‘The Book of Clarence:’ How Makeup Department Head Matiki Anoff Helped Director Jeymes Samuel Achieve His Vision of “Biblical Chocolate”

Did you know that when working on a period piece makeup artists have to hand-lay individual hairs to correct overly manicured eyebrows? Beards must also be hand-laid and men’s pierced ears have to be corrected and concealed. The very same details that take us back in time, if mishandled, can break the cinematic spell and take us out of the story. It’s up to makeup department heads like Matiki Anoff to manage the blink-and-you miss-it minutia that complete the very best historical dramas.

A hidden gem of 2024 thus far, Jeymes Samuel’s biblical comedy. The Book of Clarence is a riot, And absolutely stuffed with characters (LaKeith Stanfield is a holy-good lead)—there’s a club scene jammed with extras, a blue lady, and appearances from all of your favorite biblical icons.

Anoff does a masterful job managing it all in The Book of Clarence. And with only four days to prepare before joining the set. Anoff calls ‘Clarence’ her toughest job yet. And it has given her the confidence to do anything.

I can’t wait to see what that looks like. Read more from The Book of Clarence’s makeup department head, Matiki Anoff below.

Awards Daily: I’m curious about your preparation for a project like The Book of Clarence. Take me back to that time when you were surrounded by books and pictures doing your research. What were you studying? 

Matiki Anoff: Okay. First of all, in terms of preparation, I had four days to prepare for this project.

AD: Oh, wow. We’re already off to a great start here.

MA: [Laughs]. Yes, I got the script. I think we had the script for a week before they told me I was hired. I flew to Matera, and I started four days later. So, in terms of preparation, it was really hectic. I used Google, Flickr, and every photo app with any historical reference to that period. I was going through research and researching some more.

AD: Oh my gosh, how did you pull it all off? The level of detail here truly impresses—so many looks, so many intricate details, and with such a limited time frame to plan.

MA: I cannot tell you. I had a fantastic crew. Fortunately for me, Italians are known to be some of the best hand-laying experts in the world. I had an incredible Italian crew. The crowd supervisor, Laura Borzelli, had been on for quite some time. She had done a lot of research, which was so helpful. By the time I got there, we prioritized what direction we were going in and what the director wanted.

AD: What adjustments, if any, did you have to make? 

MA: Quite a few things changed. As an African, it was vital for me to portray the different ethnicities accurately. So for example, if they were from a certain region of the world, they would have the appropriate  scarification. There were other tribes who had no body scars or facial scars. It was essential for me to get each tribe correct.

AD: I want to talk about the club scene because it’s so fun! And it showcases so many characters with their own intricate makeup looks.

MA: The club scene was where we could go to town and use a little bit of creative license for the female characters because, for most of the movie, they were made up, but they shouldn’t appear to be made up.

But for the club scene, Jeymes has said he wanted it to be “biblical chocolate.” That’s what we went for. We made each look very distinctive. I collaborated with the incredible costume designer Antoinette Messam. She would show me what each character would be wearing, and then I would design each look specifically for the hair and costume design.

AD: Tell me about the Blue Goddess and that character’s design. 

MA: Jeymes wants this recurring woman in every movie [he makes]. We saw her in The Harder They Fall. She looked a lot different there. But for [The Book of Clarence], given the period, it’s a stretch of the imagination. So, I said, ‘Okay, she can be blue, but she will look the period.’ So, I designed this intricate gold filigree that went around her head. In that era, it would have been in henna, but henna would not have shown up on the blue body paint. So, we went with gold. Then I asked that her fingers be decked in gold because it was a very dark, moody scene, and we had to have something that would stand out. Laura, who did the artwork, suggested some diamonds, so we put some little gemstones in the makeup. We pulled the eyes so they would have that upward sweep. And it came out incredibly well.

AD: Oh, absolutely. You bring up an interesting point, which is that, of course, you want to keep things as period-accurate as possible, but then you’re also dealing with something that has some fantastical elements.

MA: Well, with the rest of the characters, it was pretty easy. I know the period. We’ve seen a hundred movies in that period.

The only difference is that we felt these characters were closer to what the actual characters looked like. We concentrated a lot on skin tones and what region a particular group would have come from. Were they poor? If they were poor, then we colored the teeth a little bit, for example. There were a lot of beggars, disabled people, so we kept that in mind. Did they walk to the location? Did they come on a donkey? All those things were considered: how much dust and dirt would they have on their feet and hands?

With the women, if they more successful, like in the hairdressing scene, we would have henna and the henna appliques.

AD: I think the average moviegoer has no idea what how much dirt to apply is a major artistic consideration. What are some fun details that you put a lot of work into that you want to draw attention to, or something that you hope stands out as people watch?

MA: Definitely the beard work. From the compliments I have gotten so far when I post about beard work, everybody thought they were real. Nobody thought that they were hand-laid. They thought the actors had grown their beards for months. So, the beards definitely work.

Unfortunately, there was a scene that didn’t make the movie, and that was the Leper Colony, which was amazing. We did amazing leprosy for that scene. So that, more than anything, had it been in [the final cut], would have been very realistic and very moving.

With the rest, we had to stay true to the period, we had to pair everything back in terms of makeup. We concentrated on the skin, highlighting, and getting the beards correct. The women of that era used oils so we did that to emphasize their skin.

AD I thought the beards were real, too! [Laughs]. I also loved Teyana Taylor’s character and the transformation she goes through.

MA: Oh, Teyana was great. I think I met her the day before we worked together, but it worked out very well.

She was very interested in my thoughts. I told her what my feelings were. She had this tremendous arc, obviously. First, she’s very sassy, and she’s boyish, and she’s racing with the guys and doing all kinds of tomboy things. And then the miracle occurs when she’s getting stoned, and then she transforms into this very demure, stripped-down follower of Christ.

So we had to make that arc [visual], and I think we were quite successful with that. At first, she had a tougher look, sporty and sassy. She had no problem when we stripped everything off. We gave her beautiful glowing skin, but everything was stripped way back just to see that arc.

AD: What was your most challenging day on set?

MA: The blue lady was a particularly challenging [laughs] because I was with the crew that were doing the blue lady, but I’m also I’m running the whole department. So I would come, I would check, ‘Yes, I like this. No, change this, this, this and this.’ Then I’d go back and do my other characters and go back and forth. Her, her makeup took around four hours. It was quite extensive makeup, hair, and costuming. That was a challenging day. The leprosy day was really challenging. It’s really unfortunate that it didn’t make the final cut.

AD: What was your most fun day on set? Who was the most fun to have in your makeup chair?

MA: You know, every actor was great. Every actor. Omar Sy was wonderful, RJ (Cyler) was wonderful, Micheal Ward, miss Alfre Woodard. Oh my goodness. I have personally never been on a set like that before. Never. We danced all day long between setups. Jeymes would bring out a huge speaker and play music. And the entire cast and crew would dance. They’d get their work done, we’d shoot a scene, then we’d dance again. The atmosphere was incredible.

 I should make it very clear that LaKeith had his own team, somebody else was completely responsible for LaKeith. There was no way I could have given that amount of attention to LaKeith and done the rest of the movie.

AD: I was looking through your work, and I feel like The Book of Clarence fits so perfectly with your experience. It feels like everything has built to this. Would you agree? What lessons will you take to the next film? 

MA: Absolutely. It’s interesting that you asked that. I don’t think I’m ever going to do a film without prep again. I’m a very confident makeup artist, and I’m very good when I have my crew and I know who I’m working with. And that wasn’t the case here. They were incredible. But preparation is everything. Especially, something so critical as this. I’m glad we pulled it off, but it was nerve wracking. It was really, really a challenge. I have to be honest.

AD: But, that makes the achievement even more special, right? 

MA: Oh yes, I think I could probably tackle anything after this. The cast was so massive. 90 percent of the men had beards, or some tattoo to cover. You know, there are so many little things that take you out of the period. I think sometimes the audience doesn’t realize it, but simple things like earring holes in men’s ears, we would cover 30 a day. Because for me, when I see that on screen, that takes me out the movie, right? So, that kind of attention to detail was the most nerve wracking for me, to make sure that those things were always taken care of. We couldn’t have plucked eyebrows, so if cast came in with modern eyebrows, we would actually hand lay a little bit of hair—that kind of attention to detail…I think after this, I could manage anything, to be honest.

AD: Lastly, what are you working on now?

MA: I just finished a movie called Killing Castro, another period piece. It’s about how many factions were trying to kill Castro when he came to New York to speak at the U.N. And Malcolm X found him accommodation at the Hotel Theresa. I think that’s something that’s very special that’s coming up in the future.

The Book of Clarence is available now on all VOD platforms.