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“Doctor Odyssey,” ABC‘s melange of medical crises, Special Guest Stars, and glistening bare skin set on a luxury cruise ship, is an intentional fantasy. Despite Captain Robert Massey’s somber reminder that real life can occasionally intrude on the magic of the Odyssey, the show itself is highly polished make believe. Even death, when it comes, brings with it free bouquets.
“The idea of coming aboard the Odyssey is an escape from reality, a fantasy of sorts,” Makeup Department Head Sabrina Wilson told IndieWire. “It’s a voyage many people may have spent their whole lives saving for. All the guests are treated like royalty and with the highest respect. Everything is glamorous, sparkling, and beautiful.”
That sense of heightened reality extends to the show’s makeup, as well. “Tattoos do not exist in our world, so any visible tattoo has to be covered and body makeup applied to even our tan lines,” Assistant Makeup Department Head Michael Ornelaz told IndieWire. Those tan lines are most frequently on display poolside, and since “Doctor Odyssey” films at a working outdoor pool in the Valley, that can require a little creativity when it comes to keeping the makeup in place.
“The leisure deck can get extremely hot, so a massive amount of professional sealer is applied to maintain the longevity of everyone’s work,” Ornelaz said. Additionally, the makeup team stands by with blotters and handheld fans to keep the sweat at bay. (As for the tans, they’re mostly the actors’ own.)
Many of those tanned and relaxed characters will end up in the infirmary before the end of their cruise, tended to by Dr. Max Bankman (Joshua Jackson), N.P. Avery Morgan (Philippa Soo), and Nurse Tristan Silva (Sean Teale). They’re a motley, if gorgeous, trio who are as likely to quarrel over a misunderstanding as they are to correctly diagnose an obscure disease. But the makeup designed for them is integral to the audience’s perception of the characters.
After discussions with Ryan Murphy and the cast, the makeup team hit on a clear breakdown of the main trio and their needs. “Max is to come across as handsome and sexy. Even sweat is a sexy sheen and he is always to appear heroic,” Wilson said. “Avery is a sophisticated professional who comes across as the girl next door who doesn’t need a lot of makeup to sell her character. She is a natural beauty with beautiful glowing skin that we sometimes take to a higher caliber on events such as Great Room Dinners, brunches, leisure deck activities, and so on. It is only a subtle change for her so as she doesn’t lose her aesthetic. Tristan is a dapper, attractive, strapping young man who comes across as a younger brother of sorts. He is a professional, yet has a fun and attractive lifestyle about him but is sweet like a golden retriever.”
The guest stars — who have included everyone from Shania Twain and Amy Sedaris to Chord Overstreet and Kate Berlant — also have looks tailored to the needs of the script that are just heightened enough to fit in with the worlds of the Odyssey and “Doctor Odyssey.” But sometimes those looks require some additions as the cruise goes on. Enter the medical tech.
“[The symptoms are] also a collaboration with our medical tech, who is on set at all times, and our director,” Ornelaz said. “We all research the medical drama at hand and come up with the most appropriate and accurate applications. Sometimes, this calls for prosthetic builds, which are done at a special effects makeup shop and applied on set. We like the medical to feel as real as possible. The audience should feel the urgency, and we do our best on our end to increase [that].”
But though we might squirm at, say, an onboard outbreak of syphilis during singles week, the rest of the cruise (and the cruisers) look so damn delightful that it’s almost enough to prompt booking passage on a cruise of our own — tan not included.
New episodes of “Doctor Odyssey” premiere Thursdays on ABC.
English (US) ·