Liza Drake, a single mother and high school dropout, is at the center of the story in Pain Hustlers. As she struggles to support herself and her daughter, she lands a job with a failing pharmaceutical company in an old strip mall in Central Florida. Things take an unexpected turn when sales and Liza’s lifestyle begin to skyrocket. However, this new success puts Liza in the hotseat of a federal investigation into a criminal conspiracy.
Pain Hustlers stars a powerhouse cast led by Emily Blunt and Chris Evans alongside Catherine O’Hara, Chloe Coleman, Jay Duplass, Brian d’Arcy James, Amit Shah, Aubrey Dollar, Willie Raysor, and Andy García. The movie is based on Evan Hughes book of the same name, with the script written by Wells Tower and directed by Daivd Yates, who also serves as a producer with Lawrence Grey.
Screen Rant exclusively interviewed costume designer Colleen Atwood about her new movie, Pain Hustlers. She shares insight into how she used the costumes to show characters personalities and their ascent into more expensive lifestyles. Atwood also teases details about the highly anticipated Beetlejuice 2.
Colleen Atwood On Pain Hustlers
Screen Rant: Colleen, you are an absolute legend in this industry. A part of the reason I love movies so much is because of some of the costumes you created that immerse me so much in these films, and Pain Hustlers is no different. What’s your process for highlighting characteristics of extravagant wealth, douchiness, and new money?
Colleen Atwood: Oh boy, that’s a good formula, and we definitely utilized it. [Chuckles] In this case, as they ascended in douchiness and wealth, Andy Garcia’s character was sort of pretending to be old money, but not quite getting it right, like a little bit too many accessories, too much contrivance, not really comfortable in that world, but sort of pretending to be.
With Emily’s character, as she ascended, I went from softer materials and stuff to a more angular kind of armor-type clothing, so it was like owning her more than her owning it. I think those are probably the two best examples of douchiness. Chris started out sort of douchey anyway, but he just kind of enhanced his douchiness slowly and got a little bit better at it and more presentable in that world.
Now, the personalities and moral alignment of the characters are almost instantly recognizable by their attire, can you share some of the characteristics of the costume, be it the color, design, brand, etc., that radiates which personality traits?
Colleen Atwood: I think that I sort of had some internal rules, and it was just what was out there in the market at the time. I didn’t have time to really make a lot of costumes for this movie, nor the budget, so it was a lot of shop stuff. I think my rule in the beginning was really use thrift store clothes, Men’s Warehouse, that kind of vibe, and then as they ascended going up market to a private boutique or some kind of shopping like that, like Neiman Marcus or somewhere like that.
As much as what it was, and the brands, it was sourcing the level of shopping, whether it was from vintage, to Ross, to Bloomingdale’s, to Neiman Marcus, that sort of journey into the luxury world was sort of the journey that I made with the costumes. I ended up gravitating a lot on [Emily], just because of the angles of the shoulders and the colors too. She wore McQueen a lot from a couple seasons ago and, you know, I shopped at The RealReal for stuff that was worn and not brand new, which is always fun.
Now, this is your third time working with David Yates on a film. Can you talk about a fourth time working with him on a film, and about the collaboration process working with him on Pain Hustlers?
Colleen Atwood: Yes, we have a comfortable relationship at this point. He’s very trusting of my work and my ideas, so we talked about the characters a lot. Then, I showed him pictures from research of pharma, Central Florida, that part of America was pretty new to him. He’d never really seen it before. He went to school at George Washington, so he has lived in America, but he hasn’t lived in Central Florida, so it was like, “Whoa, okay.” So, I showed him stuff, and then I started fittings and showed him pictures, and it was sort of a reactive process, and I give him options, directions what I’m thinking, and that’s how that plays out with him. It’s a nice relationship.
Now, Colleen, you’re working on Beetlejuice 2, I am extremely excited about this film. What can we expect from some of the costume designs in that?
Colleen Atwood: Well, you’re gonna see some old friends in the costume world. There’s a real homage to Beetlejuice, the original, and then you’ll see you the journey that those people have made in the 30 years since Beetlejuice, it’s been a while. So, it’s a fun process, I think the audience is gonna love it, it’s really fun.
About Pain Hustlers
Liza dreams of a better life for herself and her daughter. Hired to work for a bankrupt pharmaceutical company, Liza skyrockets with sales and into the high life, putting her in the middle of a federal criminal conspiracy.
Check out our other Pain Hustlers interview with David Yates & Lawrence Grey.
Pain Hustlers is available now on Netflix.
