“I love you, bitch! You know I love you,” Amy Schumer told makeup artist Kyra Panchenko before honoring her with an award at the New York Women in Film and Television’s 18th annual Designing Women Awards on Tuesday held at the NYU School of Law.
Panchenko, who worked with Schumer on “Snatched,” “Trainwreck,” and two seasons of “Inside Amy Schumer,” was among several makeup artists, hair stylists, and costume designers celebrated for their work behind-the-scenes on film and television.
For Schumer, Panchenko and her makeup work were the main reasons she was able to shed any insecurity she had with playing a romantic lead in “Trainwreck.”
“The truth is Kyra changed how I feel about myself,” Schumer said. “Going to shoot ‘Trainwreck,’ I had never been in a movie before. Playing the romantic lead that the guy is supposed to fall in love with, I didn’t know if I had a place there and if I had a right to be playing this woman.”
Though Schumer joked that Panchenko modeled her skin after Emily Blunt’s “alcoholic skin” in “The Girl on the Train” and lightheartedly called out a photographer for taking an unflattering photo of her during her speech (“Internet trolls will make this into a meme later”), she thanked the makeup artist for making her feel beautiful.
Popular on Variety
“Kyra, she really had my back,” Schumer said. “Her words and her actions made me not only feel confident, but I felt really beautiful in that movie, and I still looked like myself.”
Other honorees included hair stylist Melissa Forney (“Hidden Figures,” “Empire,” “Selma”), costume designer Melissa Toth (“Manchester by the Sea,” “Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind”) and the makeup, hair, and costume design teams behind “Marvel’s Jessica Jones,” which took home Variety’s ensemble award.
The event, hosted by “Saturday Night Live” alum Sasheer Zamata, sought to support and empower female creative players who are integral to bringing characters to life on screen. Other celebrity attendees included David Costabile, Carmen Ejogo, and Rosario Dawson.
“Jessica Jones” star Krysten Ritter appeared via video to honor the glam team behind her Netflix series, alongside Dawson. “Hair, makeup and wardrobe departments are the unsung heroes behind creating characters,” she said.
