EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW AND PHOTOS
AWARD-WINNING DESIGNER SANDY POWELL
ON DRESSING BILL NIGHY FOR AN OSCAR-TIPPED FILM
Multiple award winner Sandy looks suitably stylish on the red carpet at the Living premiere.
Three-timeOscar-winning costume designer Sandy Powell is a stickler for detail, but actor Bill Nighy gave her a run for her money when they worked together recently on the 1950s-set film Living.
The actor, best known for his role in Love, Actually, plays a buttoned-up civil servant working for London County Council, ground down by his joyless office job over the years.
“I put him in a suit from the 1940s, because a man of his age would have worn the same suit every day of his working life,” explains Sandy, who also has three Baftas and an OBE under her belt.
“The shoulders were very wide, which was right for that period. But Bill thought it made him look powerful and strong. He wanted to look more sad and pathetic.
“I fought against it, but he was adamant. So we took the shoulders in – and he was right.”
She created an authentic 1950s look (left) for Margaret,
It’s not often that Sandy, a veteran of the industry and 49 films – including Shakespeare in Love, The Young Victoria, The Wolf of Wall Street, The Favourite and Mary Poppins Returns – will admit defeat but, as she explains: “Bill is one of the nicest people I’ve ever worked with – he’ll talk to anybody.