Star Trek: Picard makeup chief James Mackinnon on becoming a Borg
"The Impossible Box" -- Episode #106 -- Pictured (l-r): Isa Briones as Soji; Sir Patrick Stewart as Picard; Jonathan Del Arco as Hugh of the the CBS All Access series STAR TREK: PICARD. Photo Cr: Matt Kennedy/CBS ©2019 CBS Interactive, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
James Mackinnon, the Emmy-winning makeup artist whose Star Trek: Picard team is up for three Emmy awards this year, has spoken with SYFY WIRE about getting hands-on with his art. So hands-on, in fact, that he got to appear as a Borg in the first season of Star Trek: Picard.
In Picard episode 6, “The Impossible Box”, Picard visits a decommissioned Borg cube in search of Dr. Soji Asha. The sets required several actors to be in Borg prosthetic makeup, and Mackinnon saw an opportunity. After an okay from supervising producer Jason Zimmerman, his team got to work.
Mackinnon described how they were able to do it. “My assistants Richard [Redlefsen] and Alexei [Dmitriew] slipped me in during lunch, because we didn’t want production to wait,” he said. “Our lunch break is 45 minutes and this makeup usually takes an hour and a half, but we pounded through.” It wasn’t just a bit of fun for Mackinnon, however, as the experience also helps him articulate the process to others. “It was so much fun, and it’s on camera forever,” he said. “And then when I do talks with the fans, I can give them more information about how it feels.”
Mackinnon’s SYFY WIRE interview also covers a range of the techniques he used to create Picard’s Borg looks, although be warned if you read it: there are more than a few spoilers! However, it’s worth a read if only for the tidbits like why he always keeps a banana in the trailer, and how they updated Seven of Nine’s ocular implant for the new series.
Of course, if you’d like to see if you can spot Mackinnon’s Borg look in “The Impossible Box”, or if you’d like to watch the Emmy-nominated episodes “Absolute Candor” or “Stardust City Rag”, you can do so in Star Trek: Picard, streaming now on CBS All Access, or available for pre-order on Blu-ray and DVD, out October 6th.
