As a Bumbling Art Thief in ‘The Mastermind,’ Josh O’Connor Looks 'Like a Prada Model'
Fashion
Fashion
Costume designer Amy Roth breaks down the pivotal not-so-counterculture looks in Kelly Reichardt’s 1970-set film.
In “The Mastermind,” art-school dropout and unemployed carpenter, JB Mooney (Josh O’Connor), quietly takes criticism from his buttoned-up father (Bill Camp) during family dinner. “You have too much time on your hands,” says the disapproving East Coast judge, twisting the knife by mentioning a friend’s more industrious son. JB passively smiles and nods, but rebels through his collegiate outfit: a gray wool sweater, over a plaid shirt, and black chinos. “JB’s uniform is that ‘I'm not going to become my father and I'm going to dress this way’,” costume designer Amy Roth tells The Set Set. “It’s very established Americana ‘boys club.’”
After the punishing dinner, an indignant JB meets with a bumbling crew of amateur criminals to plan a local museum heist of abstract paintings by American modernist Arthur Dove. Unsurprisingly, his ambitious plan goes wildly awry, and two ensuing wardrobe shifts reveal that JB’s not so different from his conventional father, after all.
For JB’s trademark aesthetic, costume designer Amy Roth looked to the style of pioneering abstract modernist Jasper Johns. Photo courtesy of Mubi.
JB’s downward journey is also set amidst domestic tension as anti-war protestors and the hippie counterculture movement clashed with the establishment. The pivotal 1970 setting also informed Roth’s vintage hunt, as most people would still be wearing their ‘60s holdovers. To steer clear of looking like a “Peter Sellers movie,” she avoided asking her sources for pieces circa-1970 — or even 1969, which conjures images of free-loving Woodstock and the spirit of social change. “I just said, ‘late 60s’ and ‘Massachusetts’ to make it sound a little more conservative,” says Roth.
Partially set in Framingham, Massachusetts, the indie film was shot entirely in Hamilton and Cincinnati, Ohio, where Roth — accustomed to go-to rental houses and dealers in New York City and Los Angeles — also discovered a treasure trove of vintage shopping. “When we got to Ohio, I remember being a little grumbly because I thought, ‘What am I gonna do here?’” says Roth, who happily found “this whole wonderful community of vintage vendors and boutiques. I had a great time, and I'm doing a period film now, and [dealers] I met in Cincinnati are helping me find some pieces.”
JB’s Quietly Subversive ‘Uniform’
The movie opens with JB casing the Framingham Museum of Art in his unassuming uniform: an off-white zip-up bomber jacket, a brick-hued sweater over a red-and-blue plaid shirt, and green cotton twill pants. For JB’s trademark aesthetic, Roth looked to the style of pioneering abstract modernist Jasper Johns, when he was around the same age, and someone closer to home. “I was looking through some photos in my phone, and Kelly [Reichardt] asked, ‘Who's that?’” says Roth, realizing it was a picture of her dad. “She said, ‘Well, that's Mooney right there!’ It was 1970 and my father's in a sweatshirt and khaki pants, and [holding a] pipe, and he looks just like Joshua in the film.”
Listless and lost in purpose, JB wears his uniform — accessorized with dirt-stained white canvas sneakers — for a deeper reason. “It’s a button-down shirt from Brooks Brothers,” says Roth, imagining the labels in his wardrobe. “He's still wearing what he wore in college. He never grew up.” He also can’t afford new clothes. To fund the heist, JB cajoles his museum donor mother (Hope Davis) over tea in the café. He’s upped his game slightly, with a patterned alpine sweater. “His mother buys these sweaters for him,” says Roth. “He's not going out and buying that stuff.” JB announces a “life-changing opportunity,” and Sarah writes him a check — behind Bill’s back.
The Folk Singer Outfit
After a series of sloppy felonious fails, JB goes on the run — so rushed, he leaves his trusty jacket behind. He seeks refuge with his former art-school classmates, Fred (John Magaro) and Maude (Gaby Hoffman), pot-smoking progressives in the farmland. Fred, a substitute teacher, delights in JB’s rogue adventures while Maude grimaces. Taking a snowy walk with Fred, JB tries to keep warm in a snug brown corduroy jacket. “He has Maude's coat on,” says Roth. “I did that to irritate her, like, ‘You're in my house, you're eating my food, you're wearing my coat, and you're drinking my beer.’”
After Maude kicks him out, JB departs in a folk singer-esque outfit from bohemian Fred’s closet: a brown corduroy blazer, an orange batik kurta, flared jeans that are too short, and a flat cap. “He’s trying to hide because he's all over the newspapers. I really kept pushing for a little more of the ‘groovy San Francisco hippie’ look, but not go too far,” says Roth.
JB’s faux folksy outfit also foreshadows his character arc. “I feel kind of ridiculous, no offense,” he says to Fred, who buys his felon friend a bus ticket and offers sanctuary at his brother’s Canadian commune — which JB scoffs at. “For me, that was the first time I had a little insight into him,” says Roth. “He's not anti-establishment. He's against the hippie movement. He thinks they're ridiculous. You can see that he's on the way to becoming his father — the thing he thinks he isn't going to be — because he ends up in the suit.”
The Patriarchal Suit
JB makes his next — and final — stop in Cleveland, Ohio. Lying low in a low-rent boarding house, he conveniently discovers a discarded gray suit, striped button-up shirt, and dark tie in the closet. JB is also down to his last few cents from Fred and mom isn’t writing her fugitive son any more checks.
O’Connor tried on upwards of five suits before Roth landed on the archetypal establishment ensemble for JB’s final defeated moments. “It had the right coloring, the right wear, the right shape on him,” says Roth. “When it happens, you get the tinglies.” She explains that a montage of a desperate, suit-wearing JB was cut from the final edit. “He was just wandering the streets of Cleveland, in the rain, in that suit — looking for a lady's purse to snatch,” says Roth. “We had a lot of purses and different women walking.”
“The Crown” and “Challengers” actor also gamely filmed all his rain-drenched scenes — and another cut sequence of JB’s rude awakening on a park bench by an aggressive sprinkler. “Josh is a total trooper. He wasn't like, ‘Get me out of this wet suit, I want a fresh one,’” says Roth. “He just stayed in it and kept going. It was a great suit on him. He looks like a Prada model in a layout for Men's Vogue or something.”
