Some period pieces focus heavily on the harsh reality of old-world beauty standards. For example, in 2018's "Mary, Queen of Scots," audiences were made well-aware of the harsh realities of smallpox and its long-term effects. Queen Elizabeth I spent much of her later life covering her scars in intense toxic makeup that's rumored to have led to her death. But Roxanne's look wasn't about hiding; instead, Bertolazzi and Miller magnified her natural beauty and made it feel effortless and slightly undone.
"We were very much encouraged by Joe to create a fantasy of the period," Miller says. "One of the references he gave me was Jean-Antoine Watteau, the French painter." It's been said that Watteau's contribution to Rococo art helped reignite the artistic interest in color and movement, two elements that are a huge part of "Cyrano." Miller used his work as a point of emotive reference, like in the way Roxanne's hair would sweep up in the back: "That was something that you see in a lot of the drawings [Watteau] made; that was a starting point," Miller says.
