Game of Thrones Makeup Artists & Hair Stylists Win Two Awards for Season Six

Missandei Nathalie Emmanuel Game of Thrones S6E2

A show like Game of Thrones offers artists ample opportunity to show off their work. Westeros and Essos are portrayed as a medieval world… but it’s not quite our world. George R.R. Martin’s fantasy setting gives all the artists involved in the production free rein to mix and match different styles from many cultures all around the globe, as well as make stuff up that never existed in real History. This year, the makeup artists and hair stylists working for Game of Thrones were duly awarded for their creativity.

The sixth season sadly didn’t win at the Writers Guild of America awards, where the show itself and the season finale were nominated, yet today the HBO show rebounded with its two wins at the Make-Up Artists and Hair Stylists Guild Awards.

The show was nominated in three categories, including Best Special Makeup Effects for a Television and New Media Series, which it lost to Westworld and its admittedly great SFX-enhanced makeup (Visit our sister website for more on that amazing show!)

The other two categories were Best Period and/or Character Makeup and Best Period and/or Character Hair Styling, for a Television and New Media Series. Game of Thrones won them both, against competitors with pretty impressive makeup and hair work: Penny Dreadful, Saturday Night Live, Stranger Things, Westworld and Masters of Sex.

The winners in particular were Jane Walker and Kay Bilk for Best Character Makeup, and Kevin Alexander and Candice Banks for Best Character Hair Styling. Their victories are yet another addition to the many accolades season six received, in particular the penultimate Battle of the Bastards episode. As well as the Make-Up Artists and Hair Stylists Guild, many other guilds and organizations have awarded last year’s season, including the Emmys, the Critics’ Choice Awards, the Screen Actors Guild, the American Society of Cinematographers, the Directors Guild of America, the Visual Effect Society and, just yesterday, the Cinema Audio Society. It’s been a good year for Game of Thrones!

23 Comments

  1. When are they going to give Arya a decent hairdo ? She had pigtails in S1, chopped off short hair as Arry in S2, greasy bangs as Sandor’s traveling companion in S3 -S4, brushed back ratty hair in S5, and the Braavosi Princess Leia side buns in S6.
    It looks like she has a slicked back Jon Snow ‘do in the split second teaser image for S7

    A Girl deserves a new look and a new wardrobe!

  2. I also hope they give Cersei a new wig in the later S7 episodes. Looks like she have the same hairdo on those Dubrovnik pics, but one can hope they are from ep1.
    Anyways, congrats to the winners. The costumes are amazing.

  3. Mio,

    I wonder if they’re intentionally keeping Cersei’s androgynous short hairdo as a nod to her belief that she should’ve been born a man, and that she was sold off like livestock to Robert B just because she was a woman.

  4. Wonder if there is just a room at HBO HQ dedicated to the many awards that Thrones has won? Would hate to be the person who has to clean those trophies.

  5. Sand Snail:
    Trailer anyone?

    I wouldn’t be surprised if we got a teaser with no (or little) new footage by the end of the month. We usually get something by the end of filming… It just so happens that usually the show wraps up on December, not February. By that metric, by the way, we won’t get a proper full trailer until late April or May.

    I’m ready to be pleasantly surprised, though. A trailer in March would be great.

  6. Sand Snail: Trailer anyone?

    Congrats on all the awards – well deserved. I’m always amazed at the braiding done to Dany’s hair, and what the USED to do with Cersei’s hair. She probably won’t grow out her hair, feeling that the shorter hair is easier to maintain, and fixing it won’t keep her away from her more important goals of Lannister dominancy.

    I was on an HBO binge last night, watching the new shows, and right between them was the briefest view of a rack of swords, pommels up, with the name Lannisters over them. So it was a few second shot of a costume room, apparently, showing Lannister swords. Was this something new, something that maybe someone else caught as well? Or is it something that’s been shown before, and I had heart palpitations for nothing?

  7. Respect to the makeup artists, hairstylists, and costumer of GoT – I am constantly distracted by the quality of your work!

  8. Jack Sharpe:
    Wonder if there is just a room at HBO HQ dedicated to the many awards that Thrones has won? Would hate to be the person who has to clean those trophies.

    Nice one! … What a tiresome job that would be 😀

  9. I went to the live concert last night in St. Paul. I’d definitely recommend it to any fan, although I would suggest getting a seat that has a view to the main screens. It was intense and emotional, with some pretty cool stage designs and musicians. Some highlights included The Rains of Castamere, an Arya montage, Hold the Door, Dany’s Dragons theme and Light of the Seven.

  10. Thronetender,

    I saw some sort of clip of Cersei getting her hair and makeup touched up in a HBO’s “In Production” promo that was playing in-between shows. Not sure if it was new footage or not.

  11. Dan,

    Great to hear! I live in Minnesota so I’d considered going to it last night but didn’t work for me. How was the turnout?

  12. Sand Snail,

    and it begins! hahaha

    Im on the fence as to whether I will watch it or not. I have been completely off the grid so maybe it would be cool to go into the season fully blind

  13. Nice. I just watched a handful of videos a guy took from his seat and put up on Youtube. Sitting here at work getting teary once again during the “hold the door” part…

  14. Dee Stark,

    Don’t do it Dee! Just one time experience the joys of the show going into the season completely blind. The trailer images give away soooooooooooo much.

  15. Dee Stark,

    In a way, I envy you. The spoiler season during filming is too fun for me not to immerse myself in it, but I admit I’m curious what going fully blind into a season of GoT would feel like. I think I’d be too anxious!

  16. Luka Nieto,

    haha thanks! its fun because you have no idea what to expect
    but I am not going to lie I have major butterflies and anxiousness before an episode, sundays are long and stressful, almost like an exam or job interview….
    Its quite stressful hahaha

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