There are certain moments in the making of a film when you realise something very special is happening. Bringing award-winning Makeup and Hair Designer Helen Magelakis onto Fenech – The Jeff Fenech Story is one of those moments.

This is not just another crew attachment. This is the arrival of a world-class artist whose body of work speaks for itself — a designer and department leader who has moved seamlessly between major international studio productions, celebrated Australian feature films, prestige television, period drama, sports stories, horror, action, prosthetics, creature work and grounded character-driven storytelling. Quite simply, Helen Magelakis is one of the most versatile and accomplished makeup and hair artists working in the industry today, and having her join the Fenech team is a huge win for this production.

For writer/director Matt Norman, this is an incredibly exciting step forward. Fenech is a film that demands authenticity, detail and emotional truth at the highest level. This is a story that spans eras, takes audiences into the brutal world of boxing, explores the physical and psychological cost of fighting, and follows characters across years of triumph, pain, fame, punishment and transformation. That means the makeup and hair department is not just important on a film like this — it is absolutely essential. It has one of the biggest storytelling jobs in the entire production.

And that is exactly why bringing in someone of Helen Magelakis’ calibre matters so much.

Helen’s career is extraordinary not just because of its longevity, but because of its breadth. She has worked on some of the biggest productions to shoot in Australia and abroad, including global studio blockbusters and acclaimed prestige dramas. Her credits include Mad Max: Fury Road, one of the most celebrated action films of the modern era, a film renowned for its practical world-building, physical grit and unforgettable visual detail. She also worked on Thor: Love and Thunder, a massive Marvel production requiring scale, polish and the ability to operate at the highest international level. Add to that Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, a major studio tentpole, and it becomes obvious that Helen has experience inside huge cinematic machines where precision, consistency and artistry are non-negotiable.

But what makes her especially exciting for Fenech is that she is not simply someone with blockbuster credits. She is someone who has also proven herself as a department head and designer, shaping the look of productions from the top down. On Better Man, she served as hair and makeup supervisor on one of the most ambitious recent Australian productions. On Sleeping Dogs, starring Russell Crowe, she was the hair and makeup designer, a key creative role requiring leadership, vision and the ability to craft character through appearance. On Apple Cider Vinegar, she was both hair designer and makeup department head, showing yet again that she can command a department while delivering work at a premium dramatic standard. Those aren’t background credits. Those are major responsibilities on major productions.

And beyond the credits themselves, Helen’s excellence has also been formally recognised by the industry through major award nominations and wins. She was the winner of the 2021 AACTA Award for Best Hair and Makeup for Australian Gangster, shared with Sheldon Wade, Mariel McClorey and Donna Kennedy — a significant acknowledgement of her work at the highest level of Australian screen craft. She was also a 2021 AACTA Award nominee for Best Hair and Makeup for New Gold Mountain, shared with Cheryl Williams and Ian Loughnan, a production that demanded strong period specificity and visual detail. In 2022, she received another AACTA Award nomination for Best Hair and Makeup for Wyrmwood: Apocalypse, shared with Rachel Scane and Mariel McClorey, reflecting her ability to deliver exceptional work in a physically heightened, effects-heavy genre environment. Earlier, she was also a 2018 AACTA Award nominee for Best Hair and Makeup for Cargo, shared with Larry Van Duynhoven and Beverley Freeman, another standout Australian production that relied heavily on physical realism, character deterioration and world-building.

Her work has also been recognised by the Australian Production Design Guild Awards, where she was a 2018 APDG Award winner for Make-up & Prosthetic Make-up Design, shared with Lee Norris, Jodie Hellingman and Rachel Scane. That recognition is particularly exciting for a film like Fenech, because it speaks directly to an area this production will rely on heavily — the ability to create deeply believable physical transformation, lived-in realism and precise visual storytelling through makeup design.

That distinction is important. Fenech does not need someone who can merely execute. It needs someone who can design. It needs someone who understands character, time period, realism and transformation. It needs someone who can help shape the visual language of an athlete’s life — from the youthful hunger of a rising fighter, to the wear and tear of wars inside the ring, to the bruises, swelling, cuts, sweat, blood, exhaustion and age that tell a deeper story than dialogue ever could. Helen has built a career doing exactly that.

Her Australian screen work alone is remarkable. She has contributed to beloved and acclaimed projects such as The Dressmaker, The Great Gatsby, Shantaram, Clickbait, Please Like Me, Informer 3838, Underbelly, Romper Stomper, Picnic at Hanging Rock, Jack Irish, New Gold Mountain, and Ride Like a Girl. That list covers everything from period elegance and crime realism to intimate drama and large-scale prestige television. Few artists build careers that comfortably cross so many genres while maintaining such a high standard. Helen has done exactly that.

For Fenech, that range matters enormously.

This is a film that will require the department to handle a broad canvas. There is the boxing world itself — intense training camps, punishing fights, sweat-soaked corners, bloodied faces, swelling eyes, split lips, bruised ribs and the cumulative physical damage of a fighter’s career. That alone demands someone with genuine technical confidence. But beyond the ring, Fenech also needs texture and specificity in family scenes, working-class environments, media appearances, public events, changing eras and the personal evolution of characters over time. It needs subtle realism in one moment and heightened fight-night transformation in the next.

Helen Magelakis is uniquely equipped for that challenge.

Her credits in prosthetics and effects-based work are especially exciting when it comes to a boxing film. On Wyrmwood: Apocalypse, she was credited with key prosthetics, and she has also worked extensively in special makeup effects across projects such as War Machine, Saccharine, Shayda, The Furies, Storm Warning, and others. That level of experience is critical. Boxing injuries cannot look fake for even a second. In a film like Fenech, the audience must believe every punch landed, every cut opened, every bruise deepened and every fight took something from the body. Great sports films live or die on physical authenticity, and Helen’s experience in effects, realism and transformation gives this production a major edge.

Just as importantly, Helen also understands glamour, styling and period character work. Credits like The Great Gatsby, The Dressmaker, Better Man, and Olivia Newton-John: Hopelessly Devoted to You show an artist capable of polished, era-specific looks and star-level presentation. That versatility matters because Jeff Fenech’s life was not lived only in gyms and rings. It crossed into celebrity, media, family, pressure, public image and personal mythology. A great hair and makeup designer helps tell that whole story — not just the pain, but the pride, the swagger, the vulnerability and the changing identity of the man at the centre of it all.

Matt Norman has been assembling a team for Fenech that reflects the scale and ambition of the film. The story of Jeff Fenech is not a small story. It is one of the great Australian sporting stories — full of grit, heart, rage, sacrifice, loyalty, injustice and resilience. To do it justice, every department has to operate at an elite level. Helen Magelakis coming aboard is another sign that Fenech is attracting the kind of serious, proven talent needed to bring this story to life properly.

And for Matt, this appointment carries enormous creative significance.

As a filmmaker, Matt understands that audiences often remember performance, dialogue and music — but some of the most powerful storytelling is happening visually in ways they don’t consciously realise. Hair and makeup are central to that. They create believability. They shape character. They embed time and place. They help actors disappear into roles. They sell pain, glamour, exhaustion, violence, age and memory. On a film like Fenech, where physical transformation and emotional truth go hand in hand, there may be no more important below-the-line department than makeup and hair.

That is why landing Helen is such a major moment.

It is also worth celebrating just how hard-earned her career has been. Looking through her filmography, you see decades of work — a professional who has risen through the ranks, built trust across production after production, and contributed to everything from local television and indie features to some of the biggest films in the world. Credits such as Troy, Charlotte’s Web, Knowing, Percy Jackson & the Lightning Thief, Where the Wild Things Are, Unbroken, and Mad Max: Fury Road sit alongside distinctly Australian titles like Ned Kelly, Underbelly, Howzat! Kerry Packer’s War, Informer 3838, Please Like Me, Australian Gangster, New Gold Mountain, and Ride Like a Girl. That kind of career does not happen by accident. It is built on trust, skill, adaptability, leadership and results.

And the awards recognition only reinforces that. Multiple AACTA nominations, an AACTA win, and an APDG Award win place Helen firmly in the category of an artist whose peers recognise the quality of her work. For Fenech, that matters. This is a film aiming for the highest possible standard. It needs department heads and creatives who understand that level and have already proven they can reach it.

For actors, having a makeup and hair designer of Helen’s level is invaluable. It means they are in safe hands. It means their physical journey through the film will be supported with precision and care. It means the smallest character details will not be overlooked. And in a story based on real people — people many Australians know and remember — that responsibility becomes even greater. The right design choices can deepen truth. The wrong ones can pull audiences out of the story. Helen is someone who understands how important that balance is.

For a film about Jeff Fenech, that challenge becomes even more specific. Jeff was not merely a fighter. He was a national figure — instantly recognisable, full of energy, attitude and fire. His look, his presence, his battle damage, his public face and his evolution over time are all part of the story audiences will expect to see captured with honesty. The film also contains a broader world of trainers, family members, opponents, officials, media figures and friends — all of whom need to feel authentic and lived-in. This is the kind of layered challenge that suits an artist like Helen Magelakis perfectly.

There is also something deeply reassuring about knowing that one of the most physically demanding elements of Fenech will be in the hands of somebody who has already worked across action, sport, fantasy, sci-fi, crime and realism at the highest levels. Films like this are made or broken in the details. Sweat patterns. Fight-night wear and tear. Consistency between rounds. The gradual escalation of injury. The contrast between training, domestic life and public appearances. The visual storytelling of fatigue and punishment. These things matter. Audiences feel them even when they don’t consciously register them. Helen knows how to deliver that detail.

And beyond her technical skill, her credits reveal something else: trust. Productions keep placing her in positions of responsibility because she delivers. Whether as designer, department head, supervisor, special makeup effects artist, or a key contributor within larger departments, Helen has repeatedly been part of productions that demanded a huge amount from their teams. That consistency is the mark of a true professional.

For Matt Norman, that is exactly the kind of person he wants beside him in making Fenech. Someone serious. Someone proven. Someone who understands both story and craft. Someone who can help turn a great script and great performances into something fully lived and cinematic on screen.

This attachment is a major boost not only for the film’s practical execution, but for its artistic credibility. When audiences eventually watch Fenech, they will likely be swept up by the performances, the emotion, the fights, the soundtrack and the story of one of Australia’s most iconic sportsmen. But underneath all of that will be the invisible artistry of people like Helen Magelakis — artists whose work helps create the world, support the performances and sell every frame.

That is why her joining this film is worth celebrating in a big way.

Helen Magelakis brings with her a career that spans international blockbusters, prestige television, acclaimed Australian cinema, effects work, realism, period detail, department leadership and character design. She brings authority. She brings experience. She brings artistry. And she brings the kind of credibility that lifts a production the moment her name appears on the team sheet.

Matt Norman is thrilled to welcome Helen to the team, not only because of the scale of her credits, but because of the awards and industry recognition that underline just how respected she is in her field. A creative with AACTA-winning credentials and major international experience is exactly the sort of elite talent this film needs.

Fenech – The Jeff Fenech Story is building something special, and Helen Magelakis is exactly the kind of powerhouse creative you want in your corner when telling a story this big.

In a production where makeup and hair have one of the biggest jobs of all, bringing in someone of Helen’s experience, artistry and proven excellence is a huge statement of intent.

We could not be more excited to have her on board.

Welcome to Team Fenech, Helen.