Inspired by Danny Lyon’s photobook of the same name, Jeff Nichols’ The Bikeriders follows the life of a Chicago biker gang from the ’60s to the ’70s. At the center of the gang is Kathy and Benny whose relationships ebbs and flows as the gang moves from their golden era into its darkest. To bring these pictures to life, Offscreen Central had the opportunity to talk to Makeup Department Head Ashleigh Chavis about transforming Jodie Comer into Kathy, how she made Austin Butler’s arms pop in that iconic opening sequence, and working with mud and dirt to keep the actors always appearing dirty.

Jillian Chilingerian: Hi, Ashley, so nice to meet you, I want to start with the influence of the book and that having an impact on your research for who these characters were and how that guided you along with the work you did.
Ashleigh Chavis: Yeah, well, the book was kind of our Bible for this whole thing. I mean, that was the beginning of this journey for Jeff Nichols to create this story. It began my journey into the research of the world of the 1960s biker clubs. I dove into not only that book but any images that I could come by on the internet as far as that period, and those specific types of kind of outcasts that are specifically the ones that were drawn to a bike club because you also had to be a skilled motorcycle rider. These guys all had to know how to drive all over the Midwest and everything on a motorcycle as well. So what kind of lifestyle did these people come from, to land them in this type of environment, and then also what is appealing visually, to someone or a young person or any of us to, especially as women to be drawn towards men like that are drawn towards environments like that. The decade of the 60s has its place in fashion, cosmetics, and hair styling history but how has that translated into the world of biker gangs?
Jillian Chilingerian: It’s interesting when you take a very well-documented part of history, but through a lens that we often don’t see unless we were brought in those areas as I have heard of motorcycle clubs, I feel like the first thought you have is like, oh, leather. There is more that’s happening here.
Ashleigh Chavis: Right, and it’s not just like you said, it’s not just black leather jackets. I had to research why black leather. I figured it out for myself with my stepdad who had been riding a bike for 40 years, but I never thought to ask him why black leather, so researching into that to understand a little bit where costumes were coming from and why that was so implemented in that culture as a whole. Therefore how you can start with the clothing and then spread that out into their makeup.

Jillian Chilingerian: All these characters they’re all uniform through what they wear, but they’re so individualist in their own right. There is Benny, who’s very nonchalant, and you have Johnny, who’s the leader, and he’s a very traditional 1960s Man of how you would think and then you have someone like Cal who is the most artistic of them all. They’re so distinct within a large group of men, but like they have their personalities.
Ashleigh Chavis: With the tattoos, we wanted to complement that individuality as well. Using the book for tattoo references, some of them were very obvious, and sometimes you can’t make out exactly what something says or looks like. So just trying to understand a little bit more about each character through the images, each individual’s wardrobe, and finishing that individual mold of each character, why would they get that? What does that tattoo have to do with anything, and talked to Jeff, and he signed off on everything as to what was appropriate for not just that period, but for this bike club, and these members that he wanted on screen and the types of stuff that he didn’t feel any of them would have.

Jillian Chilingerian: When I see characters covered in mud and dirt in movies I always think about setups between scenes, same with fight scenes with blood. They are very dirty in this movie as they’re riding without helmets. When you’re watching it, you can smell the gasoline, you feel like you are riding with them, and you feel the grime and the dirt. How do you work with those elements and do you keep track of it between shoots?
Ashleigh Chavis: Well, one of the first conversations that I had with my makeup team, was once we were all together and everyone had been hired as far as those of us who were going to be there full time. I just really wanted to make sure they understood that this is a way of life for these guys. I mean, even though Johnny had a regular job, and most of them, this is their life. Even at their cleanest, they need to not be fully clean, especially when we were shooting the funeral scene, maybe they fixed up a little bit out of respect for Brucey but they still rode their bikes over there. They were still riding their bikes all day before and they’re still going to have to grind and they’re still going to have dust that’s just always there because like you said, they don’t wear helmets. The grease around the fingers and everything because their bikes break down or they have to do something and they’re always messing with the bikes. I said we should never see these guys being powdered on set. They need to look sweaty and always unkempt. For a few of them, we did add a little bit more like they didn’t take care of their teeth. Boyd Holbrook who plays Cal wanted to implement that dirty mouth on him. He got that from the images and other things that he had seen. If they were polished, it just wouldn’t be as cool and it also would be against everything that they’re in this club for.
Jillian Chilingerian: I’m thinking of the scene when they’re in the motel and laying on the bed and like I’m someone where if I’m getting in bed I need to be clean and you can feel their grime watching them.
Ashleigh Chavis: I told them these guys don’t smell good. When she walks into that club, imagine walking into any room filled with sweaty men at their most animalistic. Groups of people just aren’t concerned with that odor, if anything, they embrace it because they feel like it adds to their intimidation as a whole. They affect all of your senses when they’re coming through. That is how it is in the animal kingdom and nature and so I feel like they really gravitated towards all of that. Even though you can’t smell in a movie, whatever we could do to make that as realistic as possible for the audience and the viewer.

Jillian Chilingerian: Going to the opening as she’s walking into the bar, the scene of, Austin Butler’s arms has definitely been a major draw for everyone to see this movie. It is a perfect introduction to the character of Benny. In this movie, every single person on screen is a movie star, but they’re dirty.
Ashleigh Chavis: There was an actual image of the real Benny at a pool table leaning over, the way that Austin was leaning over, there are a couple of actual images from the book that Jeff wanted to put into the movie. That was one where Kathy first sees Benny, and he’s at the pool table and the image of the real Benny, it’s just as dreamy. You can’t see his face or anything and so she seeing him. I mean, I think any female that is walking into that situation, would look at that and say exactly what she said, Who’s that one over there? That was the first time we’re all seeing him at the same time, as far as the viewers go. Jeff made it clear, that this needs to be eye-catching and so I was like, Okay, we need to make these muscles pop, if we did, we got to do what we got to do. So we’re going to, again, bring out that animalistic element in him to where you can almost smell his pheromones from the pool table. Anything that adds to that is the placement of the dust and dirt that screamed manly, free spirit, and adventure. So there was some definite intentional placement of the dirt and the sweat in that particular shot, but most of it was just making sure that no matter where that camera set up for its angles, he looked amazing.
Jillian Chilingerian: I had a friend who hadn’t seen it yet. And they’re like, oh, like I heard it’s pretty erotic and I’m like, Oh, I think you’re gonna be okay. It’s just that overwhelming of that scene that is detrimental to the rest of the movie of how you’re introduced.
Ashleigh Chavis: It has to be. She says she used to be respectable. She has to be willing to leave this normal life and go with this person into the unknown of this whole culture and risk everything for it. So, I mean, he better be pretty cool.

Jillian Chilingerian: There is so much psychology within all these decisions of who these characters are. Every time I see Jodie Comer doing press right now, I’m like, that’s not her because, in my mind, she transforms so well into Kathy from the accent and the hair. When we often think of people transforming, it’s heavy prosthetic work. Here is enhancing what she already has, but turning her into Kathy. I forgot that she was British, I forgot that she was blonde. Kathy is the constant and the string throughout the entire film and the only female within the scope that we never really see her change.
Ashleigh Chavis: Well, Jodie is so beautiful naturally, very elegant and well-spoken. She’s kind and to see her on set, go back and forth from Jodie, and then switch into Kathy was impressive. You feel like you’re watching a master of the craft and she can go glamorous so quickly because she’s so beautiful naturally. In the couple of the tests that I did with her she was almost too pretty to be Kathy I had to step away from trying to make her exactly look like the real Kathy and embrace Jodie’s version of Kathy. Once I let go of trying to make her look less glamorous, it started to come together. So using what she has naturally, as beautiful as it is, but playing that down, because of the decade that we were working with, but also because of the culture. That was very important that my part of her transformation could look as natural as possible there needed to be an obvious difference between when she first met him and when she was still putting a face on and going out. She’s too busy chasing these men down and trying to keep them together and keep him alive. So there was a transition and as far as her beauty look goes, I took my lead from the character that she brought to life in Kathy and that was so rewarding for me. Jody’s very patient, and professional, and I just can’t say enough good things about her and how much I appreciate her. It was very intentional for her to have more makeup on when she went to see Johnny to confront Johnny because she was taking a stand, she was probably as a woman, nervous, but probably a little pissed. I think she probably could have used that makeup as a little bit of a mask or a stand to say, I know what I’m talking about.

Jillian Chilingerian: We are going through different decades, I view this movie as a golden era of this club, and then as time goes on the golden dream fleeting away. For these men, this was their livelihood and by the end, it’s like you can’t recognize it anymore.
Ashleigh Chavis: Well, I made sure to talk with Tony Ward, who is in the hair department to see what he was doing differently with her hair. He was going to be changing that up a little bit so I wanted to put her in some different makeup. We’ve never known her to be this crazy makeup gal. When we see her in the 70s, she is in her home in a more settled environment, which feels like a safer space for her so maybe she would wear a little bit more, because she has a little bit more peace of mind. She can focus on the day-to-day and that might be her morning routine getting ready. I wanted her color palette to match the decade and show something different because we are in a different decade. From 1968 to 1972 that’s only four or five years so it’s not like we’re jumping 25 years down the road. The same with Mike’s sideburns, to see that there’s been a time-lapse, but not something so drastic that the audience is distracted and immediately taken out.

Jillian Chilingerian: It is very timeless. Well, thank you so much for this time. I’m glad that we got to talk and keep the conversation going. There’s so much heart into it and so many layers and I feel like your work is just so it’s so subtle, and it’s so powerful.
Ashleigh Chavis: Thank you so much. I really appreciate that.

You can find our review of The Bikeriders here.
The Bikeriders is in theaters now.