As someone who used to write Jonas Brothers fan fiction, I can admit that my guilty pleasure of the year will be After We Collided. Like The Bachelor or my many (many) Twilight rewatches, After We Collided is exactly what my stressed-out brain lives for while I slowly, but surely, morph into a recluse. But as an avid fan of the the book series and the first movie that hit Netflix last year, I was a little disappointed in the Hardin Scott (Hero Fiennes Tiffin) I saw adapted from the page to the screen.
To be fair, the casting is great, but the look was lacking. Where are the tattoos? I wondered. Brief reminder: the After films originated as a popular Wattpad series loosely inspired by One Direction, you know, if Harry Styles ever actually became that frat boy he pretended to be in 2014. In short, I wanted more. After all, Styles has nearly 60 tattoos in real life, so I only hoped Hardin’s fictional collection would grow, too. Turns out, it totally did.
To get the scoop on the evolution of Hardin’s tattoo collection in After We Collided, I spoke with Katy DiMondi, key makeup artist for the movie. And guess what? There are even juicer behind-the-scenes secrets you probably won’t catch on your first watch. Hint: it involves lube. Shocked? I’m not.
Hardin Has 10 More Tattoos
DiMondi, who worked with department head Stephanie Arble, said that their team came in about halfway through the first movie’s production process. With that, the tattoos — the specific designs, placements, and count — were pretty much set in stone. By the time they began filming the second movie, they were able to change a few things; one of those details being how many tattoos were in Hardin’s collection.
“We added about 10 tattoos between the first and second movie,” she said, noting that these additions definitely made the application process more complicated. “You’re trying to do more work in the same amount of time that you did in the first movie.” How much time exactly? According to DiMondi, applying all of Hardin’s tattoos (there are 33 total) took about an hour and a half. But since Hardin is usually dressed in fitted black clothing and in a lot of scenes that, well, include skin-on-skin friction, touch-ups were a regular part of the process. “European Body Art makes a really nice tattoo palette, which I had with me [on set],” she said. “If any of the tattoos would start to deteriorate throughout the day, I would use a tattoo pen or the palette to fill in whatever needed to be filled in.”
The Monkey Tattoo Was Officially Replaced
So, fans will definitely notice that Hardin has been tattooed to their expectations, but will they notice the new ink on his forearm? Yes, apparently Anna Todd, creator of the After series, wasn’t the biggest fan of the three monkeys that once sat on the bottom part of Hardin’s forearm. So, Arble and her team changed it to a bouquet of roses.
Of course, this isn’t the only new ink Hardin got in the sequel. For anyone who hasn’t read the books — spoiler alert — Hardin ends up getting a tattoo inspired by his toxic relationship with Tessa (Josephine Langford). From the beginning of this emotional rollercoaster love story, the two bonded over their love of literature specifically that of Jane Austen. According to After canon, Hardin will get a famous quote from Pride & Prejudice inked on his back at some point in the new movie. (We’re still unsure of how Austen would feel about this one.)
Hardin Gets a New Tattoo on Screen
We know about the Pride & Prejudice tattoo, but enough promotional teaser shots from the new movie have us excited for another tattoo appointment of Hardin’s – and it looks like this new ink will be huge and possibly inspired by another piece of classic literature: Wuthering Heights.
How does one make an actor look like they’re getting a real tattoo on camera? Movie magic, said DiMondi, and with the help of a professional. Apparently, a real tattoo artist was hired for this scene in particular, although their very real needle never actually poked Tiffin’s skin. So, the scene looks authentic, but what about the fake tattoo — could it fool the naked eye? Probably. “We put [makeup] on top of the tattoo to make it look red, like it was fresh,” DiMondi said. “We also put some a gel on top of it. A lot of times we used K-Y Jelly to make [the tattoo] look new because usually when you get a new tattoo it looks shiny.” Don’t worry, if you haven’t gotten a clear shot of this elusive ink yet, then you definitely will in that steamy shower scene (you know the one).
