The Oscar-winning costume designer Jenny Beavan has let slip that an alarming number of actors go commando to fittings. The profession has rarely felt more alien
J
enny Beavan is a living legend in the world of film. A three-time Oscar-winning costume designer, she gave Merchant Ivory films their distinctive look but was equally responsible for the visual onslaught of Mad Max: Fury Road.
In 2016, her decision to attend various awards shows wearing unconventional fashion captured the zeitgeist twice; first when Stephen Fry called her a “bag lady” and was forced off Twitter, and second when a clip of Alejandro González Iñárritu glowering as she passed him went viral. In other words, Jenny Beavan can do whatever the hell she likes.
And she has. In an interview with the Telegraph, Beavan has decided to offer us a peek into her working world, by revealing that actors don’t wear pants very often. “It’s astonishing the number of male actors who don’t wear underwear,” she said. “I’ve had to go out and buy them pants – not Calvin Klein or anything like that; I usually get them from Marks – otherwise they try to hide themselves behind a chair looking marginally awkward. I think, ‘For God’s sake, if I was going to a fitting and trying on second-hand clothes I’d wear some pants’”.
