Donald Mowat is one of the industry’s most sought-after makeup artists. As makeup department head/designer on such films as Blade Runner 2049, Stronger, Sicario, Nightcrawler, Prisoners, The Fighter and 8 Mile and as personal makeup artist for Daniel Craig on Spectre and Skyfall, Donald’s skill and professionalism have kept him in constant demand for the last thirty years.

Accomplished in every genre of film and television – straight and corrective beauty, character makeup, period drama, out of kit special effects/casualty – his awards include a Primetime Emmy, a Saturn award, two Hollywood Makeup Artists Guild awards and two Gemini awards. Donald has two British Academy film awards nominations for Nocturnal Animals and Blade Runner 2049.

‘People know banged-up and bloody. I can do that in 20 minutes.’ That quote from Donald speaks to the brilliance of who he is and what he does with his art.

With his decades of experience in film, Donald instinctively sees how audiences instantly ‘get’ prosthetics, but that this film would never be about the performance of exaggerated makeup.

As a Complections Advisory Board Member and Instructor, Donald Mowat recently spoke to us about his amazing career and personal experience as Canada’s leading film make-up artist. With over 50 feature films to his credit, including 8 Mile, Repo Men, Max Payne, The Italian Job and The Other Guys, Donald has come a long way from being that young boy at the repertory cinema in Montreal. “I was fascinated by film,” he recalls. “I loved the period movies – the painterly look of them.” This passion for period film in particular led the young, artistically inclined student to study theatre and painting (he notes that originally he was interested in working in Costume Design), before eventually finding his calling in make-up artistry. “I started doing the make-up for all the actors’ portfolios,” Donald says of his drama school days. “But there were no make-up courses for what I wanted to do. I wanted to be a well rounded artist and not only do beauty.”

More interested in the realism of film, and the beauty of period pieces, Donald began working at a Christian Dior counter at Harrod’s in London, an experience which allowed him to work on “many faces.” Little did he know he would one day work on some of film’s most famous faces like Faye Dunaway and Oscar winner Sir Anthony Hopkins. Upon his return to Toronto, he assisted on his first film, and eventually began working on the Canadian production of Anne Of Green Gables; at this time, Toronto was beginning to make a name for itself in the world of film production, and Donald was there to make the most of this rising industry’s opportunities. “My name was getting out there,” he says. And becoming known for his approach of almost “anti-make-up” (making the performer’s look natural and not overly done), Donald became the go-to artist in the city.

He started in amateur theatre and operatic societies as well as community cable television while still in high school. First film was as an assistant makeup artist on "Joshua Then and Now" and continued working as assistant makeup on numerous projects including "Anne of Green Gables" 'The Fly" "The Believers" and "Frontier" While just in his twenties he was makeup department head on "Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future" winning a daytime Emmy nomination in 1988 and continued to department head several network miniseries and movies of the week. He works extensively with out of kit techniques in casualty effects. His stellar credits as a department head and personal make up artist in all aspects of feature film and television make up from period, corrective, casualty, beauty and straight make up as well as tattoo cover has been seen in countless feature films and projects for television. He worked extensively with Mark Wahlberg for many years as well as with Eminem. In recent years Donald has been working with Daniel Craig and continues to work as both a department head(The Fighter,8 Mile, Taking Lives,Repo Men, Prisoners, Everything Will Be Fine) and personal artist(Skyfall, Cowboys and Aliens) In 2012 Mr.Mowat received Her Majesty's Diamond Jubilee Medal. Donald has also worked on numerous editorial/print projects with many actors and performers. Focused primarily on feature films from 1992 onwards his stellar career, commitment to the craft and industry as well as active involvement in many charitable causes has earned him an international reputation.