Eugene Souleiman On His Deluxe Hair Do's For Mubi's 'Medusa Deluxe'

Greta Gerwig's Barbie may have taken the official title' film of the summer', but if we were ever given a choice to cast a vote, new director on the block Thomas Hardiman's single-take masterpiece Medusa Deluxe would be taking home the worthy crown, even if it's just for the Eugene Souleiman-coined coiffures alone. The who dunnit murder mystery taking place at a hair competition has all the camp, laughter and tears you could ever ask for - often sliced together in the same scene - and features an impressive cast with stand-out performances from Skins' Luke Pasqualino, Bad Education's Kae Alexander and Clare Perkins - who has worked with Ken Loach on the Palme d'Or-winning film Ladybird Ladybird and starred in Mike Leigh's Secrets & Lies.

At college, when Hardiman was studying film, he was apparently told 'either make a film or do hairdressing', making it only natural that his debut feature film has both. The idea for the film came to him in the most unexpected of moments - like most good ideas - when his mother was ill, which triggered an onslaught of fond memories from his childhood, most of which happened to be from sitting in a hair salon waiting for his mother. 'I became nostalgic about the past, so I connected to moments I remembered spending with her that were mundane yet beautiful. A hairdresser raised me in the same way my mum did', said Hardiman. Revisiting these moments in preparation for the film, Hardiman took himself to as many salons as possible to get first-hand experience. Comical stories he heard about weaves ended up included in the film, as did the hairdressers he met along the way, building the film's characters from real-life conversations in real-life London salons.

As for the hair pieces in Medusa Deluxe, Hardiman had the wise decision of casting the great Eugene Souleiman to orchestrate these sculptural works of art, creating hairstyles that were a total feat of ingenuity, defying the realm of hair and gravity altogether. We spoke with Souleiman, a friend of SHOWstudio, to see how he prepped for the job and what his experience was like working on his first-ever film set.

Christina Donoghue: Hi Eugene, thank you so much for speaking to us! I saw the film last week, and it was such a thrill! As soon as we found out you were doing the hair looks, we were obviously very excited, but it's also such a brilliant bit of filmmaking in its own right.

Eugene Souleiman: Oh, it truly is. I've always wanted to do a film, always. And to be honest with you, I can't think of a more perfect film for me. I loved it. Every bit of it, from designing the hair from scratch to character analysis. It was fantastic to research everything as well, ideas, concepts and the like, which is something I love doing. For me, it was a very novel, new way of researching, especially when reading the script, because sure, we do create characters and lifestyles and worlds as hairdressers, but this took that to another level; it wasn't just the lifestyle of the world, it was a story, you know.

CD: Were you given complete creative control then?

ES: Well, with Tom, right, his middle name should be enthusiastic because he's constantly on fire. He's just in that world. I've never met anyone that enthused about anything. He's so enthusiastic and respectful, and part of the reason he's a total delight to work with is that he enjoys going on other people's journeys with them. Funnily, whenever I talk to him - I feel as though he's constantly researching something in the back of his mind - he's one of those people that just wants to learn. He wants to extract every bit of information he can possibly get out of anyone because he's interested in people, he's interested in writing, and he's engaged. He's very freestyle. When you're talking to him, it's not rehearsed; it's not scripted at all in any way. He answers questions, but he also reacts to them; he actually understands the questions and can also find a way of delivering the information that you want, but he also gives it his slant in a way that you'll understand verbatim and be inquisitive about.

CD: Something he said about you after the Covent Garden Hotel film preview during the Q&A, which I found really interesting, is that he said you wanted to kind of 'get into the role of being a method hairdresser'...

ES: I wanted to become the person, and more specifically, the hairdresser played by the actors that have supposedly made these creations. I wanted to draw on all their quirks and vulnerabilities and bring these kinds of really unusual nuances to the hairstyle. Essentially, I was thinking about the creation of style and what would lead someone to style hair in that way. What would they do if you understood their personality? Because I'm a hairdresser and I've met many hairdressers in my time, I know that every hairdresser I've ever met brings themselves into the equation of styling or cutting hair; It's an extension of their personality. Hairdressing is, you know, a very personal thing, and it's a great form of expression if you've not been to art school. Being a hairdresser is very much quite a strange job if I sit down and I think about it, because on the one hand, you're a psychologist, on the other hand, you are a creative and then on the other hand, you're also a tradesman.

CD: Do you see yourself as a glorified craftsman, then?

ES: Yes! Exactly that. I work with my hands, so that's what I am. Hairdressing combines all of these elements and even psychology, right? Or even social work! All this together makes it quite unusual because you're a creative, yet you're also all this, working in the service industry at people's needs but being a skilled craftsman while you're at it. It's an amazing job.

CD: It's fascinating because, at the same Q&A, Tom was drawing parallels between filmmaking and hairdressing, saying how they both share the similarities of one 'cut' changing everything, for better or for worse.

ES: Yeah, it really does. One cut, and you're all out of place, and if you go too short in an area, that's it.

Hetty Mahlich: How did you first come on to the project?

ES: Tom approached me, actually. He approached me with this idea, and I was like, wow. I'm very inquisitive, and I love doing things that I've never done before. I don't mind adversity or trying a new way of doing things because I always think I grow from those experiences. I always want to explore new avenues or, you know, make myself a little uncomfortable. Because when I'm doing something uncomfortable, I know that I'm testing myself and growing, breaking free of old patterns. So, when Tom approached me with the film, I was immediately into the idea. I was straight in the room with him; I don't think he even had to sell it to me, really. Film is something I've always wanted to do, and I love the idea of a murder mystery set in a hair competition that's also a comedy. I love the Campness of it all, especially towards the end. I thought it just lifted everything, and I just thought it was genius.

CD: Can you think of any other film it's similar to?

ES: It did remind me a little bit of Mike Leigh's Abigail's Party, just the Britishness of it all... and I think with us British people, our humour is the thing that really does save us; It's there as a kind of sanctuary that we can actually laugh at things that are frankly dark when you think about it. That's what I loved the most about it; I love dark humour.

HM: How did you work with the actors? I'm asking because it was interesting in the session that I went to, a lot of the actors were saying how much they loved working with you, but partly because you would kind of ask them things like, 'How would you wear this?', 'How would you feel in this?', How did it evolve as you were on set and talking to the actors?

ES: I think the thing with me is that I'm quite collaborative. And also, I really do just like people, and I like to spend my time with people, and I find them inspiring, and I always feel that everyone should have an opinion. And, you know - due to the nature of my job - you really are doing something to a person, and I think it's really important that they kind of understand why they look the way they look. What's really nice about working with actresses is - something I wasn't aware of until way, way after the film - they're constantly used to being changed and becoming someone completely different. So, in order to take on how they look, they have to be very objective, right? They've got to be open for change, and they're almost more creative because it's their job to be these chameleons.

CD: Was this the first time you'd worked with actors on a film?

ES: Yeah! It was. And it was a really interesting experience in terms of filming because it was over nine days, and that was it, and we were only there for three of those days because most of it was all setting up.