Danny Glicker interview: ‘Angelyne’ costume designer
“It’s very rare to be able to tell a story which is so much about artifice,” reveals costume designer Danny Glicker about “Angelyne.” For our recent webchat he adds, “The ultimate goal was to tell the truth about someone who is fabulously invested in creating an external aesthetic that ultimately taps into expressing a deeply felt truth. That’s always been the wonderful tension of how Angelyne presents herself.” Watch the exclusive video interview above.
The Peacock limited series stars Emmy Rossum as the title character, a real life celebrity from the 1980s who rose to prominence through appearing on billboards in Los Angeles. It uses talking heads to help tell the story and explores a Hollywood Reporter article on the celebrity from 2017.
The designer explains, “One of the greatest joys of ‘Angelyne’ was recreating the world over five decades. I’m normally the biggest stickler for authenticity, but this is an entire series about highly unreliable narrators. So, my goal was never to only recreate authenticity. It was to recreate authenticity through the lens of people who are deeply invested in correcting the past by reinventing and embellishing themselves.”
Glicker, who previously received an Oscar nomination for “Milk” in 2008, has earned his first Emmy nomination for “Angelyne.” He is competing in the Period Costume race for the ‘Glow In The Dark Queen Of The Universe’ episode. It includes Angelyne floating in a colorful sky and a dance sequence featuring pink feather fans.
The nominee says he got to use “the most fun materials on earth. I got to engage this deeply intellectual and emotional part of my brain. My office, which was very well organized, was an explosion of feathers, Swarovski crystals, sequined fabric and tons of outrageously vibrant spandex. It was my job to use every single one of those materials to build original costumes and transform Emmy to create the worldview of Angelyne. I finally got to tell the sort of intellectual heady probing stories that I’m usually so attracted to, but have so much fun.”
