EXCLUSIVE: Spiral’s LAURA MONTGOMERY talks costumes and show biz.
I had the pleasure of speaking with Laura Montgomery (What We Do in The Shadows). A tenacious and down-to-earth Hollywood designer darling.
Here she tells me everything from going toe-to-toe (literally!) trying on shoes with Samuel L. Jackson, the resourcefulness of a pink blazer, and how to be assertive.
Give her as little as ten hours, some fresh air, time with friends and her kids, and you’ve got yourself one spunky creative mind on your hands!
Laura wears many different hats in her profession. To all those aspiring designers out there, prepare for anything and everything. Pretty sure this is the most in-depth interview with her on the internet, so let’s call this an exclusive!
DID YOU ALWAYS WANT TO BE A COSTUME DESIGNER?
LAURA MONTGOMERY: Yes. I always did in hindsight, I always did want to be a costume designer, without knowing what that was. Without knowing that it was a job. Without acknowledging that, that’s what I wanted to be. But looking back on it, I had this series of what I thought at the time–I think I was twelve maybe, were fashion sketches.
It was pages and pages, but they were more costumes. They would have different themes, and there would be different characters.
“I would finagle my way into–instead of doing a book report, can I just do a costume thing of the book?” (a twelve-year old Laura trying to bargain with a teacher for an assignment.)
And then in high school, I was taking fashion and sewing classes. And in university, while pursuing a serious degree, I was doing the costumes for plays and taking some stage and costume design classes. Still not cluing into the fact that this is the thing. So I took a bit of time, actually.
FAVORITE PROJECT SO FAR
LAURA: I have to say, I just finished the third season of What We Do in The Shadows. And I’ve had the opportunity to work on a lot of great projects, but that one, in particular, is really–it’s just such a fun show.
And costume-wise there’s so much to do. There’s a lot of costume comedy. And also, the whole conceit that they’re vampires means that we can do–it’s not just period, it’s all of the periods.
Because it is contemporary. So, you have contemporary characters. And you can do all these different periods on the vampires, but then mix in a bit of ’80s. A bit of ’70s. So there’s a lot of freedom there. And also the scripts are really funny. Right. The writers are great. The actors are great. So it’s a real treat to be on that show.
I NEED TO SEE THAT SHOW.
If you haven’t seen What We Do in The Shadows you have to start with the movie. But then the T.V. show exists in its own way and is also just so funny.
TELL ME ABOUT SPIRAL FOR THOSE THAT HAVE YET TO SEE IT.
LAURA: Yes, yes. So Spiral, of course, exists in the Saw world. It’s part of the Saw franchise. The idea is that it’s kind of in the same city, which is never really defined. I think it’s Metro (air quotes). In the world where John Kramer existed, where the Jigsaw murders happened.
But for this script–the way the script is written, it’s more of a police procedural. It focuses on a cop, Zeke Banks. A detective. He’s kind of on the outs with the police squad, because he turned in a dirty cop years ago. He’s also the son of the former police commissioner, so he has a few strikes against him.
But he is a really good cop. Something lands on his desk, and it looks like it’s a new chapter in the Jigsaw murders. And so it follows the different clues. And the different murders. And the traps. And for the look of it, Darren really wanted to go–he had two thoughts.
“First of all, I want it to feel–I want it to play as if there is a heat-wave in the summer. Broken A/C.”
He said to me: “How does that play out in the costumes?” And just in general I said. We can do a little bit in the costumes. I think more of it is going to be your lighting, your performances. But it was sweltering, broken A/C’s. Rolling blackouts. That was the kind of theme he wanted to set. So he definitely wanted to see the sweat on the clothes.
He referenced Angel Heart. And I was looking at some other references as well. So he wanted the heat to be a really kind of oppressive factor. And then he also wanted to do a contemporary film noir. It’s definitely in a contemporary 2020.
But he wanted stylistically to have a film noir look to it. Which was–that was really exciting.
(Also, we both agreed the setting feels a lot like Detroit, despite there never being a concrete setting.)
WHAT WAS IT LIKE WORKING WITH CHRIS, SAM, MAX, AND MARISOL? THEY LOOK FUN.
LAURA: They are! I mean, we were really lucky. Chris (Chris Rock),–they’re all great.
ON CHRIS ROCK: Chris is so easy. He has certain ideas. But for the most part, he kind of just lets people do their thing. Which is great. You know when he likes something. He’s happy with it.
ON MAX MINGHELLA: Max is also just a delight. He didn’t actually have a lot of costumes in the movie.
But very often he would just stand on the steps of his trailer and say to me:Â “I love my costumes!”
Which was really sweet, especially because he had been wearing the same costume for about a week and a half, and I thought: He said that already. Then he says it again. It’s just really nice!
ON MARISOL NICHOLS: Marisol arrived–she wasn’t there, she arrived a little bit later. We were shooting, and she was just a breath of fresh air. Partly because it was nice to have a woman to talk to. And to costume. It was a lot of guys before her. So it was nice to have a woman. And she brought such great energy to her performance. And it was really fun to see the dynamic on set.
The dynamic on set between Chris and Max was great. Right away (snaps fingers) they hit it off, and their scenes together. Watching them work together you could tell that they had great chemistry. And then when Marisol came into the mix, same thing. They have a different relationship, but you could tell they just had a really good working chemistry.
ON SAMUEL L. JACKSON: And then for Sam, it was also great. Everybody was nervous. Including Darren. Samuel L. Jackson–his name had been floating around for weeks. During pre-production. And it wasn’t until–I don’t even know if–we already might have been shooting when we got the confirmation.
It was maybe before we started shooting we got the confirmation. But we were all in a little bit of disbelief. And then the nerves set in.
So I knew a few people that worked with him, a few other costumers. And so I contacted them to kind of get the lay of the land. And they said, obviously he’s very professional. He’s great. But the one comment was he doesn’t suffer fools.
“So I thought, okay. Well, I’m not a fool but I’ll just not act like one.”
And then working with him was a great experience. He has a wonderful team with him who makes things very smooth. Then I was able to observe. He was only there for a few days. But as soon as he was on set–
“Sometimes you have a director who comes onto set. Or an actor and all of the sudden they just bring such talent that everything is elevated. “
So just watching him in his scenes–I was really impressed by his acting. And I was able to see–I think before he even worked they were doing a little photo shoot with him. Someone was directing him, but I could tell that they were nervous. And they were not being very assertive.
(Paraphrasing the person.) “Oh, if you want to do this. Maybe this.” And Sam just–he was Samuel L. Jackson. (paraphrasing Sam) “You tell me what you want to do motherf*cker!”
SO HE’S REALLY LIKE THAT?! THAT’S GREAT!
He’s really like that! He said motherf*cker so many times! And so I was able to witness that. So when I had a moment later when I had to get him to do something. “I’m just going to be assertive.” We had to find the right shoe for him. We couldn’t find a shoe that was really comfortable. So then we got some more boots and he was sitting down. He put them on.
A lot of people don’t like to try on clothes. It’s pretty annoying. Some people love it. But some actors just don’t like to keep trying things on. So he was sitting down. He put the boots on and he said: “Yeah, they’re fine.”
Great. But it’s thirty-five degrees. You’re going to be wearing them for fourteen hours. They might feel fine right now but I’m gonna’ need you to stand up. Just to make sure. Just stand up for me. And he gave me a look.
“Come on. Just stand up.”
And then he did. It was great and the boots were perfect. But I thought: “Okay. I’m not gonna’ be a wimp about it. Just do what needs to be done.” And then it was lovely. So we were very lucky. We had a great cast. They feel good now, but when you’re hanging for ten hours. Your feet are really swollen They might not feel so good.
FAVORITE COSTUME YOU DESIGNED FOR SPIRAL
My favorite costume–probably the ones I have here. The Jigsaw cloak. The whole Jigsaw costume was a lot of fun. Because it was an opportunity to rethink who the Jigsaw character is. And express that through the costume.
And so there was a lot of thought. We didn’t have a lot of backstory about who–well I guess I can say it now, who William was. Is. And so it was more of imagination and a bit of a creative exploration of–I know some things about him
He has a vendetta. He’s young. But also the traps are so intricate. How would this person have had the knowledge to build these traps? So what are his other interests? I tried to translate those into the costumes. So they’re elements of–I thought, maybe he has military experience. Or he has this interest. BDSM was another thought. In terms of the torturing and the inducing of pain.
And also me knowing that it was William (Max.) Who is young. And kind of stylish. I thought he should look cool.
HE’S ALSO NUTS. YOU FIGURE HE WAS WHAT? TWELVE? THE CHARACTER WAS PROBABLY TWELVE YEARS OLD. AND HE’S BEEN PLANNING THIS THE WHOLE TIME? AND HOW LONG WOULD IT LAST? IF ZEKE AND HIM ACTUALLY–A YEAR. IT WOULD LAST A YEAR TOPS. AND THEN BOOM, YOU’RE CAUGHT.
They’re a lot of things that you have to wonder–yes.
A CREATIVE IDEA YOU HAD FOR A COSTUME FOR SPIRAL THAT YOU MAYBE DID NOT END UP USING.
In the process of design. You have to kill your darlings. Constantly. But for this movie I was quite lucky I think that if I had any of those ideas, I don’t remember what they were. But for the other ideas. We just had so much freedom. Darren is a very supportive director.
And so for example The Uncle Sam was always in this script. That was one I was really excited about since the beginning. Because I know how it could have gone but in my mind right away I envisioned Tom Waits. And I thought we can do this really kind of creepy. Grimy. Slightly period. Turn of the century. Turn of the last century costume. And it will make it interesting. So Darren was a little bit on the fence about The Uncle Sam character.
(paraphrasing what she said at the time) “I’m working on something. If you don’t like it, no problem. We don’t–we can do anything else. But just tell me–let me take it to where I’m envisioning it and tell me what you think.” And then he ended up liking it. Because I think he could see how I envisioned it. So that was one.
ON THE PINK JACKET FOR BOZ.
BEST MATERIAL TO WORK WITH?
Leather is a lot of fun to work with. They’re a lot of different types of leather. And you can do a lot with it. It can be embossed. It can have a pattern. It can be stretched. It can be shiny. It can be matte. It can be thick. It can be thin. And you can manipulate it in a lot of ways. There’s a lot that you can do. It’s very versatile. It takes breakdown really nicely. You can paint it. You can paint it. You can dye it. You can scuff it up. It’s very versatile.
LEAST FAVORITE MATERIAL TO WORK WITH
I think synthetics can be tricky. There are some synthetic fabrics with fibers that just don’t camera very well. They just don’t look good. They can also be very uncomfortable to wear. I find in general actors prefer to be in natural fibers because they’re more breathable. More comfortable. I’m careful about those. Obviously, in terms of sewing, anything very slippery can be hard. But sometimes it looks really beautiful on camera.
FAVORITE SAW TRAP?
I think–so admittedly I’m not a horror person. I haven’t seen the movie because I’m in Canada. Our movie theaters aren’t open yet. So I’m waiting to see the movie and I want to see it in theaters. I’m gonna’ wait. I think I’ll be able to handle it because I know what I’m in for.
The one that I like because it had a lot of impacts–I don’t know what it looks like on-screen. But there is, it’s not so much a trap but it’s kind of a trick where Zeke and William put a dye bomb in a bucket. And it explodes in this bright blue dye all over the character’s face and his clothes. And his apartment. I thought that was a really good one.
PREFERRING CONTEMPORARY OR PERIOD PIECES?
I think it’s great to always be doing something different. As much as I can say I love period, I think that if I was doing the same period over and over and over. You’d get very well versed in it but you feel like you want to try something different. It’s great to be able to do different periods and also contemporary.
If I had to choose one I would choose period. But I think it’s nice to flex all the different muscles. Because contemporary is also great because you pay attention to the realism of real people.
“Sometimes it’s easier with contemporary to really translate who the characters are.”
PROJECTS CUT SHORT BECAUSE OF COVID.
I was on a pilot at the beginning of 2020. It was funny because at the end of the pilot we had–an actor was flying from LA. I think we were in January/February. And she was nervous to fly. My ACD and I: (paraphrasing) “What’s the big deal?” (laughs) And then come March I was interviewing for some things. And everything just closed. Nothing was happening.
COVID AND WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS
We were supposed to be shooting in the fall of 2020. We didn’t start shooting until this year. Until 2021.
DREAM PROJECTS
I prefer to work on projects where I like the story. And it’s something that I feel like I would watch. Or I feel proud to put out there. I really like stories about women. I like stories by women. Well sometimes I say, there are a lot of movies to me that you can just summarize.
(on needing more women in storylines) “And it was just a hundred dicks and a lady.“
I’m just not interested in hearing another story about a man. I’m not Even if it’s a great movie, it’s just not as compelling to me. One story is funny. In my kid’s class the other day, we just happened to be talking about something. And his teacher asked me to relay an experience of being Japanese/Canadian, and what happened to Japanese/Canadians during World War ll.
And I thought there hasn’t really been–so there was a movie based on a book called Snow Falling on Cedars. That movie in the 90s or the 2000s. Which was about the American experience of internment.
The Canadian experience was a little bit different. I would say it was actually more–the conditions were much more challenging in Canada. And it was just a lot worse actually. And so if there was a great project about that experience. Being Japanese/Canadian myself, I think that would just be a really powerful story to tell.
DESIGNING FOR BROADWAY
I love New York! If Broadway. If there’s a Broadway production for me, it’s just about the storytelling. There used to be a real stigma about television. If people just wanted to work in film. But now the quality of television has come up to really meet the quality of film. I feel like there really isn’t much of a difference. It’s more just the pacing and the medium that you watch it on.
“I’m down for all of it.”
THE TOUGHEST THING ABOUT THIS INDUSTRY
I would say the toughest thing about this job is the hours. All jobs are hard. Have high expectations, and have a lot of pressure. But working in film. One great thing about–I hate to say about Covid. But one of the benefits that have come out of Covid is that we’ve started shooting shorter hours. Because it’s generally–it’s just safer for a lot of reasons. It keeps people healthier. Whereas before we would do a standard twelve-hour shoot day.
“But then for different departments, costuming included, that can actually mean eighteen plus hours.”
We have pre-calls. We have work to do afterward. If you do that for five days a week you’re working nights. It makes it really hard to have a good quality of life outside of work.
Especially as a mom. And even for people who don’t have kids, I just so value the importance of having that balance.
WORKING LONG HOURS AND HOW IT CAN CHANGE.
“I hope that’s a trend going forward. We’ve proven that we can do it. We’ve proven that we can work shorter hours. And just having healthier crews make for better projects.”
SURVIVAL JOBS
Before I really committed to–it took me a long time to commit I think to do costumes. So fresh out of university I worked in insurance. Because I just had a friend who was an insurance agent. And so I did that for a little bit.
FAVORITE PAST PROJECT FEATURING SAMANTHA BEE.
At the beginning of my design career, there were a lot of low-budget features. And music videos. Things for credit. There was a movie I did early in my career that is still my absolute favorite. It was a Christmas comedy starring Jason Jones and Samantha Bee.
“It was so much fun!”
ADVICE TO ASPIRING DESIGNERS
For someone who wants to get into costume design, I would say that school is a great route. In Canada, we don’t have as many programs specifically for costume design. I think in the states, you guys have more design programs. Theater programs. I think it’s definitely helpful to have that training.
BEING READY FOR EVERYTHING
“Do all the jobs. Be tenacious. It’s a very hard industry.”
Never stop learning. Be open to all other influences. Especially with design, you need to have a really rich well to draw on. Things that you’re watching. Things that you’re reading. Music. Food. Talking to people.
Just pay attention!
UPCOMING PROJECTS
Currently, our schools are still closed. So I am doing virtual school with my children. We just finished season three of What We Do in The Shadows. And it’s a great show. And I would love to work on a season four if we have a season four.
THE STORYLINE OF WHAT WE DO IN THE SHADOWS
“I like to say it’s like The Office with vampires.”