Face Off's Michael Westmore. Photo copyright of Syfy.

How many people do you know who have a job that gives them the opportunity to create a new form of life almost every week? Veteran special make-up effects artist Michael Westmore did just that in his 18-year association with the long-running Star Trek TV and feature film franchise. Working alongside and supervising a team of gifted professionals, he helped introduce fans to a variety of alien creatures encountered by the crews of the U.S.S. Enterprise and the U.S.S. Voyager as well as Deep Space Nine. Prior to this, Westmore honed his craft working on several other TV series and movies. That bounty of experience is currently being drawn upon by the contestants of Syfy’s Face Off. Now in its 10th season, the reality series challenges a group of budding make-up artists to each bring their own Sci-Fi/Fantasy-based designs to life. Westmore serves as a mentor as well as advisor, and thoroughly relishes the chance to do so.

“Once again, this season of Face Off starts off with all-new adventures, and it continues to amaze me that the people at Syfy who research the make-up challenges are constantly able to dream up something new,” he enthuses. “You would think that they would eventually run out of ideas, but they don’t, and the concepts they come up with become increasingly challenging. It’s to the point now where I have to go to the show’s producers and explain to them, ‘I need to know ahead of time what you’re going to be asking these people to create, so that I can do a bit of research myself.’

“I think that this [10th] season I did more research than ever before, and that’s important, especially if McKenzie [Westmore’s daughter and series host] is going to come in and put a twist on things. I need to know if, for example, these creatures supposedly come from a frozen world or someplace that’s very hot, if they’re all reptiles, etc. That way I can then determine what I should be looking for when I criticize someone’s design, and it’s not so much criticize, as it is telling them that they’re not quite doing it right, and how to go about it better. On the other hand, if they’re doing a great job, I’ll tell them, ‘You’re on the right path and I like what you’re doing.’

“As in seasons past, we have a large number of contestants at the beginning, and from there we start our elimination process. Each person genuinely puts his or her heart and soul into their work, and McKenzie and I really get to know them along the way. I have a class with everyone before shooting ever begins, and then I work with them on a weekly basis. The show’s judges only see them on the final night each week, but I’m with them through the week. I get to see what their abilities are and then help and advise them. I was a guest judge during season one of Face Off, so I know what the judges are looking for. I try to steer the contestants in a direction that will help them. Even so, I’ve heard people say, ‘Well, Mr. Westmore suggested that I do it this way, but I’m going to try this.’ Nine times out of ten, they end up being eliminated. I just do my best to give people a little bit of a heads up, and it’s almost become a joke with everyone that, oh, you’d better listen to him or we’re not going to see you back next week.”

What does Westmore enjoy most about working with daughter McKenzie on the show? “We actually have a great deal of fun together and can play off each other and make comments to one another,” he says. “McKenzie thinks like I do, which makes for a very easy and smooth working relationship. I don’t know how else to explain it, except that the two of us couldn’t be closer as father and daughter.”

In a profession where the competition is fierce, making to the Face Off finals and, ultimately, winning the seasons’ competition is definitely a feather in the proverbial cap of any aspiring make-up artist. “I can almost relate it to The Voice, in that when someone wins The Voice, they’re a professional singer and are off and running,” explains Westmore. “Many of the make-up artists on Face Off have stayed in Hollywood and done well. I know that [Academy Award-winning make-up artist and Face Off judge] Ve Neill took one of them with her instantly when the season was over to work with her on a film she was doing in Georgia.

“The level of talent with a number of these people is very, very good. Many are self-trained, and some of them have even gone to school to learn their craft, so they’re well-educated when it comes to how to make molds and sculpt. This is a profession where with the ability a person has, along with a little bit of a push, they usually end up working in the industry. In fact, what I’d love to see us do on Face Off is some type of follow-up to see where these people are today. That’s something a lot of other reality shows tend to do, but we haven’t as yet done anything quite like that.

“One of the things I really do like about Face Off is that unlike most other reality TV shows, there’s a family that’s created every season, especially when it gets down to the last seven or eight contestants. You’ve seen on the show, that if someone needs help opening a mold, they get it, even though everyone else could stand there and let them suffer because it is a competition. They all seem to band together and help each other. That’s true even right up to the very end and the finale when extra people are brought in to lend a hand. They’re there to help their team win and genuinely want to help. It’s like [the expression] esprit de corps; there’s this banding together to make sure that that final project is the best it can be. In season nine’s finale where they had to create these different challenges to be used in their 90-second little film, it was amazing to see them all working together. Even at the end, when they were thrown a curve ball and asked to add more to it, there were smiles on their faces. No one groaned or fell to the floor in a depressed heap and saying, ‘Oh, I can’t do it.’ Instead, you saw them huddled together trying to design something new to improve on their idea and what they were doing.”

Although there were no TV shows like Face Off to help steer Westmore in the right direction when he was starting out in the industry, the fact that he is part of a long and distinguished line of make-up artists – including his father, grandfather, both brothers and an uncle – was a definite plus. He also had someone who he could depend on to offer him a sincere opinion on his latest creation.

“I was and still am able to bounce ideas off my wife, Marion,” says Westmore. “She’s not an artist or anything like that, but she’s always honest with me whenever I show her my ideas. Marion will suggest to me, ‘Well, perhaps you should think of this or maybe try that.’ So I’m quite lucky in that regard. Also, when I worked on Star Trek I had good teams with me. Prior to that, I was pretty much a loner and handled most of projects on my own. I was very fortunate to have spent an apprenticeship at Universal Studios with John Chambers, who won an Academy Award for his work on [the 1968] film Planet of the Apes. I sat at John’s elbow for three years and he spoon-fed me and taught me everything.

“I also watched my uncle [Bud Westmore] apply Sandra Dee’s makeup [for various movies] and learned how to do beauty make-up, so I was able to incorporate that into my work. This is part of what I teach in my class for all the Face Off contestants every season. I’ll bring in one of my make-up artists from Star Trek, who will usually do a demo while I’m talking, so the contestants get a good idea of how to use an airbrush. I’m probably one of the few make-up artists who have an esthetician’s license, which legally allows me to do make-up outside a studio. I also have lifetime teaching credentials with the Los Angeles city schools for college. So I’ve taught for many years, which I’ve loved, and it’s also been incredibly rewarding for me to actually create things and see them come to life. That was more important to me than any other type of reward. I’ve received 42 Emmy nominations and won nine times, but that was just icing on the cake afterwards. Seeing a concept through from start to finish and having it realized was more than I could have ever asked for.”

Steve Eramo

Season 10 of Face Off premieres Wednesday, January 13th @ 9:00 p.m. EST/PST on Syfy. As noted above, photo copyright of Syfy, so please no unauthorized copying or duplicating of any kind. Thanks!