Watching a period film requires audiences to believe in the authenticity of everything we see on screen. From the interior decorating, to the cars being driven (if it’s an era where they exist), and most especially the costumes.
Finding and creating costumes for major Hollywood films, and even smaller indie films, is no easy feat and requires immense creative skills, resourcefulness, and the ability to transcend belief that what we are seeing is the most authentic version of the period in time it represents.
Film and TV costume designer Anna Terrazas knows first hand how to achieve all of the above, and has done it for a range of projects that exemplify her talent in this field. She is the costume designer behind the major Netflix feature film ‘Pedro Páramo’, starring Manuel Garcia-Rulfo (‘Lincoln Lawyer’), Tenoch Huerta (‘Narcos: Mexico’, ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’) and a cast of highly acclaimed Mexican actors.
‘Pedro Páramo’ not only pays tribute to Mexico’s most important literary work, it is also a tribute to love, one as powerful as it is macabre, capable of bringing the entire town of Comala and all its inhabitants down with it. Directed by Rodrigo Prieto and based on Juan Rulfo’s masterpiece novel first published in 1955, the film follows a man’s search for his father, Pedro Páramo, in a town doomed by violence and the fury of a frustrated love.
Transporting the characters back to Mexico in the 1950’s was a big task, but Anna, who also hails from Mexico, worked her movie magic to make it happen. Every single piece of clothing for the movie was designed and custom-made by hand, which included approximately 1000 pieces of clothing, from dresses and blouses to sandals, hats, underwear, and even embroidery designed to hint at how characters died.
To ensure that all traditional clothing was period-accurate, Anna worked with local artisans and did a tremendous amount of research. For example, at the time, sandals didn’t have rubber in the soles, so Anna worked with a local artisan and his entire family to make all the pairs needed throughout the film. Finally, after each item was delivered, it also needed to be distressed to look realistic, which, with the amount of clothes and actors, was a challenge in itself.
Anna brought together authentic cultural representation on screen as well as time period accuracy in her incredible work in ‘Pedro Páramo’. We had the opportunity to speak with the costume designer about the process for creating these costumes, as well as her work on other critically acclaimed and blockbuster Hollywood films such as Alfonso Cuarón’s 2018 hit ‘Roma’ and the Sam Mendes-directed James Bond flick ‘Spectre’ from 2015.
Where did your love of costumes and fashion originate?
It comes from my parents, especially my mother. She was always in love with textiles, and I grew up surrounded by different arts and crafts from both Mexico and around the world. I was really exposed to art and textiles, and it resonated with me, developing my passion for clothes. Another thing is that I lived in the countryside and we didn’t have TV, so I watched a lot of films [at the theater]. My father was an architect and painter, and that also influenced me.
I wasn’t fully aware of what I wanted to do with textiles, so that’s when I went to London for a year, and I started leaning toward fashion. Then, I graduated from Parsons and worked in fashion, but it wasn’t exactly what I wanted, and that’s when I discovered costume design through theater. I really fell in love with discovering and creating characters rather than creating trends.
When did you decide to pursue costume design in film and TV, and what was your very first job?
I started my work in costume design in theater. It awakened in me the passion for this work. One of the actresses I worked with had a husband who was a commercial director and I started working with him. After a couple of years I got offered my first feature in Mexico. We were all young and it was a directorial debut, so it was a really special environment. We worked really closely as a team and I learned how important the collaboration is on set.
What have been some of your biggest and most favorite projects to date?
There are so many projects I loved working on. ‘Roma’ was one of my biggest projects, and I remember Alfonso Cuarón saying it would be a small Mexican film – and it wasn’t small at all! It was not about the quantity but the fact that it was my first film in black and white, which forced me to understand color in a different way. I also loved working on ‘The Deuce’, a TV show I did in New York. We had really collaborative showrunners and I loved working on it. I really got to explore characters in-depth through clothing and it was really special.
Another one was ‘Bardo’, which was a huge film because we worked with a large number of actors and each scene was divided by color and different mix of eras. Finally, ‘Pedro Páramo’ is one of the most beautiful projects I did because we got to design and make literally every single piece of clothing, which is very special and rare.
Working on films like James Bond ‘Spectre’ is a huge production. How do you approach a job like this, and what is the process for putting your team together?
Doing part of the film was a great honor. An interesting fact is that the script had called for a parade for the Day of the Death that didn’t really exist at the time, but now, after the film, we do have one! It was an incredible project, and we got to work with an extensive number of artisans across various crafts – we brought painters, graffiti artists, people who create silicon masks, and so on. We had one whole stage just for clothing because we built every piece of the parade, from hats to suits and dresses.
On big projects like that, you can really see the workflow as the piece of clothing starts from material and then is touched by at least 10 different teams through coloring, distressing, etc. Throughout the process we would send photos to the main costume designer on the film, Jany Temime, and [director] Sam Mendes. When they arrived in Mexico we did a show and tell.
On big films, I like to establish a workflow. I hire my assistant costume designers first to do research and work on what we will propose to the team at large. Then, I hire a coordinator and supervisor as they help me coordinate contracts, etc. Most of the time, I work with the same group of seamstresses and tailors. For ‘Spectre’, we needed people who specialized in graffiti, fabric painting, etc., so that was another part of staffing. On this specific project we also had to coordinate with the main UK team.
Can you talk about any challenging moments you have had on set or in a production that tested your creativity and resilience?
Every project has its own challenges, not just on set but also in prep. I believe that you always have to be ready to solve any problem at hand immediately. So you need to be flexible in order to do that. In ‘Pedro Páramo’, we were very far away from the base, and the actor who plays Pedro split his pants on the horse in one of the scenes, so we needed to fix it right away. We did it right there on the spot, and now if you watch the film you won’t even notice!
For ‘Bardo’, we shot the scene with everyone almost dead laying on the floor, and there were maybe 900 background characters for us to dress. After we shot it, I got back home and got a call that we needed to reshoot it. I went back to look at the scene and what wasn’t working was people wearing denim, which made actors look too ordinary and took away color.
So we needed to go back at 2am and change clothes for every background actor that was wearing denim. We always had extra stock in our truck as a backup so we called the casting director and filled him in, and aside from our extra stock we also asked actors to bring options if they could. It was a little crazy but we made it work, and the scene looked so much better.
Working on a major Netflix movie like ‘Pedro Páramo,’ can you tell us about sourcing the costumes, what kind of research you needed to do, and what you wanted to showcase on the characters?
We did extensive research, mostly books. We went to different libraries in Mexico and looked for as many photos as we could find. This way we found a lot of ideas for the mood we wanted to achieve in the film. We did the research together with the art department and Rodrigo (the director), so that we had a very intentional vision for the film. The big challenge was that all of the photos were black and white, so we needed to create a color palette for the story. Color was crucial for me, the production designer, and the director.
Actually, we didn’t really source the costumes; we custom-designed and made all of them! Therefore, we needed to do extensive research into how the clothing was made back in the day and find all of the artisans who were willing to go back and use techniques that were often long gone. It was a really intricate process but also one that was extremely rewarding.
How can clothing on characters on-screen send a message to the audience in ways that words cannot?
In the most simple terms, without clothes stories in TV and film wouldn’t be told. It can tell you who the character is, and where they came from. Costume design is not just about dressing people, it also helps define characters for actors/actresses. The actors act differently depending on what they wear – for example they will even walk differently in heels versus sneakers. I think costume design goes hand in hand with telling the story as a whole and that is one of the things I enjoy the most.
When you first begin working with an actor, how do you approach the character costumes?
Every time an actor comes on set, I also like to sit down with them and have a conversation about the vision for the character before a fitting. It helps to see if the way I imagined the character in the same way they did. ‘Pedro Páramo’ was very special because the actors came to those meetings without any idea what they would wear, and it was so nice to find those characters with them. One conversation I had was with the actor portraying Padre Renteria [Roberto Sosa]. His soutane has 33 buttons, which is the age of Christ, and he really wanted to button all of them every day as a way to get into the character.
What advice would you give to someone wanting to break into the entertainment world in costume design but is unsure of how to get their foot in the door?
I would say go in and don’t be afraid to knock at everyone’s door. I think it’s important to work with as many people as possible. Be open to work from bottom to top and don’t expect to immediately be part of the design team. I think it’s important to go through every step of making costumes and learn what each entails.
What are you working on next, and what kind of project would be your dream job?
For the moment, I have some things in the pipeline, but nothing I can share right now. My dream jobs are always projects that keep me challenged and offer opportunities to grow. I really love period projects so maybe I would love to explore some more period stories from other backgrounds and places around the world. It would be fascinating to do that research. I would love to work on a period story that explores Romani culture.
You can watch ‘Pedro Páramo’ on Netflix to see Anna’s incredible costume designs, and head to her website to see more of the films and TV shows she has worked on.
