Bio:
In her almost 25 years as a professional makeup, hair, mask, wig, and puppet artist, Tara Cooper has worked on productions large and small – from collaborating with A-list directors and celebrities, building wigs for a myriad of theatrical, film, print, and commercial productions, to teaching makeup, SPFX, and wig design courses at universities and beauty schools. She was an professor at St. Edward’s University from 2007-2020 and served as their wig master from 2005-2024 – designing over 70 productions for their Mary Moody Northen Theater.
Her recent film projects include department heading both hair and makeup for the latest Richard Linklater films – including his real-time version of Stephen Sondheim’s Merrily We Roll Along, starring Ben Platt, Paul Mescal, Lin Manuel Miranda, and Beanie Feldstein, which will be shot over the span of 20 years, and Apollo 10 ½: A Space Age Childhood, starring Zach Levi and Jack Black. Hit Man, the latest film she’s makeup department headed and wig-designed, stars Glen Powell and was released in theaters and on Netflix in May and has received rave reviews. In Hit Man, Glen plays 10 different characters, all of which she was tasked to design the wig and makeup looks for, exercising her abilities as a master disguise artist.
Aside from working in the entertainment industry, she considers herself an artist of the arts – she’s an avid woodcarver, mask maker, illustrator, and puppet and leather artist. Her passion for her crafts is palpable, and she always enjoys a new challenge. She graduated Magna Cum Laude from the University of Texas at Austin in 2006 with a B.A. in Costume Design and Technology, and has been a member of IATSE 484 for over a decade.
Find her work on www.taracoopermakeupartist.com and Instagram at @taracooperartist.
