Today Greta Gerwig celebrates her 32nd birthday, and with roughly as many film credits to her name. Since the actress was first scooped up by IFC for her turn in Hannah Takes the Stairs in 2007, she has steadily earned a slew of starring rolls with directors who specialize in a dreamy brand of navel-gazing inertia, such as Noah Baumbach, Woody Allen, and Whit Stillman. With four more movies on the horizon (including Mistress America, which opens later this month), Gerwig’s meteoric rise to indie-muse-of-the-moment can be almost entirely attributed to her understated charisma and keen comedic timing (not to mention her talent behind the camera, directing and writing), but she also makes for a case study in the quintessential indie beauty equation.
Like a blockbuster actress, Gerwig is undeniably beautiful—leggy, blonde, and wide-eyed with a megawatt smile. But she possesses just the right dash of refreshing realism. After all, to traverse through plotlines dealing with confusion, romance, mistaken identity, or madcap irony, indie muses must be openly flawed and familiar. Whether through a distinctive posture, off-kilter haircut, or uncontrived skin, a physical vulnerability or memorable visual trait renders each starlet relatable. They look interesting because they are. Natasha Lyonne’s untamable curls acknowledge her mischievous spontaneity in The Slums of Beverly Hills, and Julie Delpy’s daubed on lipstick in Before Sunrise points to a woman who isn’t overly worried about kissing her makeup off. Kirsten Dunst’s and Liv Tyler’s charming half-smiles and dreamy gazes leave them ripe for lost innocence in The Virgin Suicides and Stealing Beauty, respectively. And Adèle Exarchopoulos’s sleepy, makeup-free face befits her lack of artifice in Blue Is the Warmest Color. In honor of Gerwig’s birthday, here, a look back at seventeen inimitable indie beauty muses who have broken the Hollywood mold.
The post Breaking Down the Indie Muse Beauty Equation: From Greta Gerwig to Liv Tyler appeared first on Vogue.
No comments:
Post a Comment