Today we’d like to introduce you to Pothmolita Dou.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
My name is Pothmolita Dou better known as Apple. I am an international makeup artist and the first Cambodian special effects makeup artist to work in the Hollywood film industry. I was a top 5 of the prestigious Vi Neill Makeup Artist Scholarship in 2016. I grow up in the small town of Stung Treng, in a northern province of Cambodia (close to the Lao border). Being brought up in a developing country that was coming out of many years of war, there was not much to offer education-wise, particularly for women and even more so in my hometown. There were one or two English classes that I could attend, but only if my parents had earned enough money that week. It wasn’t until I attended a high school that I had proper classes. I mostly learned English by, under my mother’s encouragement and watchful eye, I would approach tourists on the street and engage in a conversation with them. I also learn English from watching movies on HBO. I used to ask myself so many questions about how all these characters died got injured on screen. For example, I used to believe that the production would actually cut the actor’s fingers off for the scenes. I kept thinking that way until I reached high school.
Cambodian women are usually pressured into getting married right after high school instead of pursuing their studies. I was able to convince my parents into letting me further my studies by going to a university in Phnom Penh. I believe that the main reason that my family agreed to this is because I had received scholarships from several top universities there. I choose Pannasatra University, one of the oldest Buddhist universities in the country. When I moved to the capital city of Phnom Penh, I had better access to the Internet and I was able to get to know a lot of people in Film Industry. It was then that I as was finally able to find out how professional people made those cuts with makeup. I was amazed that spfx make-up could create. I only saw makeup for its beauty purposes and was missing out on its endless creative possibilities.
I came to Phnom Penh (capital city of Cambodia) hoping that I would be able to find a unique career and I did. With makeup artistry: the ability to create characters and bruises by using simple materials such as glue, tissues and by playing with the colors simply amazed me. I also enjoy creating new characters.
I was self-taught and work as a makeup artist in Cambodia for five years. In 2017, I was able to get the makeup scholarship and moved to the United States. I then graduated from Cinema Makeup school in 2018.
I took training from established Hollywood artists such as Ken Diaz, Vi Neill, Leonard Engelman, Don Lanning, and Michael Spatola, and I had worked on movies, commercials, music videos and photoshoots throughout Asia and the United States. My feature projects including First They Killed My Father, Hex, Before the Fall, The Forest Whispers, Lonely Blue night, only the moon stands still.
Being a makeup artist to make it this far from my motherland means a lot for me. My art is a reflection of my root and my Cambodian culture. By keep doing my art, I hope to inspire and empower future generations of Cambodian makeup artists to pursue the same career path and take it to higher levels.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It is fair to say the road had been bumpy. It was a long journey coming to America and being an artist. First of all, being born in a whole village that only have one TV definitely makes me appreciate movies and films more. I remember I would rush from having dinner with my family and walk with my brother to go watch a movie with the neighbor. There were at least 20 people sitting on the floor watching one small TV and I would be watching from the window. That’s why I have so much love for cinema. It was a bitter-sweet memory. Movies and films did bring people together.
Another challenge is to fight through the cultural barrier and war trauma that elderly people in my country have to go through. The Khmer rough regime had killed all talented artists along with 3 million other people in 1975. Artists are brainwashed to be known as useless careers. The war left people to be scars of anything new or out of the ordinary. The go-to job for the new generation are teachers, doctors and bankers. When I decide to stop pursuing my degree as an English teacher. My parent was really unhappy. They were so unsure and scared for my future. My relationship with my parent were slowly destroyed because of my career decision. Until five years later when I received the job from Angelina Jolie’s film then my parent start to understand what my job mean after all.
The last challenge that I’m still fighting until today is to build my career in America. I think a lot of artists that decide to move to Los Angeles to pursue their career in the film industry always have really challenging journey. There were a lot to learn about this beautiful country. In 2018, two years after I moved here for my school, my dad passed away from a traffic accident. I remember I was preparing to do a make-up competition in Atlanta. When I received the news of my dad, I know that I will have to win the competition to honor him. I skipped his funeral and refused to go home. I put my heart and grief into my art. Sadly after everything, I do I didn’t win. I went through a rough mental health and depression for a year. I continue to work hard and take every makeup job I could, even though a lot of the time I didn’t get paid. I know one day, someone will be able to see my hard work and believe in me. Fast forward to now I had received a lot of great projects that were willing to pay for what my art worth. I’m working toward better mental health and being able to work under a lot of stress that comes with this freelance career. I would say I’m a lot better now. I know a lot of Cambodian young makeup artists are looking up to me so I have to be really strong for them.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I graduated from Cinema makeup school. I’m special in film/Tv makeup. I specialize in designing character creatures and fantasy. My job involves from breaking down the script, sketching the character, sculpting mold and making prosthetics. I also love doing body paint. I often take some time off to do a collaboration with other talented photographers and models to create fantasy art. My art often involves creating characters with bright colors. I love bringing my inspiration from my Southeast Asian root and combining it with my skill.
Nature is also the other source of my inspiration. I love California’s nature. Flower mountain trees and animals are my favorite things to look at when it comes to creating a unique character. I’m also can make costumes, headpieces and hair to complete my makeup looks. It does help me a lot to be able to manage my whole design and create them alone when I couldn’t find a stylist to help. All those skills are essential. A good makeup won’t look too good when the costume and hair isn’t done right to fit the look.
I’m proud of all of my work equally. There are some works that may be less successful but they are all still a reflection of me and the mind state I have when I was doing them. My moods and mind always affect my work so if it doesn’t turn out as I want them to be I tend to still learn to appreciate them because they always taught me something from the process.
I would say what set me apart from others is the story that reflects in my art. There aren’t a lot of artists from southeast Asia that involve in special effect makeup. So it’s my privilege to be the first one. I am able to use a lot of Southeast Asian art to challenge myself and translate it into my looks. There are so many Cambodian mythical creature stories that unheard of in Hollywood. I’m really excited to bring all those ideas and creature design inspiration to use them in the movie here.
If we knew you growing up, how would we have described you?
I was a really shy kid and always wanted to look different. Growing up in a small town, I spend a lot of time biking with my friend to school and hang out in the local park. I spent a lot of time with my grandma. She is my biggest inspiration when in comes to art and craft. My Grandma love learning new art skill. I remember helping her make flower from paper and I try to sell them to my classmate. She also loves knitting and sewing. All those skills helped me to have the ability to adapt and be flexible when it comes to using a small budget to create something nice.
I spent a lot of time focusing on getting good grades at school. There were a lot of rules in my family so as the oldest sister I have to be a role model to my sibling. My parent are really strict so I didn’t have much childhood friends. I spend a lot of time alone and reading. I think that is also why I love sitting alone in my makeup room to paint myself or sketch for hours without being bored. I’m just used to being alone. When I turn 12 years old. My parent got us a TV. I remember spending a lot of time with my brother watching HBO. That gave me a glimpse of the Hollywood world. I learn English from a local teacher in the village. The class was 2$ for 1 month. I remember it was still a lot for my parent but they still worked really hard to send me to those classes. I am really thankful till today for my ability to learn this second language.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.applelovemakeup.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/applelovemakeup/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/applelovemakup/
Image Credits
Headshot photo By MOMEN Photography (Cambodia) Additional photo All makeup stylists hair and costume of all these photos are all done by me. Photo 1: Photographer Ivan Duran @ivanduranphoto Model: Aakriti Sachdev @aakriti.sachdev Photo 2: Photographer Carlos @theprimalboy Model: @kaittyrose Photo 3 Photographer: mrmorningstar_official Model: Sidney Rubino Sidneyrubino Photo 4: My graduation photo with Oscar winners makeup artist Ve Neill 2018. Photo 5: Photo by IMATS Atlanta. Me and my makeup design for imats competition 2018 at Atlanta Photo 6: My Madusa Makeup demo @monsterpaloozaofficial demo for @melproductsusa booth Costume and creature design by me. Model: @demikaycreations My assistant @mangoozy Photo 7: Me and my family around the year 2000 in my hometown Stung Treng Cambodia Photo 8: My @imatsofficial demonstration Prosthetic by @fxcreator and @vladtaupesh Apply and design the concept by Me Assisted by my good friends @makie.d.mua and @delaneyrheamua Model by @thehappymunster Photo 9: Me and my latest master class team and student February 2022. Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
