ATLANTA — An Atlanta stylist who built her career making people look fabulous is now taking center stage at the Oscars.
Shunika Terry is nominated for the Academy Award for Best Makeup and Hairstyling for her work on “Sinners.” Her nomination is one of the 16 record-breaking nominations for the Ryan Coogler-directed blockbuster.
The 98th Oscars air live Sunday night at 7 p.m. on Channel 2. Our coverage begins with “On the Red Carpet” at 3:30 p.m. streaming on WSB Now.
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Terry spoke exclusively with Channel 2’s Karyn Greer on her journey to Hollywood’s biggest night.
“I’m still pinching myself. That’s my first hair designer credit. And I do a lot of hair department head positions. But that was my very, very first,” Terry said.
For more than 25 years, Shunika Terry has been a go-to name in film and television hair design, quietly shaping characters from the stylist chair on sets across Atlanta and beyond.
Now her artistry on “Sinners,” a vampire period drama set in the 1930s Mississippi Delta, has put her in the global spotlight.
“I just remember, Ryan Coogler, I stepped in our trailer and a lot of times when we have these concept meetings we talk about hair, makeup, wardrobe, the collaboration of all the departments to create the characters’ looks,” Terry said.
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She was the head designer on “Sinners,” leading a team tasked with building an entire world out of wigs, braids and period-accurate styles that matched the film’s raw look at life in the Mississippi Delta.
“I came across a man that was on the Delta in the 30s with this conch-like haircut. I added that to other reference photos that I was pulling. After that, I just created a board,” Terry said.
Terry told Greer that the nomination is bigger than her. The Oscar nomination represents progress for Black women working in crafts where they are underrepresented, even as more diverse stories hit the big screen.
“Hair and makeup, wardrobe, I mean everyone has a part of it. So it’s like a big family, production, design, everyone. And it takes a team, it takes village. And I believe that’s why Sinners is so magnetic,” Terry said.
Her advice to people with aspirations for film and TV? Follow your dreams and don’t ever give up.
“I am beyond grateful for this moment. I want to live in it, I want to breathe in it. I want to enjoy it,” she said.
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