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Collector’s Corner
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Dead Man Working
After spending the last few years designing jewelry, Academy Award winning makeup artist David LeRoy Anderson is thrilled to have been able to return to the Hollywood fold.
Tuesday, November 16, 2004
By Ian Spelling
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Universal Home Video
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Anderson's still life art
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In the late 1990s, David LeRoy Anderson won consecutive Best Makeup Academy Awards for his work with Rick Baker on The Nutty Professor and Men in Black. But after helping Eddie Murphy splinter into the various members of his film family once more for 2000’s Nutty Professor II: The Klumps and working on the indie feature The Brightness You Keep, Anderson decided to take a break from the business.
In short order, the longtime collector of silver jewelry created his own line of artifacts inspired by the bones and skulls of an African lion. He christened it Leonis Rex and, after putting it together at his studio in Malibu, California with help from Sierra Pacific Casting in San Francisco, began selling it mainly in Japan.
“I passed on a number of [Hollywood] projects and almost put myself out of a career,” recalls Anderson during a recent interview with FilmStew. “You can’t pass on everything for very long before people stop calling you again.”
So when the opportunity arose to work on the remake of Dawn of the Dead, which was recently released on DVD as an unrated version with 12 minutes of additional footage, Anderson decided it was time to reclaim his former profession. “It was good timing, because I wanted to come back and the whole Japanese economy had hit the brakes,” he says. “I could see the end coming as far as jewelry designing being a full-time job.”
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Universal Home Video
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Finishing foam touches
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“I was thoroughly pleased with Dawn of the Dead,” adds Anderson, whose other credits include The Serpent and the Rainbow, Pet Sematary and Death Becomes Her. “I went to a screening with most of the crew that was responsible for the zombies. It was a thrilling night and none of us were let down. It was quite a payday.”
Anderson isn’t quite sure how he got the call to work on the Romero remake, but says he couldn’t have asked for a better project through which to return to the prosthetics world. He has since moved on to The Cinderella Man, a high profile project that reunites the main parties of A Beautiful Mind, Ron Howard and Russell Crowe, making the latter look like 1935 heavyweight boxing champion Jim Braddock.
Anderson, who lives in Los Angeles with his wife, A Nightmare on Elm Street star Heather Langenkamp, also happens to be the owner of a fairly impressive DVD collection. In honor of Universal’s recent October 26th DVD release of the unrated version of Dawn of the Dead, he made time to answer our Collector’s Corner questions.
Q: When did you buy your first DVD and how many do you own?
A: I own a lot but, fortunately, I didn’t have to pay for most of them. As a result of winning those Academy Awards in 1996 and 1997 with Rick Baker, I became an Academy member and I’m on the makeup board now. So I get a lot of the movies from the Academy or through the Academy.
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Universal Home Video
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All-time favorite DVD
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I’ve got this ridiculously large collection of DVDs. It’s very extensive and, in fact, there are movies in there I’ve not even had a chance to watch yet. So far as my first DVD? It was probably a movie I worked on. I’m guessing, but I’m think it was Hot Shots, Part Deux.
Q: What are your three favorite DVDs
A: Jaws is number one. I can’t even count how many times I’ve watched that. You’re going to think I’m a freak, but It’s a Wonderful Life would be at number 2. We watch that every year at the holidays. And three… That’s a toughie. I guess it would have to be Cheech & Chong’s Up in Smoke. I watch that every time I get sick.
What was the last DVD you watched?
A: Dawn of the Dead, actually. Can I say that?
Q: What kind of viewing environment do you have?
A: I’ve just got a nice Sony Trinitron in the living room, a nice big flat screen. I don’t have the whole stereo system set up yet. I’m still trying to work on my wife for the surround sound. Right now I’ve got a basic JVC DVD player, but if the Academy does send out DVD players to play encoded DVD screeners, I’ll have to move it into another room.
Q: As someone who’s involved behind the scenes, what elements of a film – editing, sound, effect, makeup – do you feel translate best on DVD?
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New Line Cinema
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Anderson's Elm Street gal
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A: I think DVDs are the greatest compliment to the cinematographer. Anything that allows the picture to be seen as clearly as the cinematographer intended it to be seen, and that helps keep it true to their vision, is a good thing. And right now, you can’t beat DVDs for their clarity and quality.
Q: Do you own any box sets or DVD collections?
A: I have the box set of the Alien films, Quadrilogy. That’s an amazing set. And because my wife was in the Nightmare on Elm Street films, we’ve got that series on DVD. But that’s really it for the packages.
Q: Who or what influences your decision to buy DVDs, particularly non-mainstream titles?
A: The articles in the DVD section of the Los Angeles Times [by Susan King] are the only stories that I can tell you I’ve ever looked at. And I look at that section every weekend.
Q: Finally, there’s a running debate about including deleted scenes and alternate endings on DVDs. What’s your opinion?
A: I think it’s fine so long as you have the opportunity to watch the original theatrical release as well. But in general, so far as seeing the director’s cut, I’m all for it. I think it’s a great idea.
The unrated director’s cut of Dawn of the Dead has material Zack couldn’t put in the theatrical edition because it would have changed the rating. A lot of directors have to compromise with the final product, so I think it’s always worth taking a look at what they considered to be their vision.
I understand people who are pissed off about the Star Wars DVDs. The classic versions and the new versions should be on the DVD.
[Twice a month, columnist Ian Spelling takes an insider’s look at the home video and DVD scene through interviews with some of the industry’s main players and those associated with the latest noteworthy new releases. To reach the author, please email editors@filmstew.com.]
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