Christian Bale’s Kippah Malfunction
Image by Sony Pictures
By Anne Cohen February 28, 2014
The Oscars are only two days away, and if you’re anything like us, you’re rooting for an “American Hustle” win in Costume Design.
This is the first Academy Award nomination for Australian costume designer Michael Wilkinson (whose credits include “Man of Steel,” “300,” “Watchmen,” and “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Parts 1 & 2” ), and come Sunday night, he’ll face fierce competition from the likes of “The Great Gatsby” and “12 Years A Slave.”
Much has been written about the film’s knockout 70s wardrobe (and the hair, the hair), but it seems Wilkinson deserves an Oscar just for getting through the shoot.
According to Racked, there was more than one mishap to maneuver around. David O. Russell’s spontaneity on the set, often required Wilkinson to think on his feet. Racked reports that Wilkinson had 40 different outfit changes for Amy Adams and Christian Bale alone.
When it came to Bale, who plays Jewish scam artist Irving Rosenfeld, Wilkinson had a whole other set of problems. During a shoot for a wedding portrait of Bale and Jennifer Lawrence’s characters that was to be featured in their bedroom, Wilkinson realized he had completely forgotten to pack a yarmulke.
“The yarmulke was key for the wedding portrait so I ran to the bathroom, cut up some paper towels and worked with bobby pins,” he told Racked. “It always makes sense to make friends with the hair department.”
“American Hustle,” a comedy/drama based loosely on the ABSCAM FBI sting operation, is nominated for10 Academy Awards.
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we need 500 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Our Goal: 500 gifts during our Passover Pledge Drive!
