HAIR MAKEUP
“I Can Do That” Lawrence Davis on how and why he became ‘the’ hairstylist to the stars By Mi chae l J . Pa l l e r i no
T here was something about her look that he could not shake. Sitting in his hair salon in Baltimore, Lawrence Davis could not stop flipping through an entertainment magazine featuring Halle Berry on the cover. Was it time for a change? But what? Maybe it was just that he turned 30 and all of those milestone birthday emotions were kicking in. New York was close, but Hollywood was Hollywood. Was that the play? These were all just questions bouncing around in his head. But… “Why not visit LA?” he thought. So, he booked a flight during the long Memorial Day weekend, figuring it would give him some time to check out the LA vibe. He loved it. On July 27, 2001, after selling everything he had, including the salon nobody thought he would leave, Davis set out for Hollywood, landing at LAX with nothing but a suitcase and a large computer screen. “What have I done?” he recalls thinking. Now fast-forward to 2019, where Davis is on set at Screen Gem studios in Atlanta, working on Aretha Franklin’s upcoming biopic, Respect , starring Hollywood heavyweights such as Jennifer Hudson and Forest Whitaker. The period pieces are the ones Davis loves. Respect is the ultimate test for Davis’s unique and creative talents, providing each character with a look respective of the times. In this film, the genres dance from the 50s through the ’70s. For the movie, Davis follows the same blueprint he always does, including a thorough review of the script to capture each specific attribute of the film’s characters. “You have to know the whole story, their story,” Davis says. “How the characters look is a major part of whether the film’s story can be interpreted. Every detail matters. What is the look they are trying to get across in the scene? Did the character just wake up? Everything matters.” The script’s deep dive is just one of the many reasons producers and directors want Davis on set. And they are not alone, he is also on speed dial for Oprah Winfrey, who, when his talents are needed, knows his number. “She calls me personally; I cannot tell you what that means,” Davis says. Winfrey and Davis met in passing several times during her talk show in Chicago, back before that night Tyler Perry called and asked if he would help a relative
The period pieces are the ones Davis loves. Respect is the ultimate test for Davis’s unique and creative talents, providing each character with a look respective of the times.
with her hair. He had no idea it was Oprah. He admits to buying a new brush for the occasion. “I was shocked,” he recalls. “I told her that the brush I was using would only be for her.” That is saying something, since the list of stars Davis has worked on over the years is a who’s who of Hollywood dignitaries, including Jennifer Hudson, Carrie Preston, Carey Mulligan, Christina Applegate, Rosemarie Dewitt, Rose Byrne, Linda Cardelini, Laura Dern, Leslie Mann, Mary J. Blige, Vera Farmiga, and Tyra Banks, with whom he won one of his two Emmy awards while working on her TV show (the other was for the NBC’s live broadcast of Hairspray Live! ). Now, let’s rewind to that young man at the arrival gate in LAX. While admittedly not knowing where or what he was going to do, things worked out. He ended up meeting Berry’s then-stylist Neeko Abriol, who gave Davis a shot in his salon. He eventually landed at E! Entertainment Television, where he worked as contractor for nine years. His next goal was to become a union hairstylist. He did. Next was The Tyra Show ,
Two-time Emmy Award Winner Lawrence Davis
Photo courtesy Derek Blanks
and then that Time magazine photo shoot with Denzel Washington that was bumped off the cover for the Tonya Harding scandal. And the stories roll on… “It all started with a simple thought: ‘I can do that,’” Davis recalls staring at that Halle Berry magazine cover. “Then I look back at all of the people I’ve met, all of the things I’ve done. I get to work on things that help tell stories about people and places that have made such a difference.” But that brush, Davis says, is still for Oprah only.
@hairbylawrencedavis | www.cloutierremix.com/lawrencedavis
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