The Bikeriders Makeup Artist Shares Stories From Working on Marvel's Black Panther

We talked to Ashleigh Chavis about her experience working on Black Panther.

By Jamie Jirak

The Bikeriders was released in theaters over the weekend, and the new Jeff Nichols film is currently up on Rotten Tomatoes with an 82% critics score and a 74% audience score. The movie is based on a photography book by Danny Lyon and follows a motorcycle club in the 1960s. In honor of the film's release, ComicBook recently had the chance to chat with the film's Makeup Department Head, Ashleigh Chavis, who spoke about working with the cast and how some of the looks came together. During the chat, we brought up how Chavis was an uncredited makeup artist on Black Panther, and she shared some details about her experience working with Marvel. 

"Well, I worked with all of our amazing background extras for Black Panther on the Atlanta unit," Chavis shared. "So I was living in Atlanta at the time and it was so much fun. But we had to be at work at 2:30 every morning. And there were some days we had four or five, 600 background extras and it would be like myself and maybe 25 other makeup artists and 25 or 30 hairstylists."

"And it was just this really cool working wheel of these headdresses and wigs and hair pieces," she added. "And then we would do war paint and body makeup. We got to do a bunch of the different tribal makeup and markings and all of that. So that was really cool. You get to know the background extras that you're working with every day. You have your group that you're with, and that was a lot of fun. That's the only Marvel movie I've ever worked on, but it was such a good one. I'm so grateful to have been a part of that on any level."

Ashleigh Chavis Talks Michael Shannon:

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(Photo:

Michael Shannon as Zipco in The Bikeriders (2024). 

- Focus Features)

During Chavis' ComicBook interview, she also spoke about working with Michael Shannon on The Bikeriders and George & Tammy.

"I guess specifically for Michael, he has his needs, but he's also just so professional that he wants it to look good," Chavis told ComicBook when asked about working with Shannon on multiple projects. "So obviously, if there are things that are uncomfortable to an actor that you could avoid, that's great, but he just wanted it to look good. And he is patient in the chair. He gives you the time that you need in the mornings ... You can have that time that you need as an artist at the beginning of the day."

"But that show [George & Tammy], it was shot out of chronological order with the six different episodes. So he was old, he was young, he was old. We were just back and forth," she continued. "So just ensuring that his skin wasn't irritated with everything and the prosthetics and the bald cap and the adhesives. But he's good about it. I mean, he's such a professional and such a warm guide to work with."

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"There's nobody else better to have had [play Zipco in The Bikeriders]," she added. 

The Bikeriders is now playing in theaters. 

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