Oscar Nominees Thomas Foldberg and Anne Cathrine Sauerberg Break Down Gruesome The Ugly Stepsister Looks
This interview was originally posted on Film Obsessive.
The Academy Awards are notorious for ignoring the works of genre filmmakers, but the 2026 nominations are offering a watershed moment. Ryan Coogler’s Jim Crow-era vampire flick, Sinners, has set a record for most nominations for a film, and Amy Madigan defied the odds to claim a spot in the hotly contested Best Supporting Actress race for her role in Weapons. In the Best Makeup and Hairstyling Award category, another horror movie, Emilie Blichfeldt’s The Ugly Stepsister, seeks Oscar gold. Prosthetic Makeup Effects Designer Thomas Foldberg and Hair and Makeup Designer Anne Cathrine Sauerberg are the duo behind the nomination.
When Blichfeldt describes The Ugly Stepsister, she shies away from the “body horror” term in favor of “beauty horror.” The film is based on the Cinderella fairy tale by the Brothers Grimm. It’s immediately apparent that this isn’t Walt Disney’s Cinderella, but a take on the tale that explores the societal expectations and harsh beauty standards that weigh heavily on young girls. Sauerberg and Foldberg were both tasked with building a world of “beauty horror,” and that meant different things for their fields of work.
“Emilie made this really, really wonderful vision board of all kinds of things,” recalls Sauerberg. “One of the things I really loved was the a-little-bit over-the-top silky fabrics mixed with mold. It was very clear that she wanted to do something that was both realistic and a little bit over the top.”
“We did a lot with the bows. Always make a look have a little bit of color,” explains Sauerberg. “All the time having this really rich silk and flowery look, because if you see a super-girly, almost-pageant dress and it’s dirty, it’s absolutely something different from when you see a pair of trousers that are dirty. For me, the thing was to make it look as rich, silky, pretty and made-up as possible so Thomas could ruin it all.”
Courtesy of Marcel Zyskind
“Emilie mentioned ‘beauty horror’ quite early,” adds Foldberg. “Reading the script and hearing Emilie’s vision, it was pretty obvious what it was. I have daughters myself, so the whole message of the film mingles pretty much with what I think about raising girls in this crazy world right now. I’m glad she actually used the ‘beauty horror’ term instead of ‘body horror.’ It made some decisions and made my vision easier to get into.”
The set-up for The Ugly Stepsister mirrors the story of Cinderella that most know, and some familiar beats of the Disney film are present. There’s a handsome prince (Isac Calmroth) with a grand ball on the horizon, a lost slipper, and dreams of a happily ever after. The Ugly Stepsister is not, however, told from the point of view of Cinderella, whose name is Agnes (Thea Sofie Loch Næss) in this version. Blichfeldt’s script centers on Elvira (Lea Myren), one of the daughters of the widow, Rebekka (Ane Dahl Torp), who marries Anges’ father. Elvira and her sister, Alma, (Flo Fagerli) are not the entitled stepsisters who are common in retellings of the fairytale. Alma isn’t interested in marriage or boys, but Elvira dreams of running away with the prince. Rebekka pushes Elvira to undergo a series of extreme, primitive, cosmetic surgeries in the hope that the prince will find her attractive.
Elvira’s signature hairstyle throughout the film is a series of taut ringlets. It’s reminiscent of the look of the stepsisters in the animated Disney film, yet Sauerberg hadn’t seen this version before beginning her work on The Ugly Stepsister.
“It was halfway through shooting the movie when I saw a picture of the ugly stepsisters from the Disney version, and I was like, oh, my God, they have the same ringlets!” laughs Sauerberg.
“The idea came from a conversation with Emily,” she continues. “We wanted it to look like worms. The ringlets became a really good means of expressing emotion throughout the film. You see them bounce around when she gets her big smile about going to the ball and when she gets excited.”
“There’s also the tightness of this style that’s very much like when you’re a kid and your mom decides how you should look,” says Sauerberg. “I remember when I was a kid, I had these pigtails and I remember how painful it was. So that hairstyle was a little hello to being an age just before you get to decide things for yourself.”
Courtesy of Marcel Zyskind
Chekhov’s gun is the narrative principle that any element introduced needs to serve a larger purpose in the story. While there’s no gun in The Ugly Stepsister, there is a tapeworm that Elvira swallows, hoping it will make her thinner. Throughout the film, the audience hears Elvira’s stomach rumbling, reminding us that there is a Chekhov’s tapeworm in play. When it finally rears its ugly head, it’s up to Foldberg to make sure the tapeworm causes as many people as possible in the audience to squirm.
“The director of photography, Marcel Zyskind, presented his vision of the film to be medium shots for a lot of the stuff, but it ended up being very, very, very close shots for a lot of the things,” recalls Foldberg. “The makeup effects are one thing to film that closely, but the whole look of Elvira is so heavily relying on prosthetics. She’s wearing cheeks, she has a nose, a double chin, and a neck piece. Filming that up close was…I mean, that was a tough one. Everything turned out a little different than what I expected.”
When the Academy votes on Best Makeup and Hairstyling, it’s easy to gravitate toward the scenes where it’s obvious that prosthetics and heavy hair and makeup were used. There’s the tapeworm scene, an equally upsetting eyelash extension scene, and more. For hair and makeup, there are the high-glam looks of the ball, Elvira’s hair loss as the stress wears on her, and the classically simple look of Cinderella. It’s this “invisible” work that Sauerberg and Foldberg are most proud of.
Courtesy of Lukasz Bak
“To me, that’s the whole look of it,” agrees Foldberg. “In the first half of the film, Elvira just seems a little younger, a little more childish, a little chubby. There’s an innocent look to her. That whole look was so interesting to do, and it had such complicated makeup to go along with it. We did it 20 times, I think. Maybe a little more.”
“She was wearing the cheeks that went up to the forehead,” continues Foldberg. “Her neck was her own, but part of the neck and down was actually covering her collarbones. We had a small piece for the double chin that was a separate one as well. She also has prosthetics on for the dance scenes and the dressing scene because Lea is a dancer, so she’s very buff. We had to soften her look a lot.”
“That’s what I’m most proud of in this film, because it’s apparently invisible to a lot of viewers, which is, of course, nice, but also a little sad,” jokes Foldberg.
“I think one of the things I’m most proud of is that we managed to get a very specific look for the movie. We managed to create a way that girls in this universe look when they’re beautiful that hasn’t really been seen before,” says Sauerberg. “I hadn’t thought about this, but I think that would be one of the things I’m most proud of. We actually managed to create a universe. I feel like the makeup, prosthetic work, and the hair ended up as one big package that I’m very proud of. We don’t have anything that sticks out. That, I think, is what I’m most proud of.”
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