Meet Clint Ramos, the Pinoy costume designer behind Jennifer Hudson's outfits in Aretha Franklin biopic 'Respect'

Los Angeles — The first time we met Clint Ramos, we were on the set of "Respect" in Atlanta. The affable, charming, and humble Filipino-American costume designer sat beside us while we watched the talented Jennifer Hudson film a scene in the much-awaited bio pic of Aretha Franklin, helmed by South African filmmaker Liesl Tommy.

Born in Cebu and an alum of the University of the Philippines and Philippine Science High School, the award-winning costume designer is down-to-earth. He became the first person of color to win the Tony Award for Best Costume Design of a Play in 2016 for "Eclipsed," where he worked with Lupita Nyong'o. He also received four additional Tony Award nods for his work on "Once on This Island" in 2018 where he worked with Lea Salonga, in "Torch Song" in 2019, in "The Rose Tattoo" in 2020 and in "Slave Play" (for Set Design) also for the same year.

As for his film credits, he worked in Isabel Sandoval's "Lingua Franca" where he did the costume design and the production design.

We were able to catch up with Clint recently via Zoom, where talked about working on "Respect," his reaction when Oprah and Jennifer talked about him on national television, and his first billboard featuring his gown on Jennifer on Sunset Boulevard, among others.

Below are excerpts of our conversation with Clint, who was in Boston at the time of the interview.

I saw Oprah interviewing Jennifer Hudson and mentioning your name. How was that feeling and watching that?

It was extraordinary. It was extremely overwhelming, like take a whole section to literally talk about my work and even go and mention my name. It was very encouraging. I also loved that they took the time to actually acknowledge that because most of the time, we're invisible, most of the time, nobody mentions our names. For some reason, I think people just think that things like that just happen. And it was also great because it gave me an opportunity to amplify that, and also, amplify that I didn't do this alone. Like this happened with the help of hundreds of people working on thousands and thousands of costumes.

Photo courtesy of MGM Studios, Inc.

Jennifer mentioned that you did 82 costumes for her and she was able to wear 50 costumes in the film.

We had 82 costumes ready because the script had required 82 looks, and then, the script got rewritten. So, we ended up shooting about, I think a little bit over 50, I think, 52, 53. But we went through weeks and weeks of fittings, and we fit so many costumes on her, both vintage and couture. Like made to order... 75 to 80% of her clothes were built for her. And so, we required a lot of time.

How many people are in your staff? Seamstresses?

It was a lot of people. We had three shops in New York that I worked with, and those, they employ hundreds of people, those shops. And then, we had a tailor, a suit tailor, and he employed dozens of folks too. And then, we had a shirtmaker who was making the shirts for the men. And he employed maybe a dozen people. And so, those are just the makers, right? Those were the makers in New York. And we had a couple of manufacturers in Los Angeles doing stuff. And then, we had also a shop in Atlanta that had a staff of eight, just banging stuff out.

But then, I had four assistants. We had two assistants in Los Angeles organizing all of the vintage stuff, all of the rentals. Because if you've seen the film, you can see that we had to fill stadiums and churches with period clothing. So, there were thousands of people that we actually had to dress up. So I would say, I think the folks who worked on the costumes would be like over, I would even venture to say close to 200 people.

So how was it working with Jennifer Hudson?

I've been a huge fan. And I think, for me, I saw her work on "Dreamgirls" and I said, "Oh God," not only is she an amazing singer, but she can act. And she has an Oscar for it.  For me, I really just wanted to work with her, work towards this version of Aretha, because we didn't want to do prosthetics on her to make her look like Aretha. Although she does resemble Aretha, it's her version of Aretha. One of the things that I was most excited about.

But working with Jennifer, it was a dream. Like we got along very well from the first day. I think she was looking like, listening a lot in the first few meetings that we've had. And then, when we started fitting, as they said, we went through weeks and weeks of fittings. I was trying to explain to her this is what you're wearing in this concert, and this is what you're going to be wearing when you're really sad and lonely, and this is what you're going to be wearing when your father slaps you, and this is what you're going to be wearing when you know, all of that kind of stuff. And so, she saw that not only was I taking care of the pretty things, the beautiful glamorous stuff, I was also really deeply invested in the storytelling that we, together, really made sure that we were telling a story.

So, there were moments that Aretha was down and out in her life. There were a lot of moments where she was struggling, and we wanted to make sure that the costumes also helped the work that Jennifer was going to do. So, it was a dream. I couldn't even ask for a more collaborative actor, particularly because we saw each other every day for months and months on end, and it was just great. She is a professional, never late, not a single time where she was late. Not a single time did she say I'm tired or stop. It was always what's next, what's next, what's next. And she is honest and warm. It was unbelievable. I can't say enough about how awesome she was.

And seeing that "Respect" billboard on Sunset Boulevard with your creation on Jennifer? How did you feel? What was your reaction?

I felt really overwhelmed. I mean, here's the thing that I designed, and a lot of people worked on. That gown, we call that the Amsterdam gown, a lot of people worked on it, that's all hand beaded. So, it passed through many hands, right? So there's a lot of love in that particular gown. It's also a very heavy gown, it's like 50 pounds because of all the beads and the stones and all of that kind of stuff. But Eric who I work with who made that gown, said, "We really have to pay attention to the details," and I said, "Yes, absolutely. Because we never know," they'll do a closeup of the dress or whatever, and lo and behold, it's like this giant image.

And we were like, thank goodness, we paid attention. We made sure that every single bead is in place because look at it, it's enormous, but it was overwhelming. It was like overwhelming. I couldn't even imagine... I've never even had that sort of like brain space to imagine that something that I would make would actually be that big, but also, in a major city like Los Angeles where thousands of people are driving by it every day. Forget about it. It's like a million...

Photo by Ruben V. Nepales

Do you have a favorite costume among all the 82 costumes that you did?

That's a lot. I mean, there's a lot of, like favorites. I think that one, the Amsterdam dress is one of my favorites because it's the most photographed one. There's a lot of love that went to it. The gown that she wears in Madison Square Garden because it's such an homage to what she did in Madison Square Garden. That birthday party gown, the gold gown where she wears the Norwegian Fox coat is also very, very special. It's very special because that's my mother's fur coat.

And I also loved the sort of very simple things that we did on her, that slip, when she's down and out, she sees her mother, spirit of a mother. I love that. I found that vintage slip in a small antique store in Atlanta, and I said, "Oh God, this is it," we found it. You know what I mean? Because they made her feel very vulnerable, with a lot of history to it. So, those are my favorite things, but it's like I can't really pick from the 82. It's like Sophie's choice.

How did your costumes end up being featured at the Grammy Museum?

Well, the Grammy Museum was doing an exhibit, and we know Aretha was a multi-Grammy winning artist. She's also the first female who made it to the rock and roll hall of fame. But the Grammy Museum called and said, "Hey, we want to feature the clothes," and particularly of Aretha. We'd put a lot of the clothes, the made to order gowns in archive. And so, we pulled it out and they wanted to see it. It was overwhelming to see it, particularly because, you know, like my clothes are there.

What is your relationship to Aretha Franklin? Are you aware of her songs?

My mother is contemporary of Aretha. I remember in the Philippines, she would play the records. She and my dad would dance to it. My dad passed away, but she and my dad would listen to it and danced to it. So, I knew who Aretha Franklin was. I just never imagined that I would work in a biopic of her life. But I think part of what this movie has given me was the gift of learning more about her life. And so, it was such a pleasure and an honor to really... I feel like I got to really know her, this person who I only knew through her voice, through my mother playing her records on Sundays.

Photo courtesy of MGM Studios, Inc.

You talk about your mom. What kind of influences did your mother have on you while growing up to become a costume designer?

Oh, I learned everything from my mother. My mother had such a great sense of style and taste, and she loved clothing, she loved jewelry. You would love her. And she loved the arts. She was the one who introduced me to the theater, to paintings and all of that kind of stuff. And so, she's probably my first and biggest influence. And so, because the movie is her period, she lived through those periods, I wanted to make sure that everything was right. I'm actually really anxious for her to see the movie because I don't want her to say like, "Eh, no, that doesn't look like it's from the 1950s," or the 1960s. And so, I needed to get... I'll get a call. But she instilled in me a sense of style, and also, she made me fascinated with this sense of transformation, particularly women of her generation.

One of my favorite things, as a kid, was to hang out in her dressing room and literally watch my mother get dressed and put makeup on. During that time, she would put the false eyelashes, tease the hair and everything. And I just saw her like transform. And I was like, oh my God, how did you get from that to this? And I am like, "Oh my God. Look at you. Look at what you did." And it got me hooked, it got me hooked. I'm like, oh my God, women can literally transform themselves into these, you know what I mean? And it made me excited about all the possibilities that that could bring.

Growing up in Cebu, Philippines, how was the experience? What were the influences of the city to you?

There's a lot of metropolitan women in Cebu, right? Like you have Amparito Lhuillier, the Osmeñas, Monique Lhuillier is a contemporary of my sister. I think Cebuana women actually have a lot of style, Pilita Corrales, all of that. And so, I've always noticed that, like at church and everybody. I mean, in the Philippines, people get dressed to go to church. So, I think that really influenced me. For me, those early formative years, growing up in Cebu, going to Catholic school, and then, church, all of that influenced the way I saw clothing. That was a time when there were a lot of parties and soirees. I remember my dad and my mom, when I was growing up, get dressed for parties.

Then, I was like, oh my God, it's so amazing. Especially because when I look back at it, I'm impressed how beautiful Filipinos were particularly Cebuanos and Cebuanas. There was a sense of grace about it. I think there's also a relaxed kind of way because there's no pressure to be the capital. We're the second city, but it's also the oldest city because the Spanish landed there. There's a sense that the style is innate. And I remember, all of these women, my mom's contemporary, there were all these couturiers in Cebu that they all went to, they're still around. When I go home, Philip Rodriguez is actually still around and he's the granddaddy of all Cebuano designers. I'm very proud to be a Cebuano, as you can tell.

When was the last time you went back home?

I was back on the Christmas before... No. Oh my gosh, it's been actually over two years now. It's very sad that the pandemic happened because I had not been home. I've missed two Christmases already, and I want to go home so badly. It's hard right now with COVID-19. My mom is finally vaccinated.

What are the first things you do when you go back home?

I would go straight to my mother and hug her. I miss her so much. I just, I miss her so much. And the pandemic was hard for her. My mother is a very social person. And to be told to lock herself in the house was hard for her.

And how did you take care of yourself during the pandemic and lockdown? How did you take care of your physical and mental health?

I don't know about the physical because I gained a lot of weight. But that's what I did, my faith, my feelings, I literally just became focused on my family, and focused on my activism and focused on my teaching, because nobody was working, we weren't working. We had just wrapped "Respect," and then, two weeks later, the shutdown happened. I just focused on taking care of all of those things, preparing for work to come back and what we want in terms of how we want to move forward as an industry.

You are also the costume designer and the production designer in "Lingua Franca" and I just interviewed Isabel Sandoval.

Unbelievable. We spoke because we do speak a common language. I think that film is so special, there's something really honest, and beautiful. Like you want to take care of that film. I love Isabel, a gentle yet firm leader, and she is unflappable. She knows what she wants, but you never see her sweat for it. And she was also very clear about the vision. I love how proud she is of who she is, and where she's come from. I know she's a special person. We all should be very proud that she's Filipino.

Being a Filipino, Asian and a person of color, how do you feel breaking into Hollywood? Do you think Hollywood is ready for Filipinos, Asian-Americans, people of color?

Actually, Hollywood is getting ready. I was with people like Jon Chu who I had a great conversation with, and all of these, and Isabel, and all of these people of color who are really being loud and assertive about claiming space and making space, not only for all of us, but making sure that we get to work on different things, not only in our stories, but other stories is really important. I also feel like Hollywood, just by the nature of the film industry, is going at a faster rate than theater, because it is able to actually employ more people. So, that gives me some sort of hope, but I also feel like the fight and the struggle, we've only just started it.

And so, for me, and until we get real equity... I think the day that you stop asking those questions would be the day that I think would be that day that I'd stopped talking about. Right? Because when we don't have to ask these questions, then, it means that we're at a good place. But I know that people are doing their best and they're trying. But it's also important that we acknowledge that this is hard work, and it requires all of us to do it. It requires a lot of forgiveness, because we are all going to make mistakes. If we really want to change it, then, we should be willing to take risks. And with risks comes mistakes and failures, and we have to embrace that.

Your future projects?

Oh my gosh, there's so many things that's happening. So, I think I'm continuing my advocacy work, and being an educator, that's really very important to me. But I'm in the middle of shooting a film right now that I can't really tell you what I'm doing, but it's a very exciting project. There's also a couple of Broadway shows that are coming to Broadway. One of them is "The Outsiders" based on the S.E. Hinton novel that Francis Ford Coppola made a movie out of. So, we're co-designing the scenery for that, and we're having our pre-Broadway tryouts in Chicago in the spring. And then, another musical, "KPOP: The Broadway Musical" is coming. So, that's also previewing in the spring in DC. And I've also just taken on being a creative producer for New York City Center, and I'm working on a project with Billy Porter. I'm producing his revival of "The Life." So, I'm doing a lot of creative producing right now as well. And I'm excited about that.

Are you ready for the fame that goes with "Respect?"

Am I ready for the fame? I don't think anyone is ever going to be ready for that. But I'm very excited for people to see all the hard work that hundreds of people worked on, particularly in the costumes. We had so many people work on that film, and particularly, people of color, and a lot of winning work on it too. And so, it's very exciting to see... I'm very, very excited for the world to see all of their work.

—MGP, GMA News