Michael oconnor costume designer biography
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In this capacity, he contributed to several notable films, including Oscar and Lucinda (1997), Topsy-Turvy (1999), and Quills (2000). His career, which began in the 1990s, has seen him rise from roles as a dresser and wardrobe supervisor to a celebrated costume designer. This breakthrough led him to work on his most high-profile film to date, the cinematic adaptation of Giles Foden's bestselling novel, The Last King of Scotland (2006).
In 2014, he began working on the costumes for Tulip Fever. He really bought into the whole reality of these clothes, the materials, the jewellery. Awards and Nominations
Michael O'Connor has received numerous awards and nominations for his distinguished work in costume design. You do it with colour, then shape, then adornment.
Major Film Awards
O'Connor has been recognized by some of the most prestigious film awarding bodies globally, including multiple nominations for the Academy Awards and the British Academy Film Awards.
Academy Awards
| Year | Category | Nominated work | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Best Costume Design | The Duchess | Won |
| 2011 | Best Costume Design | Jane Eyre | Nominated |
| 2013 | Best Costume Design | The Invisible Woman | Nominated |
BAFTA Awards
| British Academy Film Awards | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Category | Nominated work | Result |
| 2008 | Best Costume Design | The Duchess | Won |
| 2011 | Best Costume Design | Jane Eyre | Nominated |
| 2013 | Best Costume Design | The Invisible Woman | Nominated |
| 2020 | Best Costume Design | Ammonite | Nominated |
5.2.
He has received multiple nominations for prestigious awards, including the Academy Awards and the BAFTA Awards, and has been honored by various film associations and guilds for his contributions to costume design.
2. Lithe Law’s body, reshaped through mountainous prosthetics, droops under enveloping robes and piles of golden chains.
If she’s going to wear fur, it’s a fur that no one else wears, other than the king.
VG: She often wore a French hood, which I was obsessed with. You read a particular scene and then take a view on whether it should be dialed up or down.
VG: How did you make the costumes realistic while still giving each character their own identity?
It was interesting because Karim is Brazilian and he didn’t have a deep knowledge of Tudor England, so it was introducing him to that period.
VG:What was on your moodboard? The way is to find materials that represent the real thing but are lighter in weight.
Around the time of his death, Henry was big. The first English woman to publish work under her own name and the last of King Henry VIII’s six wives, Catherine Parr was certainly a force to be reckoned with. That’s the first source. She always stands out in that sense, but it’s subtle. His journey into costume design began with a foundational training as a dresser at the Old Vic, a historic theater in London.
Getting him dressed in the morning was quite something, but Jude was extremely patient.
Firebrand is out in UK cinemas now.
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Michael O'Connor
O'Connor was born in London, England. Starring Jude Law as King Henry VIII and Alicia Vikander as Catherine Parr, Firebrand tells the story of the increasingly mad king’s final wife, the only one to survive him.
Based on historical fiction, Elizabeth Fremantle’s novel Queen’s Gambit, the film follows heroine Parr – a Protestant sympathiser – as she risks her life to attempt to undermine the Church of England and make religion accessible to all.