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Aug. 21, 2024

Hair Designer Martin Samuel Takes Us to Xanadu With Olivia Newton John

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Welcome to Season 5, Episode 2 of Look Behind The Look! This week, we dive into the dazzling world of the cult classic film Xanadu with the legendary hair designer Martin Samuel. In this episode, Martin shares his journey from working on Coal Miner's Daughter to creating the unforgettable hair designs for Olivia Newton-John and the rest of the Xanadu cast. He recounts his experiences working with icons like Gene Kelly, his creative process, and the behind-the-scenes stories that made Xanadu a visual feast. From the punk looks to the 1940s-inspired styles, Martin's covers all of the looks in the film.

Martin's illustrious career includes three Oscar and BAFTA nominations for his work on the Pirates of the Caribbean series, Hitchcock, and numerous accolades from the Hollywood Beauty Awards and the Makeup Artists and Hairstylist Guild. His passion for Hollywood musicals and his close friendship with Olivia Newton-John bring Martin’s stories to life, and the infectious joy that Xanadu brings to all of us in the new clearly came from the productions’ inception.

Stay tuned for the upcoming bite-sized episode that delves deeper into the costumes and the film's reception. But for now, enjoy this full-length conversation with Martin Samuel, filled with laughter, nostalgia, and a deep appreciation for the artistry behind Xanadu.

00:00:00 Welcome

00:02:57 Hello to Martin Samuel let’s get into Xanadu!

00:07:39 Gene Kelly

00:09:14 Was the film production challenged with a low budget? Let’s talk about the production.

00:14:08 Did you have a favorite era that you enjoyed working on the most

00:15:43 Olivia’s secret to her pure joy in the last scene… and the haircut Martin gave her.

00:19:31 Were you surprised at how the film was received when it first came out?

00:20:43 Gene Kelly choreographed Olivia's 40’s number and directed it.

00:29:30 Martin on his friendship with Olivia.

Get full access to Look Behind The Look's Substack from Tiffany Bartok at lookbehindthelook.substack.com/subscribe

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Transcript

welcome to look behind the look the celebrated podcast that explores your favorite looks in film television and fashion history through conversations with the fashion world's elite and award-winning hair makeup and costume designers on sets around the world you will see and hear exciting tales from behind the scenes career origin

stories and tons of advice and tips i'm your host tiffany bartok Hey everybody, welcome to Look Behind the Look, Season 5, Episode 2. I know, Season 5. It's crazy, and we've got lots of new stuff. If you missed the last episode, be sure to check it out.

I talked about some of the new stuff that's happening, and I'm doing the substack. I'm hitching onto the substack train. I've been riding on there for a while, and people are really loving our bite-sized episodes. I've been making them with Kelly Riley, and we have a great one coming up about Xanadu.

And the reason I'm bringing it up before it comes out is because when I reached out about an interview for the Xanadu Bite-Sized episode, I reached out to Martin Samuel, who did all the hair design for Xanadu. And he sweetly got back to me and said, oh my God, I'm so excited to talk about Xanadu.

It should be a whole episode. And so I agreed, of course. So I do have today an entire episode about Xanadu with Martin. And then that will be followed by the bite-sized episode that goes a little bit more into the costumes and the way the film was received, the way the film was developed, and more.

So today you're going to hear all about Xanadu and Olivia Newton-John and all the hair designs. And then we'll get more into it with the bite-sized episode coming up. It was such an honor to talk to Martin. He's an absolute legend. If you are listening to this podcast,

you know all of his movies and you probably know all of his credits. But I will remind you because there are many accolades to go over here. He is a three-time Oscar and BAFTA nominee for Pirates 1, The Curse of the Black Pearl, Pirates 2, Dead Man's Chest, Pirates 3, At World's End.

He's Oscar and BAFTA nominated for the motion picture Hitchcock. a Lifetime Achievement recipient given to him by the Hollywood Beauty Awards in 2015, and a Lifetime Achievement recipient for the Local 706 Makeup Artists and Hairstylists Guild in 2020. He's an icon and a legend, and responsible for some of the most beautiful looks in film history, like Evita,

The Man Who Fell to Earth with David Bowie, Burlesque, Blow, Angeline, Enough, Coal Miner's Daughter, Wild Wild West, so many more. And I can't wait for you to hear this conversation where I gush over Martin and his amazing work on Xanadu. Enjoy.

Open your eyes and hear the magic. Universal Pictures announces the most dazzling romantic musical fantasy in years, Xanadu. Starring Olivia Newton-John, Michael Beck, and Gene Kelly.

Hello, Martin. Oh my goodness. Hi, Tiffany. Hi, how are you? Good. I am thrilled to be talking to you today because As I reached out, I'll just tell everyone that I, Kelly, who works on these little featurettes with me called the Bite Size episodes, we were like, let's do Xanadu next.

And I said, oh no, I know who did the hair for Xanadu. And then I reached out to you and you so graciously agreed to talk to me about Xanadu. And then we, you and I realize that there's just too much. We're going to do, this is going to be its own episode.

And then we'll also have a bite-sized episode, maybe on a little bit more of the costumes and things like that of Xanadu as well. So people should watch both. Absolutely. Okay. Because we're going to go absolutely in depth about the hair. We're talking about Xanadu today, which is quite an ambitious project, to say the least.

I'm certain that my audience has all seen Xanadu. I just rewatched it this week and I was just watching a couple of documentaries that I'll put in the show notes about it. And I I have to I want to know just let's start from the beginning about Xanadu. When did you meet this project?

Well, it was like a kind of double situation. I just came back. I just kind of got myself together in L.A. in 1978. We decided to come live here. And I worked very hard at getting into the union because you have to get into the union and all those things.

And anyway, I got a chance to do a movie, Coal Miner's Daughter. I got all my days that I needed for my union to be independent. So I came back to L.A. And our very, very close best friend was Ronat Newton-John.

No.

He was our best friend from England. And she came to LA because she, you know, Liddy got so big. And, you know, one day she said, I'm going to LA. Olivia wants me to go and live there. She's just done Grease. It's all gone crazy. And so I'm going to go and bye-bye and see you.

So then we came to LA, nothing to, you know, not because she had, because I wanted to work in Hollywood. My dream was to work on a Hollywood musical. Oh, was it? Yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah. That's if you read any of my bios, it's like that was one of my dreams.

You know, I used to watch those movies on TV, all those wonderful Hollywood music musicals. And one day I'll do it. One day I'll be like Sidney Guileroff, who was a fantastic hairdresser. Yes. And did all those movies. So anyway, I got my my my union ticket and Roma said to me, Livia's doing a new film.

I'd met Olivia like socially because of being Rona's best friend. And she thinks that you would be great to do the hair. So it was at Universal. I just got my ticket at Universal and it all worked out.

And so- So Cole Miner's daughter was at Universal. So yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

So I got all my union stuff together and I was able to run a movie. You know, you have to kind of get that whole sort of thing together.

Yes.

It was amazing, you know, and I met Larry and Joel and they signed off on me. And so, you know, I was good to go and that was it. So that's how it happened.

That's how you got there. And, and, and then were you Olivia's personal or did you?

I was, I was like, it was personal, but I was the department head designer. So, yeah. So I looked after her totally. Yes. And then, you know, oversaw everything else that was going on and people that I could manage to squeeze in with her and not interrupt. any time with her.

Yes. Yes. And, and, and being that this was your goal to work on a Hollywood musical to have Gene Kelly in you, was it intimidating? Were you just like dreams come true?

Well, not really. I mean, I had come, you know, I had terrific, I mean, I don't want to blow my trumpet, but I had a very good resume when I came to L.A.

You can do that here. You can brag here.

But of course, Gene Kelly was an absolute, you know, I mean, enigma. So, yeah, it was very exciting. Very exciting at the thought of him being in the movie.

Yes. Yes. Yeah.

uh, my, my, my, my main joy and concern was doing the Hollywood musical and all the different scenes and all the different, Joel was just so, he was the one that was kind of like, you know, Joel Silver was like, that was like really, you know, into it and pushing and saying,

really have this stage and we're going to have this and we want this and the clothes and the hair and this. So anyway, it was all very exciting. And, um, But my main concern really was Livy and all the styles and everything that would go with her because Gene was Gene, but he was, you know,

there was no look. There was no, you know what I mean?

There was no- Yes, exactly. More of the costumes.

So he was just to be looked after, made sure that he was looking great. But, you know, it wasn't sort of a big creative job as it was kind of with Olivia and the rest of all the dancers and all the different scenes and all the different moods and

So that's my next question is, so Joel Silver had a huge vision for this, but did the budget correspond with that? How was the budget on this film? Was it challenging or did you have everything at your feet?

I never had a- You never had a problem? I never had a problem. Wonderful. I mean, I don't think it was an enormously, it was done in a very reasonable way. Right. And, you know, those were the kind of golden years of Hollywood. I mean, 80. Do you know what I mean?

It was like we were a lot on location. We had some like stuff at Universal on sound stages. We had another big sound stage in Hollywood. But then we were kind of like, you know, the Pan Pacific building. You know, you heard of the Pan Pacific building? Yes. All the fans loved it. The Pan Pacific. Yes.

That building that they used the outside of. And that was going to be the club of Xanadu. It's amazing.

Yeah. You know what it reminds? Have you ever been to Disney to the Hollywood studio? It looks just like that. And I always wonder if it's secretly it's a replica. Yeah. Yeah, it may be. I'll have to look. I'll have to look. It's just, it's gone now though, yeah? No, no.

It's still there. It's still there in the Pan Pacific Park. It's completely empty, but it's just still, it's a national, I mean, they couldn't knock it down.

They can't knock it down. Okay. Architecturally protected. Oh, wonderful.

We used this, you know, exterior and then interior was like, that was supposed to be where the club was, but it wasn't. It was in the studio. but um yeah and then you know venice beach yes a lot you know where you know um

sunny you know sees the mural and everything like that music will come out a lot of skating stuff down there a lot of stuff in malibu a lot of stuff in um malibu and uh um Yeah, all around play. So it was kind of very reasonable, I suppose. It wasn't a massive, a massive... amount of money.

It wasn't a mess.

Okay. It was comfortable and everybody seems comfortable. Yeah. I, I noticed that there are no complaints about that. Like, you know, the costumes and nobody was saying we didn't have any money and we had to put it, put it together. So that's wonderful that you guys could really play. Had a problem.

No, we never, I never, no one ever came up to me and I had a lot of help, a lot of a big team of hair and makeup people.

Yes, tell me how the department, what you remember about assembling the department.

Well, I had my one, you know, my key, who was this wonderful girl who's not here anymore, beautiful friend, Candy Connery. Yes. Yeah, she was my key. Yes. And so, you know, we worked together on that. And then I had, like, you know, certain times there may be 20 hairdressers coming in. Really? Yeah.

The big days when we had all the, you know, the dancers and everything in and the roller skaters, all that stuff, you know, maybe even a few more and make up the same. I mean, they had, you know, we had a big setup. Wonderful. It was great. It was great. Wonderful. Yeah.

So I assembled, you know, I relied a lot on Candies. to get the people, hair and makeup people, because I was kind of, this was my first picture in Hollywood, in LA. I had just done Coal Miner's Daughter, that was all. So different. It was all in Tennessee and Kentucky. So, you know, I hadn't actually,

I'd done a few days and things in the studios here, but I didn't know all the people. So Candy helped out. Or lots of hair and makeup people came in, which I remained friends with and they worked on other pictures for me. I love that. Yeah, no, it was great. It was great. We had a great crew.

And for shooting those huge production numbers, do you remember, you obviously did the eras in a certain order. Do you remember how many days per era it would take?

No, I can't honestly remember this. You know, it's like a long time ago. Yeah. So yeah, no. We had some pretty early crazy calls as you do. Yeah, yeah.

Ready.

And even though I would only, you know, I would oversee everything and maybe do one or two people, I was always there at the beginning, you know, even though a living wouldn't be coming in until 8.30 or something. So I was always around for everything from beginning to end of the day.

did you have a favorite era that you enjoyed working on the most? I saw that you were doing Liberty spikes on some of the, in the punk stuff and yeah.

Easy styles that we create on these, you know, and all that sort of thing on Leroy and you know, all the, all the great fun, fantastic styles. It was just really great.

Yeah.

Which there was this wonderful big kind of a, Emporium dress shop type place in Beverly Hills called Fiorucci.

Gene Kelly was just telling this story about Fiorucci. Yes, tell me, tell me.

And that's where we filmed a lot of that, a lot of his stuff. you know, his dancing and stuff like that. When he comes out with the dancers, the dancers are all in the window and they come alive and then they go in and the whole thing, you know. So we filmed a lot in there, in Fiorucci.

A lot of those crazy, crazy looks.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

My favorite, my favorite, my favorite. I mean, I love the end scene, you know, with Olivia. Of course, yeah. I just love that, you know. And that hair was just, you know, she said... Let's just do something completely different. You know, we both said together, we're going to do something completely different for this, you know,

because of all the lovely, pretty style that she had, you know, with the ribbons and Kira style. And so, you know, I gave her a massive haircut. And we just let it go. And that was that beautiful style at the end.

You caught it. I'm very curious about that last look because it's so beautiful. It's so effortless. And to me, there's something about her performance that's quite different too. She was so relaxed and just like flowing.

She was glowing because... you know, she met, I mean, everyone knows I'm not telling stories out of school, whatever, but you know, she met Matt, one of the dancers and, and they just kind of clicked.

They fell in love on Xanadu.

They fell in love on Xanadu. And so it was quite a way through the movie. And really we had to, we closely people with olivia her little team entourage had to keep this a secret it wasn't something anybody to know he's so private yeah keep it private so um you know um it

wasn't until the end that really olivia could let that shine out.

Oh, wow.

Shows, I mean, I watched that scene and I can see how, you know, she was just so glowing because it was fine. It was out. They were together. And, you know, that was a beautiful thing.

Oh my goodness, because they didn't want to hinder the production. And so they waited. And then, but then they, they,

not just production, but just the whole thing that, you know, things like that are never a good idea. So keeping it from, you know, just keeping it cool.

That's really neat because yeah, she's, she's definitely so free and it's just like, really, I mean, you talk about the grease, you know, like how much fun it was, but it's still a tight performance. This was, and this was just so loose and relaxed. And I noticed that her hair is slightly like crimped.

And I wanted to ask you about that. Um, it's, it's such a, a silly detail, but I said to my husband, I'm like, I've got to ask him about that because it's like slightly crimped. And I wondered if like, it was on purpose that way, or if it was like, um, you decided on a different hair.

Well, it was the way it was cut.

Yes.

Okay. And so it was kind of layered. It was very, very layered. It was this kind of lion cut.

Yes.

Pushed all your hair forward and then you cut it around, then you flung it all back and then, you know, so it was that kind of very, very layered cut. And it was partial cut. Partial air dry, partial blow dry. Okay. So it wasn't that kind of crisp blow dried look. Do you know what I mean? Yes.

It still had the big buoyancy and the air through it. And all the layers could move. Yes. So that's kind of how that white looked like that. And it worked beautifully. It worked. And the way it moved and she moved. Yes. I mean, there was no wind machine on her or anything. Right, right, right. keep it going.

So it was, it was just the, it was just great.

Can you imagine now if they did this, like, can you imagine how highly style it's so wholesome and like, you know, it's just such a sweet film and now it would be so, I just was kept imagining what's the, when's the day that somebody announces a Xanadu redo and we all start screaming and

be great. Yeah. Yeah. You think it would be good. Or they could kind of, well, they can't now because obviously... Olivia's gone but you know at one time they could have you know re-released it with adding bits in it but I agree they never did that was there yes were you surprised

when you saw how the film was received when it first came out what what what did what did you guys think it wasn't received all that well right yeah so were you did that surprise you or did you not care how did you feel about it

um i thought it was a bit unfair um it was that kind of um period of time you know um there was a couple of different hollywood musical movies coming out yes what's the name of that one that was Can't Stop the Music.

Yep. One from the heart.

That was the big one, Can't Stop the Music.

Can't Stop the Music.

When Xanadu came out, it just missed that thing. I was like, I don't know. I mean, I just thought some of the, you know, some of the, I mean, some of the dance numbers are fantastic. Yes.

Yes. I did hear that Gene Kelly was so upset that, that they didn't get his legs because he did the roller skating and he wanted to show off that he was doing all this roller skating and he was so flawless at it. And they, they cut him off at the, cut him off at the middle.

Yeah. But the Primo thing was his, him and Livia's 1940s sequence.

Tell me about that look and how you came up with it and did you replicate it?

Why it was very, you know, a real classic 1940s look for Livia with 1940s hair and the hat and the, you know, the whole outfit.

So perfect.

Perfect. And that was many weeks, because he directed it. Gene directed that. he insisted on directing that scene. Wow. That whole rehearsal, they rehearsed for about two weeks. Oh, wow. Really? Yes, about that.

She was?

Yeah, she wanted to get it absolutely perfect, you know, but she was doing this solo number with Gene Kelly. I mean, that was big.

Dancing, I love her so much, but dancing's not her string.

Yeah, it was an intense, you know, choreography. Oh. If you look at that, you know, it was really, you know, she had to be on the ball the whole time. So there was a lot of rehearsal and the shooting, I think we shot over about four or five days.

Oh, wow.

Yeah. Something like that. So yeah, it was beautiful. Absolutely beautiful.

So he choreographed it and directed it. So that's very wonderful. I didn't, I didn't know that. Was he, was he difficult or no? No. He's just like set in his ways and. Yeah. He was just Gene Kelly. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. He, he, he was kind of Gene Kelly. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. He didn't have a lot to do with the dancers. You know, he didn't kind of, loads, all the dancers kind of like felt that they wanted to, that he would sit in the middle of them talking. Uh-huh, uh-huh, uh-huh.

You know, be one of the dancers, you know what I mean? Yeah. But it didn't happen like that. He was more kind of, you know, I don't know. how he felt or what he was going through or whatever. But he didn't do that number and they were kind of a bit disappointed. Got it.

He was going to kind of be one of the community of all these fabulous, you know, dancers.

Ah, that's very interesting.

But everything worked out beautifully. There was no bad feelings or anything like that. But that was one thing that I do remember, you know. Yes. him sitting around and talking about, you know, this movie or that movie. I did this. It was wonderful. Oh, tell us about it.

Yes, of course. And he was like, I'm here to work. And yes, uh-huh. Like reserving his energy.

He took it very seriously. Yeah.

Yeah. Yeah. I remember him. He, he was saying that he was, when he signed onto the project, he was like, I'm not going to dance. I can't imagine being the producer and being like, okay, so. But then Kenny Ortega, he said, I will because he trusted Kenny. Thank God. That's so funny.

There's this footage of Olivia at the wrap party and she's in a circle dancing to Michael Jackson. And it was just, it's such a beautiful thing where she's just letting loose and she's standing there in a group of people. Did you attend the wrap party? Do you remember it? Was it, it was at the Xanadu set, yeah?

How much fun was that? Was it like, I saw there was a red carpet, but they didn't show any footage of the film. They were just celebrating, yeah? Yeah.

Yeah, yeah. I actually escorted Olivia to the premiere. Wonderful.

Where was the premiere? And you know that was August 8th, which is tomorrow.

I didn't know. I didn't remember that.

I just saw the number and I thought, wait a minute.

I can't remember where it was. But it was in a great big theater, you know, cinema. I can't remember where it was in town somewhere. Yeah. But she didn't feel it was cool for her to go in to go with Matt. So she said, you've got to do it. You've got to do it.

So, of course, I did it. And then I just kind of as we got to into the foyer, I walked off to the side and Matt came in and they sat together.

Oh, my gosh. I love that. that was uh that was and at the premiere the the audience enjoyed it at the premiere of course of course yes it was just after when everybody ripped it to

shreds yeah oh my goodness favorite we were talking about that before my favorite favorite scene and the favorite getting ready for everybody and i mean there's so many it's and all the different hair and all the different, you know, styles and periods. So many.

You know, the scene with the tubes, you know, when the two stages come together.

Yes.

That was amazing.

Tell me how that was shot.

We shot that in Hollywood. I think it was some Hollywood Central Studios in some studio down there, which we shot a lot of. And it was, you know, Joel's big kind of dream. thing to have this, this scene and talked about it a lot before it happened. And of course it was just great. It was just beautiful.

I mean, it took quite a few days to do it. Sure. Yeah. So many different hair looks, so many different, the Andrew sisters looking three, you know, singers and, and then all the different, you know, the tubes and their whole number.

Well, but you did, you did them separately. No, you did the Andrew sisters shot. Yeah.

They were cameos within the day.

Got it. Right, right, right, right, right, right, right.

They were all on the stage together.

But there was an edgy look to the Andrews sisters. It wasn't pure. Yes. How did you find that mix?

Well, I just love 1940s. This is my whole, at that time anyway. I said 1940s, but at that time it was like my... you know, my big thing that night.

Oh, that was it.

Yeah. And so, you know, that's what we modeled them on. We modeled them, you know, with Bobby Mannix, you know, the costume designer. So we kind of like worked it out that that's what the look was going to be. And, you know, the song and it was great.

It just worked out a dream snoods at the back and, you know,

yes yes yes yes and then for the punk looks where did you find them did you find them on real people how what was the inspiration of those a lot of reference

pictures yeah and um a lot of the guys would go out and get colors done and things like that you know a lot of coloring but also a lot of people kind of like helped out and they would go and get some color or they'd put the color in themselves and

then we'd kind of dress it all out in the mornings um And yeah, we did a lot of research about that. A lot of research.

In that time, how was color done? Because we weren't in Manic Panic yet or anything like that. So how were the pops of color created?

So it was beginning of all kind of pure color being available.

Right, it was the beginning.

To those that knew where to get it, if you know what I mean. It wasn't like now you go online. There was nothing like that going on in those days, as you know. So, yeah, I mean, and the dance community knew and they know more than they did then of where to get

stuff and where to go and what little shop would do it. Do you know what I mean? It was like an in thing. because it was all so new.

Yes. Oh, I love that. I love the idea of it being a secret.

Yeah, we all worked together. I mean, we all, the dancers and the whole hair, makeup, dancers, you know, we all worked so closely together to get, it was exciting. They loved it and they wanted to help out. So, you know, we all worked at it together.

Did you ever see XANA do the musical?

Never. Never.

Yeah.

I never saw it. Yeah. Made in LA.

It's, I think it did come to, it did go on tour. I believe. Right. Yes, it did. Yeah. But I think just like, like not. Yeah. A big.

Location or something. Yeah. if it had been somewhere, you know, I would have gone to see it here.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, of course, of course. Tell me a little bit about Olivia, just, I mean, because you were so close, and I mean, I don't need to tell you that I grew up, I mean, I have pictures of myself posing like... her album. I'll have to find her album covers.

And she was always on the turntable at home and so beloved by the world and, and myself. And so my, I just want to, I would love to hear about your relationship with her and really tell people how special she was.

As I said, you know, I mean, we, we, we met because of Rona.

Yes.

Her beloved sister.

Yes.

Who's also, you know, she passed away at least five, six years before Libby. And so, you know, then I met Livia, we did the film, the whole, our friendship started and it never ended until she passed away. We were very close friends through all the ins and outs of her life, you know, spent a lot of time.

My wife and her were very close. We were kind of in that kind of inner sanctum of being friends. Yes. And, you know, went through all the dodgy years, you know, towards the end. And yeah, I mean, we were very close. She was adorable. She was always adorable. Yeah. I mean, she was just a great person.

We had a great friendship.

I was reading in her biography this morning about Xanadu and I was just, just as you are speaking about, she had nothing bad to say about it. Like, you know, she was just, you know, this was, these are the great things that they brought me. They brought me Matt, Xanadu brought me Matt and great friends.

And then I still have... And, you know, yeah, she didn't talk about any golden raspberries or anything. And the music.

I mean, please. The track is a great big hit for her. The music is fantastic. Incredible. ever and will go on forever. I mean, the yellow, I mean, forget it. Yes. I mean, the whole thing was so exciting, you know, you know, working and, and, and, and listening to the playback, you know, of the ELO and, and,

and her songs and her music. And, you know, she got very, she would get very emotional about when she sung suddenly and when she was, you know, doing all these beautiful numbers that she did through the movie.

Have you ever seen a Kira Halloween costume? I've never, I was thinking about it now.

Maybe somebody should do one.

I think I might this year. I think you heard it here, folks. Maybe I should do the Kira wig. Yes. The question is which Kira, of course. Well, but as you, as I've learned through you, there's Kira. Yes. And then these other looks.

Well, then there's all the other looks.

Yeah.

you know this is my my script i still have with all because in those days we used to cut polaroids we used to put like shape them and do all this crazy stuff which is a shame that they're not i know but this is what we did that's that oh let me

see martin put pull it up a little bit okay that's one you know So. Oh, shoot. It's cutting it off on the bottom. I want to see every, everything. Oh my God. Yes. Oh, look at this one. Okay. Martin, what, tell me about this down, take your hand and put it down.

And then right here with that contour, that heavy contour next to her, next to her. What is that?

That one? Yeah. It's kind of like a 1940s folded up with a flower.

I love.

Yes. There's all sorts of incredible things going on here.

Oh, my goodness. And this is an original script?

Oh, yeah. Yes, my original script. It's falling apart because I've kind of looked at it. There's Michael. There's Kira as Kira. Yes. Yes. more sort of, you know, I need to kind of clean it up and put plastic on every page.

Well, yes, of course. It should be in a vault, of course. But this braid, I love that detail, too. I'll never forget it. Is it a barrette that you put on Kira that sort of, it's so sweet. That was a huge trend. The ribbon. That became a huge trend.

Yeah, they were just like on a comb. and the material was weaved over the top and then the tails oh my gosh I remember

that so well I remember doing that and you tucked it in and then the ribbons and you did it only on one side yes oh yes yeah oh my god isn't that exciting oh Oh, the makeup. Oh, look at it all piled up so sweetly on the top. Yes, that's the edge. That's the end.

Is this the Andrew sisters here? No, no, no, no, no, no, no. OK. This is the previous. I couldn't tell the coloring on the costume. And the Xanadu. finale kind of thing uh those hats oh my god you know we need to redo this film we

need with the same people we have to get in a time machine i want it to be the same people i just want it to be a different like cinematographer because i want it to be more detailed we did all these crazy scenes you know with all these different

Oh God.

Look at this. I mean, these, these looks defined. And this is nine.

Sandal Bergman, you know, she was the lead, you know, she was fat. She was kind of the number one muse. She was great. She was a fantastic dancer. Yeah.

Yes. Yes. Absolutely stunning. Oh my God. Thank God you have those Polaroids.

Yeah, yeah, I do. Yeah.

Yes. Oh my goodness.

Yes. Yes. Eventually I'll, I'll, I'll most probably decide to donate that to the Academy Museum.

The Academy Museum. Yes. That's where they go.

Yeah. It'll go there eventually.

Okay. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, my goodness. Martin, I loved talking to you about everything. Is there anything else that you're burning to tell me about Xanadu?

Everything, really. I mean, yeah. I mean, Michael Beck was adorable.

Yeah. You know, I was surprised it wasn't Rex Smith. But looking back, I wondered how old Rex was at the time. But Michael Beck, where did they find him for this?

Honestly, I don't know. I mean, Michael and I became friends. became close friends and his wife. Wonderful. Yeah. And, but he, yeah, I don't know. He just did that. He did one film. I think it was called Warriors. Yeah. And, and they chose him. I mean, he looked adorable.

I mean, he was, he was the epitome of that 1980s look with the hair and the thing. Yes. The boy from Venice. So that's most probably what they were looking, you know, why they went with him.

Yeah, he definitely had the look down.

So there's so many stories.

Martin, you're so cool.

I'm sorry to keep going on about it.

Please, I'm sorry to keep asking. I keep trying to wrap you up, but there's just no way to do it. I don't want to.

The first day that we went on set with Madonna on Evita, it was a camera test. her classic hair and she wore the Eva Perón long mink coat and it was a pinewood and they played back Don't Cry For Me Argentina and it was the first time we'd been

well it gives me the shivers now because it was unbelievable I mean there wasn't everybody did their stuff the cameras we know everybody was but everybody was absolutely in awe and she was miming and the soundtrack was going and it was moments when you never forget, you know what I mean? Yes.

What a gift. What a gift.

Anyway, that's a whole nother story.

Is this, this is your cliffhanger. This is what you're doing. You're, you're, you're giving me a cliffhanger. Yeah. Oh, Martin, I'll let you go for now, but that is not, I'm not going to let you go for long. Okay. Okay. Thank you so much for talking.

It's been great. I really loved it. And I hope you've got lots of nice stuff with Livy and Xanadu.

Yes.

Look Behind the Look is a Vinylfoot production written by me, your host, Tiffany Bartok. Produced by Jace Bartok, edited by Mugresh Thakur. If you're interested in learning more, find our video version on the YouTube channel, Look Behind the Look Podcast. There you can see rare photos and clips from our guests.

And please follow us on Twitter at Look Behind Pod and Instagram at Look Behind the Look. If you like the show, please rate, review, and subscribe. And tell your friends and spread the word. You can subscribe to us on iTunes or any podcatcher of your choice. Thanks for listening to Look Behind the Look.

Martin Samuel

Hair Designer

Martin Samuel’s career in the film industry spans 35 yrs during which time he has department headed and designed countless feature films here in Los Angeles, Canada, London and Europe. Martin started his career in Salons and was the artistic director of Crimpers the first Unisex Salon in London at the end of the swinging sixties. He then moved into print and advertising, and commercials working alongside directors Alan Parker, Michael Apted, Ridley and Tony Scott, Hugh Hudson and Adrian Lynne. and eventually moved into the British film industry working on three films with Lee Remmick "IKE THE WAR YEARS" and "THE MEDUSA TOUCH" and the Merchant Ivory production of 'THE EUROPEANS".
Martin first came to Los Angeles on the film “STARDUST” with David Essex, Adam Faith and Keith Moon, a 60’s cult pop movie directed by Michael Apted. He then joined Director Nicholas Roeg in New Mexico and created the Iconic hair for “THE MAN WHO FELL TO EARTH” this lead him to join David Bowie for the “STATION TO STATION” European Tour. He continued working on feature films in the UK and then came to LA to reside where he worked again with Apted on his Academy Award film "COAL MINERS DAUGHTER" and then on to the musical ‘XANADU” with Olivia Newton John and 3 films with actress Jill Clayburg.
Martin returned to the UK to work on Alan Parkers “PINK FLOYD,THE WALL” and Nicholas Roeg's ‘EUREKA” He then decided to take a hiatus from the film industry and took up residence in the English Countryside with his family, opening a lucrative hair and beaut… Read More

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Hair Designer Martin Samuel Takes Us to Xanadu With Olivia Newton John

Martin Samuel

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