Jany Temime has used clothes to construct some of Hollywood’s most fantastical, seductive worlds. She outfitted the wizards and ghouls in six Harry Potter films, devised the spacesuits for Gravity, and reinvented the Bond “woman” for Spectre. But for her latest movie Passengers, starring Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt, she had a whole new challenge: Design a wardrobe for the 24th century.
“I think the actors were so afraid I was going to give them little pointed hats and jumpsuits,” says the French costume designer. “But I didn’t do that.”
Passengers, which will be in theaters December 21, tells the story of Jim (Pratt), an engineer from the Midwest, and Aurora (Lawrence), a cosmopolitan New York writer, who are aboard a spaceship taking them to another planet. But a malfunction causes their two hibernation pods to wake them up 90 years before they’re supposed to reach their destination. Romance, mystery, and danger ensue. Despite the setting, Aurora and Jim look like people you'd see walking down the street today: Aurora in her minimalist sheaths and Jim in his rugged jeans and T-shirts. “The main thing is to get the psychology of the characters,” says Temime. “The fact that it's happening in the 24th century is important but not that important. It's a love story that takes place in a closed universe.” Ahead, Temime talks to us about how she tells Jim and Aurora’s story through clothes, what she thinks we’ll be wearing in the 24th century, and what it was like to work on Passengers.
Passengers, which will be in theaters December 21, tells the story of Jim (Pratt), an engineer from the Midwest, and Aurora (Lawrence), a cosmopolitan New York writer, who are aboard a spaceship taking them to another planet. But a malfunction causes their two hibernation pods to wake them up 90 years before they’re supposed to reach their destination. Romance, mystery, and danger ensue. Despite the setting, Aurora and Jim look like people you'd see walking down the street today: Aurora in her minimalist sheaths and Jim in his rugged jeans and T-shirts. “The main thing is to get the psychology of the characters,” says Temime. “The fact that it's happening in the 24th century is important but not that important. It's a love story that takes place in a closed universe.” Ahead, Temime talks to us about how she tells Jim and Aurora’s story through clothes, what she thinks we’ll be wearing in the 24th century, and what it was like to work on Passengers.
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What attracted you to this movie?
“I love romantic movies, and I thought it was the best script I had read in years. I will tell you what I thought was the most interesting idea: It takes place in the year 2300-something, but the story is an old one. It's a princess falling in love with a workman... I really liked the extreme psychology of everything in their love story.”
How did you approach dressing the two main characters?
“I really wanted to highlight the differences between them, both in personality and class. For Jim, I wanted to give him iconic American workman clothes: trousers and a T-shirt. And he wears a dress shirt when he wants to impress Aurora. For Aurora, I wanted everything she wore to be very sophisticated, very simple, very chic, like the black dress she wears on the date with Jim. And always in silk and things that are fragile. You know that she has class the whole time, because this is a class story. He works with his hands, and she writes.”
“I love romantic movies, and I thought it was the best script I had read in years. I will tell you what I thought was the most interesting idea: It takes place in the year 2300-something, but the story is an old one. It's a princess falling in love with a workman... I really liked the extreme psychology of everything in their love story.”
How did you approach dressing the two main characters?
“I really wanted to highlight the differences between them, both in personality and class. For Jim, I wanted to give him iconic American workman clothes: trousers and a T-shirt. And he wears a dress shirt when he wants to impress Aurora. For Aurora, I wanted everything she wore to be very sophisticated, very simple, very chic, like the black dress she wears on the date with Jim. And always in silk and things that are fragile. You know that she has class the whole time, because this is a class story. He works with his hands, and she writes.”
The film takes place in the future, but the clothes look very contemporary — why did you decide to do that?
“I think by the 24th century, fashion will have seen it all. We will go back to basics and minimalism, a sort of anti-fashion. I also believe that the social classes will be more divided: The workmen will dress like workmen, and the upper class will be dressed in natural, luxurious fabrics.”
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Is that why the palette is so minimalist?
“A little bit. But also, the two are in such a closed universe. They have complete time to get to know one another because, physically, they aren’t disturbed by other people. When Jennifer's character Aurora is in the spaceship, she's in a halo of tranquility. She's just with herself. So I translated that peaceful feeling to a monochromatic-chic wardrobe. The only color ever is in the flashback, when Aurora is in the city and she’s confronted with other people and other things.”
You have some very cool space suits in the film. They’re very sleek and black and different from the bulkier suits we’re used to seeing.
“That was a lot of work! I have been doing so many space shoots lately, but with this one, this had to be in the future. I thought that in the 24th century the spacesuit would be something casual, elegant, and simple. It wouldn’t need to have so many things hanging off it because everything would be inside. I think simplicity is the apex of scientific achievement.”
Did you run into any challenges during the filmmaking process where an idea didn’t work out or clashed with someone else’s?
“I had actually wanted to put Chris in a tank top, since he plays a guy who works out. But even when he’s supposed to look dirty and depressed, he looked gorgeous. So we had to keep him covered up — he was too sexy.” Passengers is in theaters now. Watch the trailer below.
“A little bit. But also, the two are in such a closed universe. They have complete time to get to know one another because, physically, they aren’t disturbed by other people. When Jennifer's character Aurora is in the spaceship, she's in a halo of tranquility. She's just with herself. So I translated that peaceful feeling to a monochromatic-chic wardrobe. The only color ever is in the flashback, when Aurora is in the city and she’s confronted with other people and other things.”
You have some very cool space suits in the film. They’re very sleek and black and different from the bulkier suits we’re used to seeing.
“That was a lot of work! I have been doing so many space shoots lately, but with this one, this had to be in the future. I thought that in the 24th century the spacesuit would be something casual, elegant, and simple. It wouldn’t need to have so many things hanging off it because everything would be inside. I think simplicity is the apex of scientific achievement.”
Did you run into any challenges during the filmmaking process where an idea didn’t work out or clashed with someone else’s?
“I had actually wanted to put Chris in a tank top, since he plays a guy who works out. But even when he’s supposed to look dirty and depressed, he looked gorgeous. So we had to keep him covered up — he was too sexy.” Passengers is in theaters now. Watch the trailer below.
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