Meet Tami Lane, the Oscar-Nominated, Out Makeup Artist Behind 'The Hobbit'

While filling out those Oscar ballots for the big day be sure to place a check next to Tami Lane’s name as a shoo-in for Best Makeup for The Hobbit.  Already an Oscar winner for her work on 2005’s The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, a year ago, Lane, an accomplished prosthetics artist, who also happens to be out, was on set in New Zealand supervising the team of makeup artists who put t

While filling out those Oscar ballots for the big day be sure to place a check next to Tami Lane’s name as a shoo-in for Best Makeup for The Hobbit.  Already an Oscar winner for her work on 2005’s The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, a year ago, Lane, an accomplished prosthetics artist, who also happens to be out, was on set in New Zealand supervising the team of makeup artists who put their talents to work on creating hobbits, dwarves and other Middle Earth dwellers.

This Sunday, Lane is nominated for her work on The Hobbit up against her friend and mentor Howard Berger of K.N.B. EFX Group, who is nominated for Hitchcock, and the team from Les Miserables.

A real Hollywood success story, Lane met Berger in 1996 on a trip to visit the K.N.B. makeup studio. At his suggestion, she packed up her car and some friends and drove west to Los Angeles just weeks after her graduation from art school at Bradley University in Peoria, Ill. As Lane tells it, her persistence paid off, and eventually Berger returned her calls for a job. She got her start sweeping floors and stocking shelves for K.N.B. before she became a full-on makeup artist. A mere nine years later she and Berger were accepting the Oscar together for the Chronicles of Narnia.

Berger and Lane

While The Hobbit marks Lane’s first time supervising the team that would populate the world of J.R.R. Tolkien and Peter Jackson with just the right look, it wasn’t her first time in The Shire. She had worked on all three of the films in the originalLord of the Rings trilogy.

Just a few days before the Oscars, Lane talked with SheWired about her nomination, shopping for a dress, The Hobbit, and why --in a year with few nods for LGBT work-- she might just be the gayest thing about this year’s ceremony. 

SheWired: Congratulations on your nomination.  It’s really exciting.

Tami Lane: Thank you

Where were you when you heard about the nomination?

I was in England actually, visiting a friend, so the nominations came out at 5:30 in the morning there and it was 1:30 here, so I wasn't woken up this time.

Well that’s a pretty good wake-up call to get anyway. Do you get an official call?

Actually, my best friend Howard Berger, who is up for Hitchcock, was the one that called me and to let me know, and he was the one back in 2006 that called and let me know back then as well.

How did you fall into it this profession? It’s certainly not something you see everyday.

Yeah, “falling” is a good word. I was a senior in college studying art with graphic design and I discovered that I didn't really want to work at computers or graphic design.  I started to panic about what I was going to do after graduation, and then a friend of mine told me about this two-week interim class that went out to L.A. to learn about the entertainment industry. 

My friend knew that, as a hobby, I had been doing makeup for community theatre and houses for Halloween. One of the things she said was, “You know, if you’re into makeup, touring a make up effect studio is a part of the class.” I was really interested and applied. The professor could only take 10 students, and there were 60 applicants, or something like that. I was fortunate enough though to be able to come out to L.A. on that class trip.  The makeup effect studio that we toured was KNB EFX.

How did that trip parlay into your career?

When I walked into their studio I just fell in love. I talked to Howard Berger, one of the co-owners. We hit it off like a house on fire and he says, “Go back to Peoria, graduate and then move out to L.A. and call me.” And that’s kind of what happened. I graduated and two weeks after that and me and four of my friends, we drove out to L.A.  and all moved into a two-bedroom apartment in Hollywood. I basically had $1000 dollars to my name. I called him and I called him,  and finally my persistence worked and he gave me a job. I started sweeping the floors and stocking the shelves at his studio and that kind of is how it all started.

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