Debbie Zoller, MAD MEN, CASTLE makeup artist: Mr. Media Radio Interview

Emmy-nominated ‘Mad Men’ makeup artist Debbie Zoller looks at Mr. Media and feels helpless!

Debbie Zoller has two Emmy nominations for her remarkable achievement of creating the look for AMC’s hugely successful series, ”Mad Men”. She is nominated for Outstanding Make-up for Single Camera Series (non-prosthetic) and Outstanding Prosthetic Make-up for a Series, Movie or Special. The makeup is part of what has become one of the most talked-about period looks in television history.

Zoller describes the make-up on Mad Men as “very peaches and cream. An uber-feminine style that makes men’s heads turn.” Every episode progresses in real time, and Zoller says, “I can introduce certain shades of lipsticks or nail polish in this new second season that I was restricted from using in the first because they didn’t exist at the time.”

The make-up in Mad Men has become a character itself as Weiner incorporated cosmetic line Belle Jolie into the series. Zoller has clearly made her mark, as she is most-often asked about the famous episode for which she had to create a lipstick palette of 20 shades which were featured in the episode “Mark Your Man.” She hunted for the appropriate color lipsticks for each secretary at Sterling Cooper to try on in the scene.

When Zoller heard that the costume designer was going to create a “fat suit” for the unknowingly pregnant Peggy Olson (Elisabeth Moss), she suggested prosthetics and without hesitation show creator Matthew Weiner said, “Absolutely. Do it!”

“Matthew Weiner and I share a huge attention to detail. I love working with him and all of the members of the ‘Mad Men’ team.”