THE TOMORROW WAR: IN CONVERSATION WITH BETSY HEIMANN COSTUME DESIGNER

The Tomorrow War has been one of the surprise action blockbusters that got sold to Amazon, skipped the theatrical release and went straight to streaming. In the latest episode of the From Tailors With Love podcast, host Pete Brooker spoke to the costume designer Betsy Heimann about some of the complexities of designing a military uniform for the future. Below are some moments transcribe from the interview.

Did you have to lobby to get the gig?

BH: Yes I did lobby for this one. I had a feeling. I thought Chris McKay did an amazing job with Lego Batman. It's the most emotional Lego Movie and this man Chris Mckay has heart. I thought this was a guy who I'd like to do his first live action film. I'm interested in helping him get his image in his head on to the screen. So I did, I called my agent. I said 'I need a meeting with this movie' and she thought I'd lost my mind but I guess I didn't. Because people love the movie right?

What were the interesting moments for you working on a film like this? 

BH: This one the interesting thing for me about it was I was going to have the opportunity to design a military uniform of the near future. Which was something I had not tackled. We had to get it right in the present day before we went to the future. And I've done a few military things, but from a fashion point of view, we're always about 20 years back. Trends repeat themselves. So I did the math, and then Chris and I talked about what colours we wanted use to use. What was going to show up. And we came up with a palette for the future military and I did various designs for that and he liked one.

And what kind of fabrics did you use for the military wear? 

BH: We tested by printing on fabric. I found this great Japanese cotton ripstop that had some stretch in it but it looked like just like regular ripstop which is an army fabric. We printed the design on the fabric and made a sample pair of pants (trousers) and you know, kicked the shit out of it. 

And what was Chris Pratt like to work with? 

BH: Chris Pratt was so amenable in trying to work this out in terms of the durability, wear ability. Everything we needed I tried it all on Chris and that's very rare that you have that participation so early on your star. And he's so delightful.

Did Chris have his own ideas for how his character should look? 

BH: He was very collaborative with me for example I started with the knee pads on the outside of the pants and he said I' don't know if that looks great for me'. I said 'you're right it should be sleeker'. And then I found out that Patagonia was supplying the army with this new knee pad that fit inside the pants. And I thought, oh that's really cool. So you know, he gave me that inspiration. People know what they like and what looks good on them. He and I were on the same track.

I know you're big into your research aren't you Betsy? 

BH: I research research research. I think of the characters like they are a real person. He's (Chris Pratt's character Dan Forester) teaching school. He's an excellent teacher. His heart is not in it. He had higher hopes for himself - he's a little on the sad side. So I wanted him to be a bit frumpy; cardigan sweaters, and then he's back to army guy. He did tours of service. He has a lot of knowledge in a lot of areas, all of a sudden he's the leader again. So you go from here is the sad guy to the proud guy and that is reflected in his silhouette.

Did you call on any brands to make the clothes or were they custom made? 

BH: Everything was made to order because we needed so many. If you want some brand names, my colleague Kate O'Connor who I've been working with on and off since Vanilla Sky, she's a knitwear designer. And so I called her for help. I said I want to do it with army patches across the shoulder and across the back and then I want to knit the camouflage. She then talked the fellows who do the knitwear for The Row. They work in downtown Los Angeles, to knit my sweater. We did a run of those sweaters, it came out perfectly. I throw myself on the mercy of people that know more than I do. I have a thing about knitwear.

And what was it like working with J.K Simmons? I'm guessing those vests were a must in order to show off his physique? 

BH: I have to say I have the greatest crew. J.K in particular. I appreciate his talent and the hard work he puts into doing a job. They're all straight shooters on this movie, we can have frank conversations and tell it like it is, and get on with it.

But that coat J.K wears, he looks the nails in that.

BH: The coat. I'm big on sweaters and coats. That particular coat was a Levi's brand, leather jacket. We had a few. He (J.K) has to have one. And then we didn't know if we were going to see him flying the plane so the pilot has to have one. And so we needed a few.

Catch the full interview on the From Tailors With Love podcast, available on iTunes and Spotify. Hawkins & Shepherd is also a proud sponsor of the podcast and you can get an exclusive 30% discount at check out on any shirt when you click here.