UNCSA alum roots for colleagues at 97th Academy Awards Ceremony

DURHAM, N.C. (WTVD) -- After doing the test makeup for "A Different Man", Richard Redlefsen is excited to see if the film wins an Oscar on Sunday night.

His colleagues who ultimately did the full makeup for the film are up for a coveted Academy Award. Redlefsen spoke to ABC11 from his studio in California on Sunday afternoon ahead of the big night, saying he hopes his colleagues who worked on the film starring Sebastian Stan will take home gold.

Redlefsen started out his career in the arts in ballet, eventually attending what was then known as the North Carolina School of the Arts in Winston-Salem.

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Though he loved ballet, he found himself helping his fellow dancers with their makeup more and more. Eventually, he started learning more about the process and started doing makeup full-time.

Jeepers Creepers was his first major film project. He went on to work on the sets of Pirates of the Caribbean 2 and 3, Star Trek: Picard, The Alto Man, Bullet Train, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Bombshell, and more.

Though he's won a handful of other awards like Emmys, he has yet to be nominated for an Academy Award.

He has some big projects ahead, maybe 2026 will be his year.