For Kathy Bates, the change from a 30ish Dolores struggling to make a decent life for her daughter to the blunt-spoken 50ish accused murderess was a time-consuming daily chore before she could even step in front of the cameras.
Makeup artist Luigi Rocchetti, whose family is famous in Italy for its brilliant makeup techniques and wig manufacturing, brought generations of expertise to bear on the creation of a completely natural look for the "old" Dolores. The painstaking transformation to "old" Dolores took 2-1/2 hours in the hands of Rocchetti and hair designer Aldo Signoretti.
Clothing can be a telling aspect of character and an aid in articulating body language. Costume designer Shay Cunliffe wrapped current-day Dolores in cocoon-like layers of modest, bland colors as if she were about to implode.
She gave Christopher Plummer a paunch and slightly stooped shoulders to assist him in the 20-year transition. For Selena, it was designer all the way -- such an obsessed career woman needed to dress to a very tasteful Armani excess for success, another means of denying her blue collar origins.
Vera Donovan was Adolpho, Oscar de la Renta or whatever best might become the Nancy Reagan hostess era. When the character of Vera becomes bedridden, Shay was able to enlist a number of local seamstresses and craftspeople in creating nightgowns and robes appropriate to a woman rich enough to afford such expensive touches as monogrammed linen and hand- smocked batiste cuffs.
