‘Pose’ Makeup Designer Sherri Berman Laurence On Balancing Ball Culture And The AIDS Crisis: “It Was A Very Emotional Challenge To Go Back And Forth”
As head makeup designer of the FX series Pose, it was vital to Sherri Berman Laurence that she represent the ballroom community in the exact right way. Taking place in New York City, Pose tells the story of ball culture in the gay and trans community and the raging AIDS crisis. During a ball, the most exciting characters to work on were the “showstoppers” like Elektra Abundance (Dominique Jackson). But even with the focus on the beauty of ball culture, Pose never shied away from reality. This season expands on the complex and varied appearance of the illness.