Kazuhiro Tsuji

Kazuhiro Tsuji
Born (1969-05-26) May 26, 1969
Kyoto, Japan
Nationality Japanese
Occupation Special make-up effects artist
Years active 1989–2012;
2017–present

Kazuhiro Tsuji (辻 一弘, Tsuji Kazuhiro) (born May 26, 1969) is a Japanese special make-up effects artist and visual artist.[1] He won the Academy Award for Best Makeup and Hairstyling for the biographical film Darkest Hour (2017) after earning nominations for the comedies Norbit (2007) and Click (2006).[2][3][4]

Life and career

Tsuji grew up in Kyoto, where he spent much of his time alone engaging in art projects.[1] Tsuji came across an issue of Fangoria which featured Dick Smith and his work turning Hal Holbrook into Abraham Lincoln for the 1976 miniseries Lincoln.[1] This led to Tsuji's own experiments with special make-up effects, photos of which he began sending to Dick Smith after discovering his P.O. box in the back of a magazine.[1] The two would eventually meet in person when Smith traveled to Japan to work on Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s Sweet Home.[5] Smith invited Tsuji to work on the film with him and this began Tsuji’s film career.[5]

While working on Sweet Home, Tsuji met fellow artist Eddie Yang. Soon Yang was in America working for Rick Baker, a protege of Dick Smith.[1] Yang helped Tsuji come to America and get work with Baker on Men in Black.[1] Continuing his work with Baker, Tsuji worked on many projects including Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas for which he won a BAFTA.[1]

Tsuji crafted the silicone model of Brad Pitt's head used to artificially age him via CGI for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button in 2008.[1] In 2012, Tsuji created the prosthetics which turned Joseph Gordon-Levitt into a young Bruce Willis for Looper.[6]

After his work on Looper, Tsuji decided to leave the film business[1] and focus on sculpture[7] crafting giant busts of people such as Frida Kahlo, Salvador Dali, Abraham Lincoln, and his mentor Dick Smith.[1]

In 2017, Gary Oldman talked Tsuji out of retirement to create the Winston Churchill prosthetics for Darkest Hour.[1] Oldman had been considered for the role of General Thade in Tim Burton's Planet of the Apes film (the role went to his Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead co-star, Tim Roth)[1] and Tsuji’s work at that time had impressed Oldman enough that for him, Tsuji was the only man to turn him into Churchill. For this, on March 4, 2018 Tsuji won the 2018 Academy Award for Best Makeup and Hairstyling.[8]

Selected filmography

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Jones, Nate (2017-12-01). "How Gary Oldman Lured a Makeup Magician Back for One More Job". Vulture.com. Retrieved 2017-12-06.
  2. ↑ Ryder, Caroline (2008-02-12). "'Norbit' Achievement in Makeup Oscar nominee". Variety. Retrieved 2017-12-06.
  3. ↑ "Click - Academy Awards". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2017-12-06.
  4. ↑ "Darkest Hour". Oscar.go.com. Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Retrieved 24 April 2018.
  5. 1 2 3 "The amazing story of Hollywood Make-up artist Kazuhiro Tsuji". Spoon & Tamago. 2013-06-14. Retrieved 2017-12-06.
  6. 1 2 Whipp, Glenn (2012-08-31). "'Looper': Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Rian Johnson are a tight team". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2017-12-06.
  7. 1 2 3 Fulton, Wil (2015-01-20). "These Massive Sculptures Of Lincoln, Warhol And Dali Are Hyper-Realistic". Thrillist. Retrieved 2017-12-06.
  8. ↑ Keegan, Rebecca (2017-09-05). "How Gary Oldman Was Finally Convinced to Play Winston Churchill". Vanity Fair. Retrieved 2017-12-06.
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