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CNN Live Today
Interview With Kerry Diamond
Aired October 01, 2003 - 10:53 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: If there's one thing we learn each day here at CNN, good makeup can make a big difference. And none was better at this art than Kevyn Aucoin. His life is the subject of a new book by Kerry Diamond. And she is the beauty director of "Harper's Bazaar" magazine.
She joins us this morning to talk about Kevyn Aucoin's beautiful life. It was a life that was way too short but one that was very gifted and one that he shared with many people.
Thanks for being with us this morning.
KERRY DIAMOND, BEAUTY DIRECTOR, "HARPER'S BIZARRE": Thank you, Daryn. Hi.
KAGAN: Let's first talk about the gift that Kevyn Aucoin had. Truly one of the most gifted make up artists in the business.
DIAMOND: He absolutely was. The amazing thing about Kevyn is he knew at the age of 11 what he wanted to do for a living. And he was really a makeup prodigy.
KAGAN: Self-taught in a small little, Louisiana town, knew, as he said, what he wanted to do. And basically just starved and built his way up to the top in New York City.
DIAMOND: He absolutely did. His story, it's a real American story of living your dream. He had a very tough time as a child. He was openly gay from a very young age and as you can imagine that wasn't very easy growing up in the south. And he came to New York, like you said, penniless and just persevered until at the age of 21 he lived his dream. He started working for "Vogue" magazine and from there it was just onward and upward.
KAGAN: And he did work on the most famous faces in the world. The things that really have caught people's attention, the transformations that he was able to do. Let's go ahead and look at some of those, a before and after one of the top supermodels, Amber Valetta.
DIAMOND: Amber -- Kevyn and Amber had a really amazing relationship. He loved to do before and afters on Amber. One of the most famous ones was when he transformed her into Clark Gable. He loved doing that to her.
KAGAN: But I think that's Jean Harlow right there.
DIAMOND: Oh, Jean Harlow. I don't have my -- they need to turn my monitor on.
(CROSSTALK)
KAGAN: So I'll help you here.
DIAMOND: So Jean Harlow, yes. Jean Harlow, that was an incredible transformation. She and Kevyn had talked about that. And it was she loved Jean and Kevyn saw Jean in her face.
KAGAN: Gwyneth Paltrow, turned her into Marilyn Monroe.
DIAMOND: Yes.
KAGAN: Now how was he able to do this and make -- I mean this are beautiful women to start with. I mean there is that. But how was he able to make them look like completely different people?
DIAMOND: It was a -- he just had this gift for it. It was incredible. I mean he saw these celebrities in these other celebrity's faces. He could take makeup and a wig and lighting and just transform them into someone from the '40s, someone from the space-age. And these women even had a hard time believing it themselves.
KAGAN: One of his great loves in terms of faces to work on was Audrey Hepburn. Again, one of the most beautiful women in the world.
DIAMOND: He adored Audrey Hepburn. In fact, the first time he worked on her it was for that first image that you saw. It was a Revlon ad. And he was so nervous when he worked on her, he was afraid that he might pass out before he finished the shoot.
KAGAN: So he appreciated the gifts and the journey life gave him. This was a life, as I mentioned, that ended too soon. Many people didn't even know he was sick.
DIAMOND: No. Kevyn kept fairly quiet about his illness. It was a huge loss. He died at the age of 40. And here's a man who accomplished so much in 40 years that you can't imagine what he could have done with another 40 years on this planet.
KAGAN: Well he left behind many friends and beautiful images and people can check it out in the book. Thanks for sharing with us. Appreciate it.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired October 1, 2003 - 10:53 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: If there's one thing we learn each day here at CNN, good makeup can make a big difference. And none was better at this art than Kevyn Aucoin. His life is the subject of a new book by Kerry Diamond. And she is the beauty director of "Harper's Bazaar" magazine.
She joins us this morning to talk about Kevyn Aucoin's beautiful life. It was a life that was way too short but one that was very gifted and one that he shared with many people.
Thanks for being with us this morning.
KERRY DIAMOND, BEAUTY DIRECTOR, "HARPER'S BIZARRE": Thank you, Daryn. Hi.
KAGAN: Let's first talk about the gift that Kevyn Aucoin had. Truly one of the most gifted make up artists in the business.
DIAMOND: He absolutely was. The amazing thing about Kevyn is he knew at the age of 11 what he wanted to do for a living. And he was really a makeup prodigy.
KAGAN: Self-taught in a small little, Louisiana town, knew, as he said, what he wanted to do. And basically just starved and built his way up to the top in New York City.
DIAMOND: He absolutely did. His story, it's a real American story of living your dream. He had a very tough time as a child. He was openly gay from a very young age and as you can imagine that wasn't very easy growing up in the south. And he came to New York, like you said, penniless and just persevered until at the age of 21 he lived his dream. He started working for "Vogue" magazine and from there it was just onward and upward.
KAGAN: And he did work on the most famous faces in the world. The things that really have caught people's attention, the transformations that he was able to do. Let's go ahead and look at some of those, a before and after one of the top supermodels, Amber Valetta.
DIAMOND: Amber -- Kevyn and Amber had a really amazing relationship. He loved to do before and afters on Amber. One of the most famous ones was when he transformed her into Clark Gable. He loved doing that to her.
KAGAN: But I think that's Jean Harlow right there.
DIAMOND: Oh, Jean Harlow. I don't have my -- they need to turn my monitor on.
(CROSSTALK)
KAGAN: So I'll help you here.
DIAMOND: So Jean Harlow, yes. Jean Harlow, that was an incredible transformation. She and Kevyn had talked about that. And it was she loved Jean and Kevyn saw Jean in her face.
KAGAN: Gwyneth Paltrow, turned her into Marilyn Monroe.
DIAMOND: Yes.
KAGAN: Now how was he able to do this and make -- I mean this are beautiful women to start with. I mean there is that. But how was he able to make them look like completely different people?
DIAMOND: It was a -- he just had this gift for it. It was incredible. I mean he saw these celebrities in these other celebrity's faces. He could take makeup and a wig and lighting and just transform them into someone from the '40s, someone from the space-age. And these women even had a hard time believing it themselves.
KAGAN: One of his great loves in terms of faces to work on was Audrey Hepburn. Again, one of the most beautiful women in the world.
DIAMOND: He adored Audrey Hepburn. In fact, the first time he worked on her it was for that first image that you saw. It was a Revlon ad. And he was so nervous when he worked on her, he was afraid that he might pass out before he finished the shoot.
KAGAN: So he appreciated the gifts and the journey life gave him. This was a life, as I mentioned, that ended too soon. Many people didn't even know he was sick.
DIAMOND: No. Kevyn kept fairly quiet about his illness. It was a huge loss. He died at the age of 40. And here's a man who accomplished so much in 40 years that you can't imagine what he could have done with another 40 years on this planet.
KAGAN: Well he left behind many friends and beautiful images and people can check it out in the book. Thanks for sharing with us. Appreciate it.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
