Luckily for Gooley and her team, McGregor grew his own beard for the role, making many of the required hair elements easier to work with.
"He has a lot of colors in his beard as well and we were fortunate enough that there was enough time for Ewan to grow his own beard," Gooley says. "So we didn't have to put one on every day -- which makes it more comfortable for the actor as well as it's just easier to maintain. There's a lot of fighting and a lot of water and sweat, so if you can be as realistic with makeup and hair for the actor, it's a saving grace because otherwise you're up there touching them up all the time. Having to fix and maintain a wig or a beard with glue and everything when they're hot can be quite irritating for an actor."
In addition to the two Jedi, Gooley and her team also concentrated on the intricate headpieces for Padmé Amidala played by Natalie Portman. The headpieces were designed and constructed by Ivo Coveney's Costume Props Department, but had to work in concert with the hair and makeup design.
"Padmé's various looks came about through concept drawings, and Costume Designer Trisha Biggar had had a lot of meetings and fittings with Natalie and George about her looks," Gooley says. "So a lot of it had already developed once I came on board. Our team was left to do the fine fitting and logistics of the hairdo including the creation of a dreadlock-style piece.
"The weight of certain headpieces had to be distributed somehow, and had to fit onto Natalie's head perfectly," Gooley continues. "It was almost like working on a motorcar, having to make it function and be comfortable and practical but look fabulous, and not do too much damage to Natalie's hair. And I think we escaped without too much damage. Natalie was incredible and so patient. She would just sit here for hours with sometimes over 100 pins in her head and not complain once."
Gooley decided to approach Padmé's makeup with a more natural look due to the lavish ornate qualities in Padmé's costuming for Revenge of the Sith.
"Natalie as Padmé had so much going on with her costume and her hair, I tried to keep her makeup as natural as possible," Gooley says. "I didn't want her makeup to compete with everything that was going on, just so that her natural beauty came through. Because of Padmé's pregnancy I wanted to give her a radiant, natural glow -- that very healthy look that pregnant women have."
Even with this new approach to less theatrical, a more natural-looking Padmé, Gooley still managed to have a little fun with the makeup and pay tribute to another sassy and beloved Star Wars heroine.
"Natalie and I played homage to Carrie Fisher with some 70's lip gloss in the bedroom scene," Gooley laughs. "She wakes up looking very glossy."
