Slight preface – with every interview, Face Off’s PR maven emails me a short list of people who are available to chat during the interview slots I have available. I then get to pick who I want. Weirdly enough the first 2 interviews of this season have been people who were then eliminated the very next night (I do my interviews on Tuesday nights for the most part). So! When I chatted with Ant I had no idea he was about to go home. That said, he was really funny and engaging (and SUPER CANDID which I appreciate). Highlights – he broke down the details of what happened week 1 with Johnny, and he offered a lot of insight into what the actual filming environment was like, which is fascinating to me. So read on! With that said, here’s this week’s interview – with Anthony Canonica Jr. (And to learn more about what he does, check out http://www.prorenfx.com/ – the company he’s been working for)
Courtesy of SyFy
Danator: What did you do before working in makeup? Did you ever have an office job?
I started out as an actor as a kid, my brother and I did a lot of community theatre and went to high school for acting and had an agent – the whole 9 yards. When I was 13 in high school (I started a year early) my mom recorded something on TiVo {editorial note, nothing makes you feel old like a reference to technology that felt cutting edge in your adult life – that was a part of someone else’s childhood, ouch} about special effects, and I’d always loved horror.. once I saw that -it never occurred to me that makeup could be a career before then, but I was like I’m gonna do that now.
Since I went to school for acting I got a lot of opportunity to do makeup for the shows, my poor brother was my guinea pig but he was a good sport and willing to let me mess him up. I went to school at Tom Savini and after that I pretty much moved to NY to pursue it.
Danator: How did you learn? Did your parents take you to classes? Were online tutorials a thing by then?
My parents got me a few books, there wasn’t a lot online you could watch in 2007, so a lot of it was trial and error. I’d watch any rudimentary video I could find just to figure things out. I got latex or tried to sculpt something but it was self taught until college.
Danator: What style is your preference? (IE Fantasy, Horror, Sci Fi, etc)
My favorite makeups to do are the subtle ones. My first feature department heading job I got to create these dwarf characters and it was like wow that guy has a huge nose, not that’s cool makeup, if it can go undetected that’s my favorite. I’ve been really fortunate that jobs I’ve got and places I’ve got to work, anytime I can do technical or subtle makeup… of course I love horror, but blood and guts and gore are like fart jokes, they don’t necessarily need as much skill and they’re underwhelming as far as artistic gratitude.
Danator: Who are your inspirations? Any favorite makeup artists?
My favorite was Kevin Yagher http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0944892/ – he was a little less known, he did Child’s Play, he did the animatronics for the Cryptkeeper on Tales from the Crypt – I mean he perfected the cryptkeeper makeup. {editorial note – he also did special effects on the movie ‘Face/Off’ which made me laugh to no end while looking him up. That’s meta, right?} I get the work for Mike Marino right now as my fulltime job. I always thought he was a west coast guy and when I met him and started working for him.. he’s incredibly obsessive over his work and it’s nice to be pushed to be better. It’s like cooking for Gordon Ramsey, you know if it’s not perfect. Anything less than perfect… and yeah, you’re gonna keep going till you hit perfect.
Danator: Were you familiar with any other contestants or their work before going on the show (IE how small IS the industry)
I did know Johnny, he and I went to college together and were in school around the same time but we never really talked too much, the most interaction I had with him before the show was we played a game of kickball and we were on opposite teams at a school game. And he’s like, 6’7” so every time I went to kick the ball he would catch it without jumping. Drove me nuts.
Danator: Was it hard to leave your job to go to be on the show?
I got on the show, I tried out a few times and didn’t get on. Every so often a casting producer would email me or send a facebook message asking me if I wanted to try out again and I said ok. I work at a wig shop in Manhattan doing broadway and off broadway stuff… I was lucky enough to be freelance so I could take time off, I never was told I couldn’t go, but when I was trying out I didn’t tell my boss and then I got cast and told him and he was supportive but if he wasn’t I had no backup plan… I would have quit and gone on the show.
I mean, I’m like that, I stand my ground. I almost quit over 12$ a week over overtime pay for one job because I was a freelancer and they didn’t want to pay overtime to freelancers. I mean, I fight even if it’s over something small.
Danator: Did you have any things you swore you wouldn’t do before going on the show?
I knew I didn’t want to do an old age since they’re too difficult to do with foam in that time restraint, there’s no way it was going to come out good. I knew I didn’t want to do that and I told myself that I was going to stay true and I wouldn’t compromise my art I was going to be me no matter what.
Danator: What was it like once you started filming, was it what you expected?
I didn’t know what to expect. The way I describe when I first went there, it sounds remarkably similar to my brother’s time in basic training for the air force, I just had very pleasant boot camp. I had a pool and leisure time and pizza, but… we had no electronics, we weren’t allowed pencils or pens, or a deck or cards since they had pictures on them which could be a reference,
They dropped me off at the airport after we finished filming and I was like ‘oh gay people can get married? Huh, I had no clue’ it was crazy. You’re with strangers who you get used to very quickly since you spend every moment together.
Danator: What was the first challenge like? It was all edited so quickly, what happened with you and Johnny and your design?
There was certainly friction, that was not fabricated by the producers. We were different artists, I wanted to do what I wanted to do and he wanted to do what he wanted to do and it was the first challenge, we wanted to represent our art.
The cheapest way to put it is I wanted to write a comedy and he wanted to write a tragedy. He wanted a nasty gross bounty hunter and I wanted to make it more character driven. Communication wasn’t the problem, I’d offer an idea, say what do you think- he didn’t like it. He’d offer an idea, say what do you think – I’d say I don’t like it. The reason it had 4 eyes was I wanted to make it a pirate with 3 eye patches, I wanted it to be fun and funny. They didn’t even wind up being eyes, from the very beginning, it was just… not working.
I truly think we would work well together in a real life situation where there’s a pecking order but as partners it was a tug of war with no leeway and a clock ticking down. We were both very stubborn and we were… reluctant to compromise.
Danator: So watching that back now would you have changed anything?
There were a thousand things I would have done differently. But I look at it and for what it is for being a Face Off makeup I liked it and thought it was cool. I look back and I see the edges and the seam and all of it could have improved, but 2 people who didn’t get along created it in 20 hours, that’s cool. They film 21 hours of me and Johnny and everyone else and then 2 hours each for each interview and it comes together for a 45 minute episode so a lot comes out.
Danator: What was your process like week 2? How did you work with Walter? Your beauty makeup was talked about before hand but we didn’t hear any commentary from you or the judges, were you happy with how it came out?
That was a complete 180, Walter and I our beds are next to each other, we’re both foppish, our hair had to look good, our shirts were tight, we were bros immediately. We both have bizarre tastes in food so we spent a lot of time making food out of boredom. I make hamburgers with chocolate and bacon. He had Sriracha on toast. We did pickle shots for good luck.
He was the best friend I made during that time ,so when we were teamed together – we ran for the car thinking it was like, the best option in the room, and no one else had any interest in it. He loved Transformers, I was obsessed with Power Rangers, so we made something that was a toy I would have wanted as a kid, I thought it was really cool.
Danator: So watching that back now would you have changed anything on this one?
I would have done something differently with the face but at the time it was the right decision. We got a lot of guff but I liked it.
I would have used a different product on the lips, it didn’t look how I wanted it to. The silver looks flat, but I honestly used 5 different shades to contour and I blended it all together, maybe too well but I assure you it was many different shades. I probably would have done more eye makeup too. They said I should have brought red into the face, and there was bright red in the contour under the cheek. A few people said I should have made the face red. Everyone is a Monday morning quarterback and there’s no logistics in that. People send me pictures of what I could have done, most of my online reception has been positive, the negative stuff, these people are taking time out of their day so that doesn’t bother me.
Danator: It sounds like you and Walter had an awesome connection while filming. Are any of the friendships you made during the show still ongoing?
Walter lives in the Bay area and I live in Jersey so I haven’t seen him since we stopped filming. We’re still super close, but the person I’m closest to now is Mel – since we’re both from Jersey City, we live 10 minutes apart. I see her once a week, we play poker, I commandeered a bunch of her friends [laughs] so me and Mel are really tight.
Danator: How useful were Michael Westmore’s walkthroughs? They’re always edited so quickly I’m curious how much mentoring you get that’s edited out.
Westmores were great. Meeting an Academy Award winner is always awesome.
McKenzie was always so polite … the first day I met her she had something wrong with her back and she stood in heels all day, never complained, I loved McKenzie she was great.
Danator: After seeing your work on stage, how does it compare on camera? Any stories of something looking drastically different in person?
It’s pretty surreal, I got to watch the premiere with my parents which was nice and I now watch with my roommates. My roommate’s boyfriend was not paying attention and suddenly he looked up at the screen all confused and was like … wait… .that’s Anthony. It’s pretty much what I expected and I’m happy with how I’m portrayed.
I remember things looking better but cameras don’t lie
Danator: What’s it like with the internet feedback
I’ve always liked being the center of attention, I find anything and read it and have a chuckle. When the season is over my 15 minutes of fame will be over and that’s fine, I don’t want to be known as ‘that guy from Face Off’, I want to be a makeup artist.
Danator: Did being on the show change your style
No not really, I don’t sculpt with that kind of clay and don’t make molds like that in the real world, there’s nothing I did on faceoff that I would do in the real world of makeup.
Danator: Any final words of advice, or anything you want to say to the readers?
I might implore Wegmens to bring back their green apple soda. It was 89 cents for 2-litre. If I have any sway from being on a reality television show, I’m all about using my celebrity to start that campaign. {Editorial note – this was all said between giggles of bemusement since it was a pretty daunting question, bonus points to Mr. Canonica for creativity..)