Today we’d like to introduce you to Laura Young.
Laura, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I’d like to think my story is unique, but it’s probably way more common than one might anticipate. I grew up doing theatre and I absolutely loved it. I thought it was my calling and for a long time, I confused that calling for an opportunity to prove people wrong. As a bigger girl, I had to come to terms with the fact that I would NEVER be the leading lady unless it was in Hairspray. But I never stopped auditioning and singing my heart out and having to be okay with playing the Mom or the Best Friend or the Crazy Aunt. When I told people I wanted to go to school for Musical Theatre, deep down I think I really wanted to do it just to prove that I could.
Freshman year of college as a Musical Theatre major at CSU Fullerton was ROUGH. I loved tap. HATED Jazz. Didn’t understand Voice and Movement. Was obsessed with Shakespeare. Fell asleep in Theatre History. And completely lost it when I was told I had to take Ballet. I felt so spread thin that I changed my major Sophomore year to Acting. The way the BFA program works at CSUF is that they basically do two crazy intensive years of theatre classes because they narrow down a class of 120 to about 12-15 people by your Junior year, and those are the people who are accepted into the BFA program. Throughout my college experience, I never did under 23 units because you were pretty much doing like, five theatre classes and 2 GE’s, but it’s because your chances of getting into the BFA are so slim. Each semester there were cuts and you basically had to audition. Spoiler, I was cut after my Sophomore year.
In a moment like that, you really have to take a good long look at your life and ask yourself, what the hell am I doing. You doubt your passion and your intuition and you have to ask yourself, where do you find your joy. I knew I loved performing, but what was it about performing that I loved? I put on my first prosthetic makeup when I was 14 yrs old. It was Halloween. I procrastinated on getting a costume and all I could find at the store was a Cinema Secrets makeup kit that included “shards of glass” to make it look like you had glass coming out of your face. I thought, hmm I can work with this. So I showed up to school with a torn up shirt and fake blood streaming down my face. The reaction was *chef’s kiss*. Did it look like garbage? Absolutely. Did I love that I was getting a reaction out of people? You betchya. Every year from then on, I did something gross. Baseball stuck in my eye. Spiders coming out of my cheek. You name any Cinema Secrets Halloween piece and I’ve probably put it on.
When I was cut from the program and had to take a look at my life, I remembered the joy that makeup brought me. I remembered that I loved to create. I took the beginning Theatrical Makeup class at CSUF and the rest was history. Makeup ignited a passion in me that I hadn’t experienced before. The Makeup teacher took me under his wing and I learned everything I possibly could. He taught me stylized makeup, character makeup, special effects, wounds, prosthetics, etc. I was a sponge. At CSUF, they do about four mainstage shows a semester and he allowed me to be the Makeup designer for shows for the next three years. During this time, I knew I wanted to work in film. Unfortunately, makeup in the theatrical world is almost non-existent, so I knew I needed to learn how a set operated. This is when I took the opportunity to pursue background work.
After I got cut from the program, I signed up for be a background actor and was a regular for the show Glee for three years. Working on that show was a crash course in how a professional set operated. You were hard-pressed to work a day on that show that was less than 12hrs. The 2nd AD was incredible and showed me the monitor whenever he could to see what everyone was doing and what he was looking for and I soaked up as much information as I could. I also took that opportunity to watch the makeup team. I saw how they operated, what they were focused on and how they executed flawless looks. This sealed the deal. I loved being on set. I loved creating looks. I’m a perfectionist, so I was obsessed with continuity and making sure every detail was perfect. I realized what it felt like to truly find my calling. So now what? I know what I want to do with my life, so what’s the next step?
I started to put out there that I was available for work and I never turned down a job. Did it cost me money? Yup. Did I almost die from work a day job and do two night shoots back to back, staying awake for almost 60 hrs? You betcha! (Although I wouldn’t recommend that one). I hustled. I built relationships and it was paying off. So here we are. Seven years later and I’m still doing what we love. I am continuously learning and growing and even after all this time, I still feel like I have so much to learn. The next step is the Union. Getting into the makeup union is the ultimate goal and it’s incredibly difficult, but I’m not giving up. As long as I’m doing what I love, I get to be the best version of myself. I owe it to myself to pursue my dream and while it may be difficult to try to not compare your timeline to others, I believe I’m exactly where I need to be and I’m excited for my future.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
My “smooth road” is comprised of speed bumps, potholes, dead ends, u-turns, and traffic violations. It’s one thing to not know what you want to do with your life, and it’s another to know exactly what you want to do, but not be able to get there. Honestly, I don’t know which one is worse.
I’m the kind of person who goes after what she wants. It’s an attribute that I’m thankful for, but at times can get me in trouble, as I tend to take on more than I can chew. The thing about the film industry is that it is SO inconsistent. I can go three months of doing back to back jobs and think, this is it. This is the year I quit my day job and I can get my hours to get into the Union, and then all of a sudden, the rest of the year is dry. Pursuing this career is an absolute roller coaster of emotion with the highest highs and the lowest lows. Ultimately, at the end of the day, none of it makes sense and you have to be okay with that.
I’ve had incredible opportunities to be able to talk to some of my heroes and titans in my industry and believe me when I tell you, they all have completely different stories. Everyone’s journey is their own, and as someone who likes to follow a roadmap to success, that has been very difficult for me to come to terms with. I like having instructions and that just doesn’t exist in this industry. You have to be bold. You have to challenge yourself. You have to be tenacious. If you’re going to wait for something to fall in your lap and fix all of your problems, it is not going to happen.
We’d love to hear more about your work and what you are currently focused on. What else should we know?
I’m currently a Freelance Makeup Artist pursuing a career in Film/Television and my specialty is Special Effects Makeup. I also do Beauty, Character, and Stylized makeups. If you want to be a successful makeup artist, the best thing you can do is be well-rounded and I pride myself on spending time on as many avenues of makeup as I can. I’ve learned that you can’t be picky. Whether it’s an indie, or a short film, or a music video, or a big-budget production, it’s a job and in an industry that is BUILT on networking, you have to start building those relationships somewhere. Would I prefer to do a slasher horror movie in the woods for a week? Sure! But I’m also not going to turn down doing makeup for headshots if that’s what’s going to pay the bills.
Do you look back particularly fondly on any memories from childhood?
Oh, childhood. I was incredibly fortunate to have a pretty dope childhood. My parents are still together going on 35 years, which is almost unheard of nowadays. I have an older sister who is my best friend and we grew up absolutely obsessed with each other. One of my favorite memories from childhood would have to be a trip we took to Mammoth when I was 11 years old.
Both of my parents grew up skiing. My Dad in Colorado and my Mom in Bishop, and I remember them asking me if I wanted to Ski or Snowboard. The idea of doing the splits in Ski’s was absolutely terrifying, so I chose snowboarding. That first day was the most pain I had ever experienced in all of my 11 years of life because of how many times I fell on my butt. But just being around my family, doing fun stuff, feeling like I got to see a glimpse of what my parent’s life was like as kids, was so blissful. As an adult, you’d give anything to feel as carefree as you did as a kid and I’m very fortunate that I have a ton of memories like that of what a truly blissful moment looks like.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.laurayoungmakeup.com/
- Email: [email protected]
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/young_laura/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/laurayoungmakeup
Image Credit:
Personal photo was photographed by Ian Spanier
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