know why he has these
33:09
St. smarts? I called the windbreaker.
33:11
No. I want one.
33:14
If there's an 11th one, I would like for you to.
33:17
Ship it to so much stuff. I would have snagged if I would.
33:19
I'm just like, Oh my God, I left Vancouver.
33:21
Why didn't we take out that right allowed to.
33:24
I know Hulu. We're not allowed to.
33:26
Yeah, if you're listening Hulu, yeah.
33:28
Really. My favorite character is
33:30
definitely Agent Hildy Erickson. She is just such a badass and
33:34
every time she's just on the camera, I'm like, yes, this is
33:37
my favorite. She gets things done but and she
33:40
has a style too. But she's also kind of funny
33:42
too. I have to say, she is hilarious.
33:45
You saw her kind of come alive when they, like, accused the
33:48
girl and she's like, good luck pretty much.
33:50
She was like, you're all stupid. She's so good, my spirit animal.
33:56
I think it's interesting because I think Linda as a human and
34:00
Hilde is a Hilde as a character. They truly grow on you because
34:05
at first you're like, who is this person coming on this ship?
34:09
Why do you think you know everything?
34:10
And then Linda, which I didn't even realize, I just worked with
34:15
Holly Hunter and I said I had worked with Linda Eamond.
34:18
And she was like, she turned her head and she was like, listen,
34:21
darling, that's one of the best actors of our generation.
34:25
Do you know what that woman's done?
34:26
And I was like, I now I know now because I've fallen in love with
34:30
Linda. But at first, I mean, she she
34:34
gets into her character so much that at times I remember saying
34:39
like, shit, I got Linda coming in for fitting, Oh my God, you
34:44
can't miss a beat. And during shooting sometimes I
34:49
was like, oh God, this is going to be too much.
34:52
But she elevated my game. She I always was on my toes.
34:57
There was no faltering no wavering with Linda and just
35:02
wait because the story gets better with her character and I
35:06
saw why she put in so much. But it was this Navy blue suit.
35:12
I'm not. I think we had forty options.
35:15
I'm not kidding. You sent from Los Angeles.
35:17
We wanted it to be not androgynous to like oh she guy
35:21
or girl. But androgynous into the to tap
35:25
into the fact of she's all business.
35:27
It's all business. It's not about flair.
35:30
I think we had 30 different white shirts Foxy fitted.
35:35
You thought the theory work that didn't work.
35:37
You thought this one would work. That didn't work.
35:38
And it was just about what call or didn't interfere with the
35:42
lapel. And I think we fit that thing
35:46
until the day we wrapped because it grew, It move, it shifted and
35:50
I would take the suit back to the tailors.
35:51
They're like again. I was like, dude, we have eight
35:54
of these suits. There's so many.
35:56
There's so much action in that suit.
35:59
And The funny thing is I can now post the photo.
36:02
We had Halloween during death and other details.
36:06
And I was Hilde. I was Hilde Erickson.
36:10
Just wait. Oh my God.
36:12
I put my costume up. Not kidding you at some point.
36:15
One of the ads. He's like, we need you on set.
36:17
I'm all I'm not. It was so funny.
36:20
One of my girls dressed up as Trip.
36:23
She had like, coke. I don't know.
36:24
I mean, it was so funny. I'm going to share the photos
36:27
once everyone knows who these characters are.
36:29
But I felt honored to be her. I love it.
36:33
And there's more to this character than some people might
36:36
know. I've seen most of the show, so
36:38
you I. Know you.
36:40
All have some fun stuff coming up.
36:43
I don't even remember like all the.
36:45
I mean, I do, But at the end, I know I'm going to be shocked
36:48
when I watch it. My friends, I was like, didn't
36:50
she work on it? I'm like, Oh yeah, but there's
36:52
so many things I know. You're busy and clearly because
36:56
the next character, 2 characters, I want to talk about
36:58
our last characters, the Chun family, Eleanor and Celia.
37:02
I mean Eleanor's costumes. I just, yeah, it's a lot Mandy
37:07
and like the best way. Like I just every time I see
37:09
him, I'm like, Oh yeah, this is this is it.
37:13
Well, I want to be part of their family.
37:15
Like, 2, I can't even. And they're just rotten.
37:20
And I'd be happy to be bad. Like, I don't care.
37:22
They're so rotten and cutthroat. But the coolest thing about
37:27
Carolyn, who plays Eleanor, is I hadn't been on a show and like,
37:32
you watch True Detective. Now there's a girl with
37:34
piercings and I'm just like, dude, showrunners are getting
37:37
like super dope and who they're picking.
37:40
And I remember asking the showrunners, Oh my God, whose
37:44
judgement was to make this like, asymmetrical haircut?
37:47
And they said that she came to the audition with that.
37:51
I was like. Perfect.
37:52
Yeah, it. Was it was so awesome to, I mean
37:57
for everyone. I think you know those doing her
37:59
room, her luggage, her makeup. It was truly besides jumping off
38:04
that face and this statuesque and stuff her her physique.
38:08
I jumped off her haircut like that was it.
38:12
And I was like, oh, I could get crazy with this girl.
38:15
And again, it was with her. It was how to top Anna, how to
38:21
top Layla. And don't get it twisted,
38:24
Eleanor, when she brings it, she's like, oh, that's so cute
38:27
you guys got dressed. That's OK.
38:29
I think I'm Team Eleanor. Sorry everyone else.
38:32
But then Celia comes in. Have you seen the table scene
38:37
when they're going head to head with the business deal?
38:39
Oh. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
38:40
Celia's like, excuse me, sorry, let me put my Dolce and Gabbana
38:44
tape. What's up?
38:46
Do you guys need something? Can I help you?
38:48
Like what? A Cape.
38:49
But they'll take them on a Cape that there's this big bow on it
38:53
and we took it off. Oh, that scene for those, when
38:57
you guys watch it head to head, it was truly how can I top, how
39:03
can I top? And it was just, I was just
39:05
thinking of how everyone would top each other.
39:06
And Celia, just to know to the awesomeness of of myself, of
39:13
myself and my team is she was an older actress and you know, her
39:20
mobility wasn't there as you know, as we're used to in
39:24
fittings. And she and her daughter trusted
39:27
us so much. We like held her, helped her get
39:31
dressed. I mean, she's on it.
39:33
Her game is there. She knows likes and she doesn't
39:36
like. And I loved her so much because
39:38
after we would put her in her clothes, she would look at
39:41
herself and she would just, like, get into her character and
39:47
she would say rings on every finger like, girl, your
39:51
knuckles, like you have more, She's like more, more.
39:54
Between her and Catherine, the white mom, I was like, Oh my
39:59
God, like they're poor necks like work at girls because you
40:03
guys are killing it. It truly was.
40:06
The Chun family was probably in my career, the most elevated
40:12
versions of. My costume design that I've ever
40:15
been able to do. We need like a succession type
40:18
spin off about the Chun family with you as a designer.
40:22
Everyone said that when the Chuck comment even like the
40:25
grips are like what what a lot. Like, I mean it got to the point
40:30
where Eleanor, if you look at the back of our callers, my crew
40:33
was like, Mandy, we don't have enough time.
40:34
I'm like, so every caller had a different color her rings.
40:38
I was just watching Episode 4. She goes to make out with
40:42
somebody got these, like, spikes.
40:46
I was like, yeah, badass. Spin.
40:50
Off. I'm there for it.
40:51
Yeah, please, please someone. So, Mandy, what do you hope the
40:55
audience takes away from watching death and other
40:58
details? I have so much fun.
40:59
It somehow is joyful and positive, but also, you know,
41:03
kind of dark and a bit scary. It it has everything.
41:07
So what do you hope audiences will take away from seeing the
41:10
show, and especially your costumes?
41:13
I really hope people realize, like if they think they're about
41:16
to kill somebody, like maybe they.
41:18
I was kidding. Not going to get away with
41:21
murder. Oh, God, that's a that's a cool
41:24
question. You know what I find on shows
41:29
where I get to push the limits and get to, you know, even
41:34
though my, my imagination is so big, I get to even go bigger
41:41
than that. I hope that people watch shows
41:43
like this and go and they look in their closet and they're
41:46
like, Oh my God, I can pull that off.
41:49
I don't have to be a billionaire on a boat.
41:51
And I just, I love when shows like this 'cause people to take
41:57
risks with their fashion. Because let me tell you once you
42:01
don't know who's going to kill you.
42:02
You know tomorrow. No, you don't know.
42:05
They're not given tomorrow. Don't want to die in?
42:09
Seriously. Oh my God, that is so good.
42:10
I hope these people make them really focus on what they would
42:14
die in if they too. I love how this ended all like
42:18
dark and twisted. No, it was going to happen,
42:21
actually. We all know it.
42:23
They're. Just leading me there, OK, OK.
42:25
Rufus. Isn't that cool how Rufus leads
42:28
everyone, Like, like in the last episode when he was telling
42:31
member asking the Russian refugees and she was like Phil,
42:37
he's like, no Imogen, that's what you remember, not her.
42:41
Like that's true, Rufus. Yeah, he's a master, but just
42:47
like you, I mean, I feel like it's such a good way to put.
42:49
I feel like people could see themselves in these characters
42:52
and walking in front of the show, they can maybe take
42:55
elements of it into their own everyday life.
42:57
And you don't have to be in a big expensive boat to do it.
43:01
Maybe you're a Eleanor or a Imogen, You never know.
43:05
I feel like I'm more. Of a Rufus.
43:07
You're more Rufus. Yeah, That's when someone asked
43:09
me. They're like, I think I'm more
43:10
you know, and you. I like that when they put
43:13
themselves into it. And the good thing is, is that
43:15
we were literally not on a boat. We were in freezing cold rain in
43:18
Vancouver with like 1/3. Every time you see a pool, it
43:22
was like literally like 10 feet by 10 feet.
43:25
We're all like huddled on this baby like little fake ship with
43:28
blue screens everywhere and like pouring rain, Vancouver with
43:32
rain, like covers, so you don't even have to be on a boat to
43:35
look good. Exactly.
43:39
And just for our last question, because we're such good friends,
43:43
I want to ask you, looking at the future as a costume desire.
43:46
You just did this incredible show.
43:48
You've done a tons of other incredible shows like what do
43:52
you want to be next in your life and your career.
43:55
Like what is like a dream project for you that you would
43:57
love to do? What type of projects?
43:59
This is a funny question because I asked this to Ruth Carter
44:03
once, And you know what? What would you like that you've
44:06
never done? And she's like, I don't want to
44:08
do contemporary shit. I hate you know, that stuff is
44:10
too hard. Everyone's got their opinion.
44:13
I'm not kidding. Like, it's like Shameless meets
44:17
Death and other details. Like I want to do, like I want
44:20
to do junkies and crackheads. And like, I love doing Super
44:24
Dark and fucked up. I don't know.
44:27
It's like, I've done the vampire world, I've done the druggie
44:32
world, I've done the beautiful world.
44:35
It's like, if you can put those all together, that would be
44:37
awesome. I just want, I love, you know
44:41
what I love? No, see, I don't want to do like
44:43
crazy superheroes, though. I just want to do.
44:47
I just love doing edgy. I I want to do what I do.
44:50
Like I was talking about Al Perez.
44:52
Like I don't want to do a Western unless they pay me a lot
44:55
of money. I just, I truly love doing
44:59
modern, contemporary, edgy. I love, I I love doing what's
45:06
next? Like, what's coming up next?
45:09
You know, the coolest of the cool.
45:11
Well, I am so excited to see what's next for you because I'm
45:14
sure it's going to be amazing as always.
45:16
Costume designer Mandy Line, thank you so much for talking
45:19
with me. I'm so glad we finally did this.
45:21
Thank you, Spencer. We'll talk again tonight because
45:22
that's what we do all the time. Thank you.
45:24
Thank you T This is so much fun. Oh, thank you.
45:28
Yeah. Well, definitely.
45:28
I'm going to be texting you in five more minutes.
45:31
Bye. The Art of Costume podcast is
45:38
hosted and produced by Elizabeth Joy Glass and Spencer Williams.
45:43
Our audio engineering and editing is done by Dan White.
45:47
Follow us on TikTok at The Art of Costume and Instagram at The
45:53
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45:56
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46:01
For more podcast updates, costume reviews, deep dives and
46:06
interviews, go to theartofcostume.com, A blog
46:10
dedicated to highlighting the best in costume design.