By Kim Hilsenbeck.
Buda resident Jenna Green remembers playing with her mom’s eye shadow when she was four or five years old. But she wasn’t putting it on to get all made up; she was using it to create bruises.
As she grew up, Green recalls experimenting with other make-up in an effort to create wounds, burns and other special effects.
Yet all through high school, Green wanted to be an actress. She was in several plays as a student at Hays High School.
“At some point, I realized that I liked being behind the stage better than being in front of it,” Green said.
Buda makeup artist Jenna Green, owner of WiKKiD FX, created this alien female look for her audition tape for “Face Off,” a SyFy Channel reality show that pits makeup artists against each other. Green was selected for Season 4, which begins airing Jan. 15. (photo by Kevin Schaefer) |
How did Green come to enjoy using makeup to create special effects?
“I watched a lot of horror films,” she said.
Her top favorites are “The Exorcist,” “Hellraiser” and “The Lost Boys.”
“Those movies were very influential,” Green said.
She went to college for a few terms, but when her older brother passed away at age 26, Green left school.
For a while she did beauty makeup for photographers around town. She also worked on a few independent films using her talent to create special effects. Green said the market for small independent films being shot in Texas has dried up.
“A lot of production companies are filming in Canada, because it’s less expensive,” she said.
Green gained much of her makeup special effects experience working on Halloween events.
“I worked at haunted house events and for a long time I worked for Haunted Trails,” Green said.
She currently works each fall for a nonprofit called Scare for a Cure in Manor – a haunted event that raises money for the Breast Cancer Resource Centers of Texas.
“We will also do another event this spring called Quest Nights. We hope to raise $10,000,” Green said.
The road to where Green is today was a bumpy one. Five years ago, she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer.
“It was stage two but had already metastasized at that point,” Green said. “I went through eight months of chemo.”
Doctors eventually performed a full hysterectomy on Green and had to remove some cancer from her head, as well.
During that same time, she went through a divorce and lost her 9-to-5 job.
“I was so sick,” Green said. “I was in the hospital nine times that year.”
While battling and recovering from cancer, Green moved back to her mother’s home in Buda and said she spent as much time with her children, then ages 13 and 5, as she could.
“I didn’t know how all this was going to turn out,” Green said of her ordeal.
She credits her mom with helping her get through the cancer, her divorce and the job loss.
She didn’t work with makeup for more than a year. But she started watching the SyFy Channel’s reality show, “Face Off,” and was re-inspired to get back in the saddle.
“I do every kind of makeup,” Green said. “Models, actors, fantasy and special effects. There’s nothing I can’t do, makeup-wise.”
And that is something she hopes to show viewers of “Face Off.” Green was selected as a cast member for Season 4, which airs at 8 p.m. Jan. 15.
Each week, contestants compete against each other and in teams to complete the challenge. Past challenges included pirates, Star Wars aliens, Chinese dragon performers, monsters and superheroes.
Green flew out to California this past July for a month to shoot the show. She flew back and forth between Buda and the West Coast two more times to complete filming.
“It was an amazing experience,” she said.
Green said she wanted to be on “Face Off” because she wants to elevate her makeup business. She hopes being on the show will give her new opportunities and open doors.
“I’d love to be working in major film productions,” Green said. “It would also be incredible to start a makeup school here in Texas.”
During the months of shooting, Green said she got to know the other makeup artists.
“I really miss my cast members,” Green said.
Though she still has another year to be declared in remission, Green said she feels good these days. She has a blood disorder that may be related to the chemotherapy, but otherwise, she is in good health.
Her sole income these days is makeup. She is working to open her own makeup studio. She attends makeup trade shows to introduce her skills to as many people in the industry as possible.
Green said she’s met a lot of young people who want to get involved in doing makeup but they would have to go to college in California, Florida or Pennsylvania.
“I’m completely self-taught,” Green said. “So I’d love to start a school here in the region to help other people learn the craft.”
