Wigs man makes up for Oscar

In some scenes 1,000 actors needed make-up

A Bristol-based make-up artist will be rubbing shoulders with Hollywood's finest next month after being nominated for an Oscar for his work on Lord of the Rings.

Peter Owen was in charge of the make-up and wigs for all the actors on the film, which has been nominated for a total of 13 Oscars.

Mr Owen, a partner in the firm Owen, King and Turner in Clifton, said he is just flattered to be nominated for the award.

But he will be flying out to the all-star ceremony in Hollywood on 24 March to get the academy's verdict.

Peter Owen: "flattered" to be nominated

The team, managed by Mr Owen, made hundreds of wigs for the hit film, which has been nominated in the Achievement in Make-up category.

Every character required a hairpiece and in some crowd scenes 1,000 actors needed to be made-up.

"The sheer volume was difficult and they shot the three films simultaneously so just to sort out the logistics was bad enough," he said.

He said the variation in wigs was enormous.

"Hobbits have all got short curly hair, elves have got long straight hair and Gandalf has a belly-length beard."

Gandalf needed lots of hair

The make-up was a massive task with a team of 50 assistants working to get hundreds of actors looking the part in the crowd scenes.

"All the elves had their faces lifted - their wigs pulled their eyebrows up to make their face look a different shape.

"Most people were made-up against their natural skin colour - normally you work with the natural colours," he said.

But after 25 years in the film-making business he is not banking on success on Oscar night.

"I just not thinking about it but it's very flattering to be nominated," he said.