The Artist Who Transforms Robert Morse Into ‘Tru’

When the news first filtered back from Boston last year that Robert Morse was doing a one-man show on Truman Capote--and really looking like his subject--a lot of people were skeptical. Now, with the Tony Award-winning “Tru” at the Henry Fonda Theatre in Hollywood, local audiences are getting a chance to see the results of Kevin Haney’s makeup magic.

“It started about two years ago when I got a call from the writer-director, Jay Presson Allen,” Haney, 35, said. “She said, ‘I don’t care what it costs; I need Bobby to look like Tru.’ ” The next step was for the makeup artist to study photographs of Capote and Morse. “Obviously, they don’t look like each other,” he said. “But when I saw their pictures, I thought, ‘This is workable.’ ”

That pudgy, moon-faced elf Capote? That medium-build, goggle-eyed, gap-toothed Morse?

“I look at things differently than the standard person might,” Haney said matter-of-factly. “A makeup artist looks at proportion: the distance between the nose and the jaw, how close together the eyes are, how big the nose is, how wide the mouth is, the head size. It’s usually better if things are smaller because you can always add to them. But you can’t change the basic proportions--where the eyes are, where the jaw is.”

In this case, the proportions were close enough. “Bobby’s nose is slightly larger than Capote’s, but not critically,” he said. “His eyes were right, and he had that boyish look that Capote had. I decided to make a double chin, a dental piece to fill his teeth and do a bald cap--because Bobby has this huge, thick gob of hair.” (Over the bald cap, Morse sports a wispy wig and Capote’s trademark Panama hat.)

Haney’s physical work began at John Caglione and Doug Drexler’s lab, creating a life mask of Morse.

First, a material called alginate was poured over the head and neck (the eyes closed, the nostrils left open). Plaster bandages were then wrapped over that. After 20 minutes of hardening and a slice up the back of the head, “it peels off like a banana. Then you put everything back together, pour plaster inside, let it harden, rip that apart and you’ve got a perfect duplication of the actor’s face--with pores, lines, even muscle structure.”

That procedure represents only the first step in a remarkably complicated and drawn-out process. The end result is a foam latex Capote mask manufactured in New York by the hundreds and shipped out here, a new one for every performance. The preparation for each mask (Haney estimates their cost at $200 apiece) includes four hours baking time; to apply it takes 45 minutes, down from the original 1 1/2-plus hours.

Morse, who likens the jowly mask to makeup (“I’m not even aware that it’s there”), stressed that his performance doesn’t rely on his Capote-like appearance.

“It helps,” he said firmly. “It’s a crutch; it’s usable. But it does not get me through the show. It’s not like I put on a mask and I’m Truman Capote. I could do it without the mask. But it’s helpful from the audience’s point of view.” Although the actor is a huge fan of Haney’s work (“To call what he does makeup cheapens it; he’s a sculptor and painter.”), he regards it as one contributing factor--with hair, props, costume, lighting--that’s part of the whole effect.

With Haney’s job done now (Elizabeth Spetnagel is doing Morse’s makeup at the Fonda), the makeup artist is ensconced on the set of the upcoming movie “The Addams Family,” where his duties involve turning Christopher Lloyd into Uncle Fester and aging Judith Malina’s Grandma “from 60 to some indeterminate age.”

“My goal is to be a good all-around makeup artist, whether I’m doing appliances or day-to-day makeup,” he said. “Also, the more you do this, the more you learn about dealing with actors, how faces are photographed. It is intimate. If you’re going to be in someone’s face for two to four hours, you’re either going to have a good relationship or a bad one. I’m there to support them, make them comfortable. I try to make the process as quick and painless as possible.”

The native of Cincinnati, Haney traces his interest in makeup to an early love of monster movies--notably “Frankenstein,” “The Wolfman” and “The Mummy.”

“Then when I was 15, a friend coerced me into auditioning for ‘Wizard of Oz’ at our school,” he recalled. “I was this 98-pound, four-foot guy, and I got the part of the Wizard--but I needed to age for it.” A do-it-yourself handbook by Dick Smith did the job, and Haney was hooked. “ ‘Planet of the Apes’ was a big hit then, so I’d go to the movies with my friends, dressed as apes, get in free and we’d hang around the concession stand.”

After three summers doing makeup at Chillicothe’s Tecumseh Festival and a theater degree from Ohio State University, Haney sent a letter and a dozen before-and-after pictures of his work to Smith, who was known to offer encouragement to young makeup artists. Smith was obviously impressed; Five months later, he brought Haney to New York to work with him as an assistant on the film “Altered States.”

In New York, where he lived until last year, Haney worked on commercials and spent five years as a staff makeup artist at “Saturday Night Live,” where he created a gallery of memorable characters for Joe Piscopo: Frank Sinatra, Ed McMahon, Leonard Nimoy and Lee Iacocca. In film, he received credits on “Wolfen,” “Everybody’s All-American,” “Cocoon,” “Dick Tracy” and last year’s “Driving Miss Daisy,” for which he won a makeup Oscar with Lynn Barber and Manlino Rocchetti.

No monster movies?

“I don’t like the blood and gore movies, although I admire the work of everyone who’s doing them,” Haney said. “The closest I came to doing that was the movie ‘The Believers’: hearts torn out, skinned little boys. I can do that; I don’t mind doing that--but I prefer doing character makeup. Sure, I’d like to do monsters. But there aren’t a lot of good monster scripts running around.”

“Tru” plays at 8 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays and 7 p.m. Sundays, with matinees at 2 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays, at the Henry Fonda Theatre, 6126 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood, through March 10. Tickets are $30 to $40. (213) 410-1062.