The first time makeup artist Lawrence Mercado made fake blood on the set of a movie, it turned purple. It was for the 2012 comedy-horror Blood Cousins from local sketch comedy troupe Comedia A Go-Go.
“It was a running joke that [the filmmakers] had to color correct all the blood in the movie,” Mercado, 39, told MySA during a recent interview. “I needed to know how to make better blood before I moved to Los Angeles.”
Mercado knew he had a lot to learn if he wanted to turn movie makeup into a career. A 2002 graduate of Jefferson High School, Mercado eschewed college and worked a series of random jobs, including at a toy kiosk at South Park Mall and downtown at the now-shuttered Ripley’s Haunted Adventure. It’s at Ripley’s where he began to learn about horror makeup and effects.
Mercado, who grew up watching classic Universal monster movies like Frankenstein and The Wolf Man and 1980s horror classics like The Thing, remembers once getting a job for a local independent movie and having the director ask him to create a fake sledgehammer to hit someone in the face. Without hesitation, Mercado said he could do it.
San Antonio native and Hollywood makeup artist Lawrence Mercado.
Adrian Huerta and Noel Vasquez“When I got home, I was like, ‘How am I going to do this?’” Mercado said. “My dad would always tell me, ‘Don’t ever say you don’t know how to do something because you can always figure it out.’ So, I did, and it came out cool. What I do has always been a lot of trial and error.”
When Mercado moved to Los Angeles in 2013, he started doing some side work with special effects artist Ralis Kahn, who had already worked on horror movies like Resident Evil: Extinction and Insidious: Chapter 2. “I started hustling,” he said. “I wanted to survive in L.A. I started picking [Ralis’] brain about all the projects he’s done. I wanted to know everything.”
Mercado has come a long way since making purple blood. As a freelance makeup artist over the last decade, he’s worked on TV series like Hunters and Lucifer and films like A Quiet Place Part II and Black Panther. In 2020, Mercado was nominated for a Primetime Emmy for his work on a season 9 episode of American Horror Story. “That was like the cherry on top,” he said. “It was another of those surreal moments.”
The most recent projects he’s contributed to include The Guardians of the Galaxy: Holiday Special, CSI: Vegas, and the third season of The Mandalorian.
San Antonio native and Hollywood makeup artist Lawrence Mercado.
Sonja Flemming/CBS“To stand in the middle of this giant city and have R2-D2 roll by me, I was like, ‘What is happening right now?!’” Mercado said. “I was on a set where I could literally pick up one of the Mandalorian helmets and hold it in my hand.”
Mercado humorously describes what he does in Hollywood as “slashing necks and cashing checks.” Whether he’s creating a shotgun wound on an actor’s back or designing bloody, severed heads, Mercado is sure he’s found his calling in the entertainment industry.
“Sometimes I think, ‘Here I am, this kid from San Antonio in L.A. working with these amazing artists on these amazing projects,’” he said. “I don’t think I’m anywhere near where I want to be yet, but I’m still growing. I’m looking forward to leveling up even more.”
San Antonio native and Hollywood makeup artist Lawrence Mercado.
Amy Sparks