When Milena Canonero, the storied costume designer for “Marie Antoinette”, spoke about the pre-production process for the film to London Times Magazine in 2006, she offered a revealing piece of information: “We thought that maybe we could have gone more crazy, but there was just not time.”
The behind-the-scenes photographs here show Kirsten Dunst and Jason Schwartzman in costume, as well as scans from a 2006 issue of V Magazine showing a few other photographs from the film production.
What is interesting about these is that the costumes, hair and make-up on our Queen and company are very noticeably different from the look and tone of the completed film. Kirsten Dunst wears heavier rouge and powder, her coiffure is a bit more complicated in some of the shots and it is decorated with shocking pink feathers. Jason Schwartzman, as well, is wearing a bit of powder, rouge, and eye-liner — much different from his appearance in the film.
In the scans from V Magazine, the upper left hand and lower right hand corner snaps show Kirsten Dunst and Jason Schwartzman (possibly at this same shoot), in even heavier, more elaborate hair and make—up. Both are extremely powdered and rouged — Kirsten seemingly with hot pink on her cheeks and around her eyes. The costume she wears in the solo shot matches the hot pink of her make-up design, which, even for a film that features daring colors for the 18th century, is quite a shocking tone.
While it’s possible that these were taken in post-production for promotional photographs that were never used, it seems more plausible that these shots are actually from pre-production and are examples of the “more crazy” appearances that Milena Canonero spoke of. For one, many of the costumes that Kirsten Dunst wears are not from the film, and aren’t even necessarily appropriate to 1770s Versailles, meaning that perhaps they were just available costumes that the actress threw on so that the crew could do these hair and make-up tests. Jason Schwartzman is also slimmer than he is in the film, which he gained weight for, so the shots couldn’t be from the shooting period.
It’s fun to speculate about what “Marie Antoinette” would have looked like if Milena Canonero and Sofia Coppola had gone with a heavier, rouged appearance for the characters, which ultimately would have been more appropriate for the era but is a bit excessive for the tone of the finished film. The one shot of Kirsten Dunst and Jason Schwartzman together, she in hot pink and he in navy silk, both extremely powdered, is especially captivating since it juxtaposes so much with the scenes of them together in the film.
Also of note — in the V Magazine scans one can see Asia Argento (Madame du Barry) being fitted by Milena Canonero in a chemise à la reine ensemble, which also never appears on film.
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