It’s time to pack up and head out west. In this exclusive interview, costume designer Anne Dixon delves into the intricate details behind The Dead Don’t Hurt costumes. Discover how Dixon and her team brought authenticity to life with meticulous research, innovative designs, and a deep collaboration with Viggo Mortensen. From knights to cowboys, every character’s costume was thoughtfully crafted to reflect their unique journeys. Learn about the challenges and triumphs of creating a visually stunning film that spans diverse worlds and eras, making each costume a vital part of the storytelling.
Spencer Williams: I am so excited to welcome costume designer Anne Dixon!
Anne Dixon: Hey, Spencer. It is so exciting to chat and see you. This is great.
Spencer Williams: I’m thrilled to discuss this film, The Dead Don’t Hurt. It’s in theaters now, and it is fantastic. I’ve got to be honest; I don’t know if this is possible, but I don’t think I’ve ever interviewed a costume designer about a Western film, which seems mad, but here we are.
Anne Dixon: Wow, right, because Westerns are a genre making a comeback. It’s such an epic type of film.
Spencer Williams: Yeah, it was fun to jump back into, and it kind of reinvigorated my love for this genre. So, talking about the film it takes place in and around the 1860s. I’m very curious to know more about your research process and what you learned about this period that was essential to your work on The Dead Don’t Hurt.
Anne Dixon: One of the things that Viggo wanted was honesty and realism. Even though it’s a period piece, we didn’t want it to be period-heavy costume-wise. The story goes back and forth. It starts in the 1830s in upstate New York with a French Canadian family. I did a lot of research for that—the coureurs de bois, which is an iconic French imagery. They historically explored parts of Québec and Canada were explored. One of the iconic items is the ceinture fléchée, a woven belt started by the First Nations and adopted by French Canadians. Her father has one of those, so I researched exactly which pattern and type of belt for that region and got a traditional weaver from Québec to hand-weave them for us in the pattern of L’Assomption.
Research-wise, we covered the 1830s, including British troops, coureurs de bois, and pioneers. Then we jump to the 1860s in San Francisco, covering the Civil War, big ball gowns, the waterfront with stevedores, flower girls, merchants, seamen, Chinatown, and high society with art salons and restaurants. Then we move to Nevada’s Elk Flat with saloons, miners, cowboys, Mexicans, and the frontier. There was an incredible amount of variety worlds in the research.
One thing I love about costumes is diving into these worlds and learning. I used my extensive book library, the internet, and some painters because photography wasn’t quite out in the 1860s. I create extensive lookbook bibles, which serve as visual templates. It’s a good reference point for ensuring everyone is on the same page.
Spencer Williams: It sounds like quite the homework project. You had a lot of different elements going into this world. Even though it’s a time that’s not too far gone, it must’ve been very collaborative. I was very excited to hear about Viggo Mortensen being this film’s director, writer, and composer. With him being involved in many aspects of this film, I imagine you had quite a collaborative relationship regarding the costumes.
Anne Dixon: I worked with Viggo before on his first film, Falling. What is amazing about Viggo is that he’s truly a renaissance man. He speaks six languages fluently and writes poetry in several of them. He does photography, composes music, and plays music. Having been a prolific actor, he truly understands the art form of filmmaking. His vocabulary and understanding of the arts are extensive and part of his lexicon. Discussing characters or costumes with him is great because he has deep respect and trust. He gets as excited as I am about finding the perfect little metal button. He loves details, and there’s a flow to working with him.
What’s great about Viggo is the collaboration. Carol Spier, the production designer on both films, has done almost all of David Cronenberg’s films. Having been in many of David’s films, Viggo first met Carol there. Carol was asked to do Falling, and I’ve worked with Carol on several projects. So, when I did Falling, Carol and I had a real synergy. We don’t need to discuss many things; it’s almost osmosis. The same goes for working with Viggo. The three of us have a fluid collaboration where ideas flow seamlessly. It’s like a dream, the ideal collaboration with a director, and Viggo fits that perfectly. He’s phenomenal.
Spencer Williams: It shows in the film. You can feel the cohesion between him and his work, as well as the costumes and production. There was a real cohesion between all the departments involved. What I loved most about this film was the realism and authenticity. A big part of that was the costumes. They added to the storytelling without overshadowing it. How important was the element of realism regarding the costumes to you?
Anne Dixon: Doing a great period piece is always fun, but we wanted to ensure this wasn’t just a costume-heavy film. We wanted to focus on the story of these two immigrants and their love story in this harsh Western world. Some choices I made after extensive research helped me achieve this. For instance, when we got to San Francisco and the hoop skirts, I made them a little smaller than usual for the time period. This was so they wouldn’t look awkward getting in and out of carriages and doorways, allowing a more natural flow.
When she gets on a horse to adventure with our protagonist, Holger, and travels through the mountains to Nevada, we must drop the hoop skirt. Her wearing one on a horse wouldn’t have made sense. We thought about what she would pack and tried to be as real and logical as possible. In the desert, she doesn’t have a maid to help her dress, so we still put her in a corset with only a full petticoat. Instead of full dresses, she had two-piece outfits to mix and match, as she wouldn’t have a large wardrobe.
We also made sure the costumes flowed with the environment. In the 1830s, it was Fall with lots of red leaves in upstate New York, so we used richer, warmer colors. In San Francisco, it’s cooler because of the ocean, so we used more blues and emerald colors. In Nevada, we washed out the colors to match the sun-drenched environment.
Spencer Williams: In that same vein, my next question was about the breakdown, one of my favorite subjects in costume design. You can tell a lot about the environment by how the costumes look—whether they’ve been working outside, sweating, or wearing the same jacket for a while. What did the breakdown process look like in this film? It felt integral to the story.
Anne Dixon: I had an incredible textile artist, Silvana Sacco, who worked a lot on Viggo’s and a big part of Vivienne’s costumes. I wanted it to feel like they had traveled back and forth with many stories behind each piece. We used natural fabrics and specific color choices to achieve this patina.
When we shot the film, some parts were filmed in Ontario and British Columbia, which provided a natural palette. The main part of the film was shot in Durango, Mexico, at the bottom of the Sierra Madre. The environment helped a lot with the natural breakdown. Just walking to set, the skirts and boots would get naturally dusty, adding to the authenticity. The natural elements did a lot of the work for us, which was brilliant.
Spencer Williams: I never even thought about that. Just walk, and the environment does the work for you. That’s so fascinating.
Let’s explore some characters. Let’s start with Viggo’s character, Holger Olsen. We see his evolution from the first meeting with Vivienne. They build this relationship, and he goes away to war. They reunite, and then we enter the final stage of the film. How did you and your crew tell this man’s story through his costumes?
Anne Dixon: One of the key things is that he has a beard when he comes back from war, so you can see a real-time lapse there. Costume-wise, he doesn’t change a lot. He has a consistent wardrobe that we mix up a bit differently. In San Francisco, he’s trying to fit into high society, so he has a frock coat made out of canvas to merge those worlds.
In Nevada at Elk Flats, since he’s a carpenter, we needed to give him some character and make him feel real. It wouldn’t make sense for him to be in a frock coat while hammering away. So, we gave him a period version of a Carhartt jacket. We designed it appropriately for the time and made it out of real canvas. This piece worked great because he could layer it, wearing it instead of a vest under his jacket. It also added realism, like when Vivienne borrows his jacket, rolls up the sleeves, and uses it herself—things people do in real life.
We also had to find a piece for him for the sequences in the woods and mountains where he wouldn’t stand out too much but still be visible. I found this incredible wool from Peris Costumes in Spain, making him a short frock coat or sack coat. It added ruggedness while maintaining some distinction, flowing nicely with his character.
Spencer Williams: Now, let’s talk about Vivienne. I feel like she’s the heart of this story. It’s impossible not to fall in love with her. She’s beautiful but also delicate, much like the flowers she tends. Even alone in this tough place surrounded by awful people, she never loses her sense of self. What was your approach to her costumes?
Anne Dixon: Vivienne is the heart and beat of the film. We consciously decided that when she was very young, she was in terracotta reds at first. Red is her thread throughout the film. In San Francisco, her red becomes more salmon pink, and in Elk Flats, it’s softer and more washed out. We incorporated these colors to juxtapose the harsh environment, emphasizing her softness.
There are subtle cues, like her father’s sash, which has a lot of reds and follows through the film with her. The salmon color ties into the fish, also featured in the film. This color progression helps illustrate her journey. When she transitions to the western part, we juxtapose her softer colors with the rugged environment, like borrowing Viggo’s hat and wearing a Stetson instead of a bonnet.
Working with Vicky Krieps was a joy. During our first fitting, she arrived in a room plastered with boards of all the costume ideas. She could visualize where she was stepping into, and we collaborated greatly. She would suggest different ways to wear pieces, and we tried them out. It was a true collaboration, and it shows—it feels very natural.
I also made her a belt with a small pouch lined with red Chinese silk to keep a connection to San Francisco. We put trinkets and good luck charms inside for balance. But it got so hot in Durango that her belt buckle would melt and crack in half multiple times.
Spencer Williams: Oh my gosh!
Anne Dixon: I know! We had doubles, but suddenly, we needed more buckles. Everyone was out in Mexico City trying to find replacements. We eventually found more, but it was precious because the heat was so intense that the buckles would just snap.
Spencer Williams: I don’t handle heat well, so that’s good for you. Wow. It helps with the character’s immersion, especially with those little elements and trinkets that help Vicky feel like she is becoming Vivienne in these scenes. That speaks to the incredible beauty of costume design.
I want to talk about the background characters in this film. We go to many locations, and the background characters are seamlessly integrated. You and your team put the same level of detail into the background as you did with Viggo’s character and Vivienne. Do you feel that way as well?
Anne Dixon: Absolutely. To me, background is as important as the leads. It’s like a painting—if you don’t have a background, it’s just stick figures. I make sure to put my eye on each one of them. I had a great team, including Anna Dal Farra, my assistant, who has been on many adventures with me. We have a great shorthand.
For instance, the stevedores at the port in San Francisco—there were no costume rental houses in Mexico City with period costumes, so we were very lucky. We went to Peris Costumes in Madrid, and Anna and I pulled costumes for a week, even before knowing exactly what extras we would have. We had an idea of the backgrounds and how to give the characters depth so they weren’t just flat.
Most Westerns you see are set in the 1880s, not the 1860s. We built many dresses for this period. We had teams in Mexico City, Madrid, Ontario, British Columbia, and Durango, all building costumes. I was coordinating across time zones, and it was a bit crazy.
Spencer Williams: A costume designer is only as good as their team. It takes an army.
Anne Dixon: Absolutely. It takes a village to do anything; this project took cities and more. I was very lucky to have a great team. Everyone pulled through, and we had some good laughs and some good cries, but mostly laughs.
Spencer Williams: That’s part of the process. There’s one more costume I want to ask you about. A younger Vivienne has a vision of a knight in the woods. When I saw this, I knew I had to ask about it. How did this happen?
Anne Dixon: Well, that was totally Viggo. He had written that, and I thought, “Really?” But, you know, you do your research.
Spencer Williams: Like… I don’t have a knight!
Anne Dixon: One of the fun things about this project was the research. There are so many different worlds in this one film. It’s not just Western saloons and cowboys; it goes everywhere. And then there’s a knight.
Thankfully, we weren’t specific to any historical battle. We just wanted this vision. I was in Peris Costumes in Madrid, looking for the right pieces. Because it’s not just the knight—Vivienne wears the helmet at some point, too, so you need to see her eyes. I photographed myself in different helmets and emailed them to Viggo. We narrowed it down to two, brought those, and then worked on the armor. The armor was too bulky initially, and since the knight had to be on a horse, dismount, and kneel, it had to flow nicely.
Spencer Williams: Getting airlifted off the horse!
Anne Dixon: Exactly! Thankfully, Viggo is a great horseman. We disassembled and reassembled pieces to come up with a suitable look. And if you’re a fan of The Lord of the Rings, you might have recognized the sword, Andúril. It’s a prop, not a costume, but Viggo asked Peter Jackson to borrow it for the film.
Spencer Williams: I basically spit out my drink when I saw that. First, there’s a knight, and then I realized what sword it was. That was really cool.
The Dead Don’t Hurt is such a great film, and I hope everyone goes to see it. You can tell that you and your team put everything into it—the research, the details, helping tell the story. What did this film mean to you?
Anne Dixon: Even though it’s such a vast, epic film, done in various countries, it’s an independent film with a smaller budget. But this is what we make films for—a true collaboration. That is the beauty of filmmaking. You felt it through everything, and it comes from Viggo. Working on a production like this with someone with great respect and love for the art form who shares it and involves you in it is a dream. It was phenomenal. I would do it again anytime, anywhere with Viggo.
Spencer Williams: Costume designer Anne Dixon, it has been a pleasure and joy talking with you. It’s a great film and congratulations.
Anne Dixon: Oh, the pleasure was all mine, Spencer. Thank you so much. Let’s chat again soon.
