«My Oscar style for Luhrmann’s Elvis»- Corriere.it

Superstition is a must, of course. But if on the evening of March 12 Aldo Signoretti, in his fourth nomination, were to take home the Oscar for make-up and hairstyling by Elvis by Baz Luhrmann, with Mark Coulier and Jason Baird, would have no doubts about the recipient of any dedication. “To my family, of course. And to Maurizio Silvi, my partner in crime in many films». They should also have come together for the biopic of the king of rock ‘n roll, as they have already done in other works by the Australian director since the days of Romeo + Juliet. «Unfortunately Maurizio passed away last May. We had already started working on this film, then the pandemic slowed things down. And he couldn’t do it.”

In 2001 they nominated you together for Moulin Rouge!

«Baz is a very fussy director, attentive to details. He wanted a style “somewhere between the Moulin Rouge and the Club 54 of the 70s in New York”. We traveled through time, fishing to the colors of Toulouse-Lautrec which are reflected in Nicole Kidman’s hair: yellow, blue, red».

His other two nominations were for Apocalypto by Mel Gibson e The celebrity by Paolo Sorrentino. The list of directors with whom he has collaborated is a compendium of cinema history: Visconti, Fellini, Bertolucci, Altman, Scorsese, Cavani, Tornatore.
“I’ve been lucky. I have the most beautiful job in the world, which has led me to meet giants».

How did it start?

“My father worked in cinema as a stuntman, with horses at the time of Ben Hur. I went to sets. I loved that wonderful vibration: arriving in the morning when a world is created that is dismantled in the evening, and then started again».

He didn’t follow in his father’s footsteps, though.

«The passion for hairstyles was born as a boy, I wanted to make cinema but in that department. I started when I wasn’t even twenty, with Piero Tosi, with a teacher like the hair stylist Maria Teresa Corridoni. Visconti, DeLullo, Fellini. The theater and immediately the cinema. It was Olympus. Fellini told me: “Aldino, the screen is big, you have to fill it”. A fundamental lesson.”

What is your relationship with the actors?

“Every face tells a story. And hair is something intimate, close to the brain. It is necessary to create a relationship of empathy with the interpreters».

Complications?

“Never. I already told you, I was lucky.’

How did it get to Hollywood?

«At the time of La nave va, in Cinecittà, one day they tell me: they’re calling you on the phone from America. I had done Popeye by Altman, filmed in Malta, they wanted me for Louisiana by Philippe del Broca. I was 28, I left».

Then came such films as Sylvester Stallone’s Cliffhanger, David Cronenberg’s M. Butterfly, Taylor Hackford’s The Last Eclipse and The Devil’s Advocate.

«Then came Martin Scorsese, another giant. All great experiences. In the USA there was more bureaucracy than on the Italian sets where the approach was more artisanal, but they appreciated my way of working. Bloody Italian, he is an artistthey said about me.”

Weren’t you tempted to stop?

«I lived in New York, where I also did theater, never in Los Angeles. I was born in Trastevere, I carry my explicit, direct Romanity with me. Wife and children are also happier in Rome».

Any other memories?

Luca Ronconi. Everyone said he was terrible, bad, I loved him. I get emotional thinking about him, Visconti, De Lullo».

And Bertolucci?

“Absolute master, total poetry. He said to me: you are like a sculptor, you make art with your hair. And I replied: Bernardo, if you keep looking at me while I work, I’ll stop».

What was it like recreating Elvis?

«When you touch icons like him, one of the best known faces in history, you need all the obsessive care of a director like Luhrmann. For example, he was blond, even for Austin Butler’s wigs in recent years I started with blond hair dyed dark to make him less sharp. Wigs of different lengths, because I went hand in hand with his style, the height of his necks, a bit Maria Stuarda, complicated ».

Next engagement?

«The series m taken from Scurati’s book on Mussolini directed by Joe Wright. A great team effort, just the way I like it».