alien makeups: Babylon 5 – Lady Morella

Babylon 5 –Lady Morella

In ‘Point of No Return’ President Clark has just declared martial law, and the Nightwatch are preparing to take control of Babylon 5. Meanwhile, in an exercise of bad timing lady Morella (Majel Barrett), the prophetic widow of the Centauri emperor Turhan, arrives to grant Londo the visit he’s been begging her for for a long time.

The makeup

The makeups for Babylon 5 were originally designed by John Vulich and Optic Nerve Studios; Everett Burrell was the makeup effects creator (seasons 1 & 2); Jeff Farley was the special makeup effects supervisor (season 5 & the TV movies); Mike Measimer was shop supervisor and also an on-set makeup artist.

They explicitly set out to lift the bar for Sci-Fi TV shows: ‘not just a forehead’. They largely succeeded – setting a standard which only Farscape has beaten. The Narn makeup was particularly ground-breaking proving it was possible to put leading characters in neck-up prosthetics within the time and budget constraints of a TV series – although there were problems in finding actresses prepared to wear it.