Jenny Beavan, costume designer

Desert Island Discs

BBC

Society & Culture, Music Commentary, Music, Personal Journals

4.4 • 13.7K Ratings

🗓️ 19 March 2023

⏱️ 39 minutes

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Summary

Jenny Beavan has won three Oscars for her costumes for the films Room with a View, Mad Max: Fury Road and Cruella, and has received nine further Academy Award nominations. She was born in London, and her parents were both professional musicians who encouraged her to paint, draw and learn a musical instrument. After studying theatre design, she was invited at the age of just 21 to create the sets for a production of Carmen at the Royal Opera House, conducted by Sir Georg Solti. She also worked on the costumes, which eventually led to her current career. Her credits now include more than 60 films and television series, including a long collaboration with the Merchant Ivory team, on titles such as Howards End and Remains of the Day, as well as Room with a View. Her costumes range from precise period recreations, in films such as The King’s Speech, to the post-apocalyptic world of Mad Max and the extravagant 1970s-inspired gowns for Emma Stone and Emma Thompson in Cruella. Along with her Oscars, Jenny has also won four Baftas and two Primetime Emmy awards. She was appointed a OBE in 2017. DISC ONE: Endure from Bach’s St Matthew Passion. Performed by Hans Peter Blochwitz and the Chapelle Royale Orchestra, conducted by Philippe Herreweghe DISC TWO: The Stately Homes of England - Noël Coward DISC THREE: Bizet: Carmen / Act 2 - "La fleur que tu m'avais jetée" (The flower you threw at me) Performed by Plácido Domingo and London Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Sir Georg Solti DISC FOUR: O Mio Babbino Caro. Composed by Giacomo Puccini and performed by Kiri Te Kanawa and The London Philharmonic Orchestra DISC FIVE: Scream - Caitlin Albery Beavan and Jim Bell DISC SIX: Parking Fines - Joe Lycett from his That’s the Way, A-Ha, A-Ha tour DISC SEVEN: I Will Survive - Gloria Gaynor DISC EIGHT: Radamisto, HWV 12, Act 2: "Ombra cara di mia sposa" (Radamisto) (Beloved shadow of my bride) Composed by George Frideric Handel, performed by Emöke Baráth and Ensemble Artaserse, conducted by Philippe Jaroussky BOOK CHOICE: The Complete Novels of Jane Austen LUXURY ITEM: A cello CASTAWAY'S FAVOURITE: Endure from Bach’s St Matthew Passion. Performed by Hans Peter Blochwitz and the Chapelle Royale Orchestra, conducted by Philippe Herreweghe Presenter Lauren Laverne Producer Sarah Taylor

Transcript

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0:00.0	BBC Sounds Music Radio Podcasts
0:04.9	Hello, I'm Lauren LeVern and this is the Deser Island Disks Podcast.
0:08.6	Every week I ask my guests to choose the eight tracks, book and luxury they'd want to take with them
0:13.9	if they were cast away to a desert island.
0:16.4	And for right reasons, the music is shorter than the original broadcast.
0:21.2	I hope you enjoy listening.
0:30.0	Music Radio Music
0:44.2	My cast away this week is Jenny Bevan.
0:46.8	She's a triple Oscar-winning costume designer and has spent 40 years building characters
0:52.0	and weaving narratives for the big screen through clothes.
0:55.7	Her eye for detail and knack for authenticity are the stuff of legend in the film industry
1:00.9	and they serve her well whichever world she steps into.
1:04.1	The exquisite period costumes of the King's speech goes for park and sentence sensibility
1:09.2	feel absolutely true to their settings but then sold to the post-apocalyptic steampunk
1:14.2	of Mad Max Fury Road and the 70s fashion banquet of Disney's Cruella.
1:19.6	She grew up in a creative household and dreamed of becoming a set designer.
1:23.3	Until her lucky break set her on an altogether different path.
1:27.3	She describes her job as storytelling through clothes.
1:30.9	So what story do her own choices reveal?
1:33.7	Perhaps that she's someone who likes to push the boundaries and mix things up?
1:37.6	After all, she did make headlines around the world when she rocked up to collect her second Oscar
1:42.4	in an Emma Nessler jacket.
	...

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