It’s always a joy to talk to someone who is passionate about their work – and Sophie Scott has been totally committed to making her mark in the world of films and television since she was just 14 years old.
Now 23, she has put tremendous effort into developing her natural flair into a reputation for skilled and creative make-up that has seen her work with a host of celebrities, ensuring they look their very best in front of the camera.
Sophie is a true Lewesian, born and raised in the town where she still lives with her mother, twin sister Jessica and younger brother Dan. She started school at St Pancras Catholic Primary before going on to St Paul’s in Burgess Hill and throughout her schooldays, art was her favourite subject.
Her creative side was always evident to those around her and even at an early age she enjoyed doing her friends’ make-up, but a spell of work experience at the world-famous Glyndebourne put her on the path to what has now become a successful and hugely enjoyable career.
“Glyndebourne was an amazing experience, and where I realised that make-up was what I wanted to do” Sophie says. “If I hadn’t done that work at Glyndebourne then I don’t know what kind of career I would have chosen – nothing else would have given me that inspiration or motivation.”
Having achieved excellent grades in her A-levels in Art, Photography and Media, Sophie was offered a place at university in London but decided she wasn’t ready for a move to the capital. Instead she joined the Hair and Make-up for Theatre and Media course at Northbrook College in Worthing and after her foundation degree, she spent her third year achieving a BA Hons in Make-up for Theatre, as well as a barbering course to add to her skills.
Those impressive qualifications have stood her in good stead for her chosen career but Sophie was aware it was a difficult industry to break into so she set about establishing a sound basis for when she was ready to join that cut-throat world.
“I funded my time at university by working at Waitrose and having realised I couldn’t go straight into the theatre make-up industry, I thought a lot about how I could do it and started taking on all kinds of unpaid work that would give me valuable contacts,” she explains.
Among these unpaid jobs was the famous Goodwood Revival where thousands of people dress up for the day in vintage clothes, usually from the 1940s, 50s and 60s, and want the appropriate make-up to complete the picture. Sophie still works there every year and loves the atmosphere.
“Through that I got in touch with a director who does a lot of work in the TV and film industry and he offered me an unpaid job for a film company. That led on to a paid-for feature film job with the same director and that really boosted my confidence and my contacts in the industry.
“Each job brought me more and more contacts which led to TV jobs, film and commercial work. That was the kind of thing I wanted to do rather than working for a make-up brand which is more about selling rather than being creative. I was totally committed and determined to do everything I could to make it work for me.”
All Sophie’s hard work and commitment paid off and soon she was in demand for a wide range of film and commercial work. One of her most recent highlights was joining the recent BBC Sounds launch advert, where she helped do the stunning make-up for celebrities including Rita Ora.
“For something like that you are invited to join a team organised by the person in charge of all the make-up for the project – they will ask you to be a part of it if they like you and your work. I enjoy working in a team but I often work solo as well.”
While she can now command plenty of film and commercial commissions which are well-paid and she loves every minute of her work, Sophie admits it can often be exhausting.
“On my first film, I really struggled with the 16-hour days, sometimes not finishing until four in the morning and then back at work again just hours later. I enjoy it but it can be really tiring.
“There are other challenges for a make-up artist, especially bad weather conditions that can be very tricky to work in. One day we were shooting in Glasgow, it was snowing and we were working outside, absolutely freezing.
“I’ve been lucky, so far I’ve never had any really difficult people to work with, although the models at London Fashion Week can be quite demanding. They are used to having their hair and make-up done all the time, of course, and know the look we need to achieve, but they are very particular about what products you use as they have to take care of their skin. The same applies to a lot of people who don’t want you to use certain products.
“Men are usually quite chilled out about make-up but as a male they usually don’t want too much on as they don’t want it to look as though they are wearing make-up. But we’re trained to achieve a natural look so it isn’t a problem and sometimes all they need is a bit of powder.”
Sophie is used to celebrities calling on her skills and just recently she found herself doing the make-up for Hencha Voigt, one of the famous stars of the ‘WAGS’ series in America. Hencha, who is originally from Miami, is now the girlfriend of Tottenham football player Serge Aurier.
“I went to their amazing house in London and as well as being absolutely beautiful, she is so lovely and very friendly,” says Sophie. “I was there for a week as she was filming a new fitness video for her website so I did all her make-up for that.”
Doing the make-up for an advert featuring a famous footballer provided Sophie with one of the funniest incidents of her career, one which still makes her laugh as she tells me about it.
“Sometimes this kind of advert involves using a stand-in for part of it, filming him from behind, in this case wearing just shorts and a football shirt. The footballer had no body hair but the stand-in who’d been sent was the hairiest person I’d ever seen. We had to Veet his whole body – arms, legs, neck, even give him a new hairline!”
Continuity is another challenge as often scenes in a film are shot completely out of sequence so the make-up has to be 100 percent accurate each time. This level of accuracy is also vital for period films so Sophie does a great deal of research into the styles and shades of different eras.
Although the work of a make-up artist is, by its very nature, behind the scenes, it is a vital part of the film industry and having achieved so much already, Sophie has high hopes for the future.
So far this field of work has taken her to shoots all over the UK but her dream is to travel the world and possibly forge a career in Hollywood, working with famous movie stars.
“Film is what I really love,” she says. “My dream is to be on a film set where we would travel the world, going to different locations with the same crew. I would love to end up in Hollywood,
maybe even become the personal make-up artist for a really big star.”
For now, however, Lewes remains Sophie’s base and she is proud of her home town and its strong sense of community. When she was still studying, she was involved with organising the make-up artists for the Lewes Operatic Society.
“I love Lewes, the fact it’s a small community where you can walk through the town saying hello to so many people you know. My mum still lives here and we have lots of family around.
“I go to the cinema a lot, and I love dancing. I’m quite into fitness and go to the gym regularly – when I was younger I was quite a keen runner but that dwindled away as I became more involved
with building my career.
“Lewes is a lovely place to wander around and I enjoy going up on the South Downs or along the river. I like to relax in some of the great coffee shops here – I love Coffee Roasters which has just opened on Cliffe High Street. That’s my favourite part of the town as I can spend ages browsing antique shops like The Emporium.”
Sophie can’t imagine ever severing her links with Lewes, even if her career does take her much further afield. And for a young woman with such exceptional talents and determination, the next stop could well be across the Atlantic to the centre of the movie world, where it’s sure to be a happy hunting ground for Brits thanks to so many successes at this year’s Oscars ceremony.
Jo Rothery discovers that the future is bright for a Lewes-based make-up artist who hopes her talents will take her to Hollywood