Makeup artist Ve Neill has been doing landmark makeup for films for over 20 years. Responsible for many of the most famous characters in Tim Burton’s movies, Neill has won three Academy Awards - for Burton’s “Beetlejuice” and “Ed Wood” plus another for “Mrs. Doubtfire” — while winning several other nominations. It goes without saying that Neill is a unique commodity in
Hollywood in that she equally commands the art of applying both specialized prosthetic makeups and unique character and beauty makeups, and effortlessly travels between the two worlds. She began in the 1970s and has worked steadily since.

In 1987, for “The Lost Boys,” the director, Joel Schumacher, wanted the vampires to look sexy, scary and ethereal. Ve did a test makeup on the actors, going for a very subtle look. “When you remove somebody’s eyebrows they get the most bizarre look,” Neill said. “They became really otherworldly. Also we changed where the teeth would be: we did double fangs and did them on
the incisors and the tooth right in front of it; they were spooky but kind of sexy in a real weird way.” Greg’s Cannom’s original design for the vampires on The Lost Boys has been used on just about every vampire movie and TV show since then.

Soon, she got an interview with Tim Burton for “Beetlejuice.” “Tim pretty much designs all of his characters and then you take his drawings and you go from there,” she said. “When we first started testing Michael Keaton’s makeup, I created a look just like one in the drawing that Tim had shown me, but he was so creepy, he was too real. He didn’t want him to be that unsettling — he wanted him to be funny.” Michael Keaton only worked a little over two weeks on the film, but his character became the life of the film, no irony intended.

When she was called by John Caglione and Doug Drexler to do the Big Boy Caprice makeup in “Dick Tracy,” it was a unique process that led to a design for actor Al Pacino. “For three days Al and I sat around and tried on different noses and chins until we found a look that we liked, and one that Al was comfortable with,” she said. Then, it was back to Tim Burton’s world for “Edward Scissorhands.” For that project, Ve said, “I think Johnny Depp really had a great deal to do with bringing that character to life. He really brought some heart and soul to it. Ultimately, Tim Burton designed the character, so Stan Winston and I just brought it to life. Stan had designed the makeup and we basically used the forehead piece that was designed and then he had sheets of different types of scars. Edward was supposed to innocent, so I gave him a look almost like a clown makeup.”

Ve Neill went on to many successful projects in the 1990s, including the “Batman” sequels; she created Danny DeVito’s makeup for The Penguin. “Again Tim Burton designed everything and Stan Winston sculpted the pieces and then I did all the test makeups and did all the actual application of the makeup, and I designed the colors used. She also became known for striking character makeups in all of her films recently including “A.I. Artificial Intelligence.” “That is what I am good at — doing the application, being on the set, and making the department run smoothly,” Neill noted. “I test my makeups before every movie I do, and I never stop learning. The part that I think is great about my career is the fact that I can do everything from beauty makeup to creatures and monsters. I think I have a nice broad spectrum of the craft, and if you want to be a well-rounded makeup artist that is what you have to do. I just feel so ecstatic about the fact that being a makeup artist is something that I have wanted to do ever since I was a child.”

About the Author
Scott Essman has been writing about makeup and movie craftsmanship since 1995. As part of his company, Visionary Cinema, Essman has also created memorable tributes to makeup history, including special events to honor Dick Smith, John Chambers, and Jack Pierce. In 1998, his tribute to the makeup for “The Wizard of Oz” was celebrated on Hollywood Boulevard at the historic Mann’s Chinese Theater. In 2000, Essman published his first book, “Freelance Writing for Hollywood,” and that same year, he published a 48-page special magazine about the work of Universal Studios’ makeup legend, Jack Pierce. In 2001, he was joined with Universal to nominate Pierce for a star on Hollywood Boulevard’s Walk of Fame.

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