- Welcome back to another segment
of "Behind the Scenes of the Waltons."
Today I'm going to take more of your questions
in a segment of "Ask Judy."
I'm always fascinated by the questions that all of you ask.
So thanks for putting those in the comments below,
which is where I pull these questions from.
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I have a question here from Tracy
who wanted to know, "I wonder why the people in the show
didn't do their own hair and makeup."
Mostly because (laughs) I certainly know
I'm not qualified to do my hair and makeup for film.
There's very specifics to the lighting
and what needs to happen
for the makeup to show up.
Originally, because we were working in 35 millimeter film,
and the type of film stock that we used
had ways in which the light
brought out different colors and stuff like that.
So sometimes things would have to happen with the makeup
in order to compensate for how strong the lights were
and things like that.
So just not my expertise, especially.
Can you imagine Kami at the age of seven
having to do her own makeup?
Now granted, when we were all very young,
we really didn't particularly wear makeup.
They put this stuff called pancake on us,
which was really obnoxious.
It was in a container, and they'd get a wet sponge
and they'd get it on the wet sponge,
and then they'd put it on you.
And then it would dry, and it just felt chalky
and kind of disgusting.
So I hated having to wear pancake makeup.
Then when we got a little older,
and particularly those of us, me included,
who went through skin issues,
because wearing all that makeup was very tough on the skin,
and teenage years can be bad about breaking out anyway, so.
Then they were working really hard to cover all of our acne.
So at that point, they put a really heavier,
like grease-based kind of makeup on
that gave a really thicker layer of coverage.
So all of that was
the area of expertise of our makeup artists.
Same thing with hair.
Again, for us, when we were young,
they might do nothing more than brush your hair out
and leave it alone,
or put it in pigtails or something like that.
But there were more complicated things.
Michael Learned wore hair pieces,
because her hair was not as long as Olivia's.
Sometimes you saw Olivia's hair down in a braid.
She had French twists, she had buns.
Then you have, you know, the Baldwin sisters or Cora Beth
or various different people
that had more complicated hairstyles.
So all of that, we needed someone who understood that.
Now granted, we've also talked about how in later years
we weren't always period-correct.
But had we been, then our makeup and hair people,
the hair people in particular,
knew what the era was meant to be.
So if it had been something where we were specifically
had to stay correct to the period,
then that would've been their area of expertise.
Nowadays, makeup has become much lighter,
because the type of film and the type of lighting
and all of that has changed.
So everything has gone to a very sheer sort of natural look,
because they're trying to make it look like
people aren't wearing makeup,
unless it's a character,
you know highly dramatic sort of makeup.
Plus, then you've got all the things
about creating special effects or scars or blood.
So there's a lot of aspects to hair and makeup
that people train for years on how to do.
So thank you for your question.
This is from TwoStep2001.
Your question is, "If I had a choice
what other type of TV show would you like to do?
Western, sitcoms, police dramas, or maybe medical dramas?"
I would've loved to have done westerns.
Being a horse person, the idea of showing up
and getting to ride horses all day was always fun.
I would've liked to have done action stuff.
Not because they're always the best storytelling,
but they're fun.
As an actor, it would've been fun to do.
If you're talking about what would I feel
was the best material, that could come in any genre.
So I like drama, I like family drama.
I like stories where the characters are really developed,
and there's a lot for the actors to create
within the character.
I think I probably would've enjoyed maybe doing a show
like "The Good Wife" or something.
You know, as a lawyer I did a lot of roles as lawyers.
So those kinds of professional characters.
The head of an agency, the CEO,
those types of things I think are fun for me as well.
Holly has a number of questions.
"So do you prefer to act in drama or comedy?"
I would say definitely drama.
I'm more comfortable in drama.
I like comedy, so I like when drama has humor in it.
And if it's going to be something comedic,
then I like when it's based in real characters.
That's something that I can really relate to,
as opposed to broader types of characters.
Just my preference.
How about what I like to watch? Drama or comedy?
Again, I watch more drama, but I watch a lot of whodunits.
I enjoy a lot of the British mystery sorts of things,
some action stuff.
As with acting where I enjoy good storytelling,
I enjoy good storytelling when I'm watching shows.
I can enjoy something fun and light.
I like a lot of the superhero stuff.
I just find that it's just for fun.
So I have broad spectrum of things that I enjoy watching.
Next question.
"Are there other musicians among the Walton cast family?"
No, I don't know that anybody else in the cast
actually plays an instrument.
I play, mm, this much guitar.
I used to play a little bit more,
but I just don't practice enough.
It's like anything, you don't practice,
your skills kind of don't stay sharp,
and they certainly don't grow. (laughs)
Ellen Corby did play piano.
You saw her sometimes play, sit and play at the piano,
even after her stroke, which was amazing to me.
And I think there might have been other supporting cast
or guest stars that played.
But obviously there were a few people who sang.
We did hear Michael Learned sing at times.
She has a really lovely voice.
♪ Twas grace that taught my heart to fear ♪
All of the cast pretty much sang
on that Walton Christmas CD that we did.
So yeah, some talent in there of course.
Eric Scott did that song and dance act with Joe Conley,
who played Ike Godsey.
So definitely some other little talents in there.
Mary McDonough studied ballet when she was young,
so she had a lot of dance background.
Some multi-talented people in our cast.
And then Richard Thomas.
We heard him play the dulcimer and sing a little bit,
but they didn't highlight that
with any characters except Jason, of course.
And then Michael Learned, Olivia, in "The Bicycle,"
when she sang with, I think it was "The Bicycle"
when she sang with the church choir.
That's what I have for you for this segment of "Ask Judy."
I will be back with more "Behind the Scenes of The Waltons,"
more "Ask Judy," and a couple of more special guests.
Thanks for watching.