The Beyond the Gates Hair and Makeup teams quickly established themselves on the night of the 53rd Annual Daytime Emmy Awards. They won BTG’s first-ever Emmy. On stage to give their acceptance speeches, the two department heads — Stevie Martin for makeup and Wankaya Hinkson for hair — looked at each other and said, “We did it.” Both women assembled talented teams, took their skills to a whole new level, and created a safe space for the show’s actors in the process. And they were rewarded big time. Soap Hub recently spoke with Martin, who was honored to take home the trophy.
Key Takeaways
- Stevie Martin reflects on the surreal experience of winning her first Daytime Emmy.
- Martin credits her makeup team’s collaboration and dedication for their success.
- Martin teases even bigger creative challenges in Season 3.
The Daytime Emmys Was an Exciting and Surreal Experience for Stevie
Earning a nomination is shocking and exciting on its own. But on the day of the Daytime Emmys, Martin, who has 15-plus years of experience in film and television, said she felt excited and nervous. But she was happy that she and her team faced and graced the event together. “My team stayed in the same hotel, so we were together, helping each other get ready,” she revealed.
Her team includes Myla Young, Shayniah Brown, Reese Lee, and Shaneka Murray. “Then the executive producer, Sheila [Ducksworth], called and congratulated us, and said what a phenomenal job that we’ve done,” she added. But time was flying by, and soon the group was on the way to The Hollywood Palladium, where the awards show was held.
“It was time to get in the car, and [we] arrived on the red carpet, and I think that’s when my heart started beating really fast. I started sweating, and I was nervous,” the Miami native explained.
But she adapted. “I got on the carpet and took pictures. I’m a behind-the-scenes person, so all this front-of-the-scenes and the flashing lights — it was a lot. But I was taking it in.”
Martin Was Thankful to Receive the Award from a Familiar Face
Martin was grateful that Susan Walters (Diane) of The Young and the Restless announced BTG’s Hair and Makeup win. “We did a crossover with Young and the Restless. So to have the opportunity to work with her, work on her, and then now she is presenting the award, it felt good.”
“When we got up there and I said my speech, my phone died,” she revealed. “It was like, okay, we’re going to wing it. I had my mind on what I wanted to say. Kept it short and sweet because they said we didn’t have a lot of time. And when it was over, [Walters] touched me, she hugged me, and she whispered in my ear, ‘I’m so happy for you.’ That was a moment — her saying, ‘I am so happy for you guys.’ That was awesome.”
For Martin, accepting the award and being up there on stage with Hinkson was beyond surreal. “We started in the business around the same time. So to see each other’s journey, and then our journey sends us here… that was our ‘we did it’ moment.
“And with all of the hard work and all the people we have to get ready in a short amount of time, we’re really like a family. It was just all of us, collectively, like Oh my God, we all did this.”
Now that the makeup team can call themselves Emmy winners, Martin feels some pressure. “It’s just a little more weight added to the bar,” she explained. “With the expectations of now, okay, we’ve set the standard. Now we’ve got to keep going.”
Season 2 Presented More Opportunities for Martin and Her Team to Rise to the Challenge
Martin, who grew up watching Y&R with her grandmother, is a soap opera newbie. Her primetime and movie credits include Black Panther, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, and Season 1 of Starz’s P-Valley. Daytime dramas presented something new to her. It was challenging, and “it only helps perfect your skill.”
BTG’s second season has provided plenty of challenges. She’s particularly proud of her team’s work on two major events. “A couple of my favorites are cotillion. We had so much fun making everybody look glamorous. And to show what a cotillion really looks like. How they dress up, the performance of it all.
“And then also the tornado. That gave me a range of natural makeup, glamorous makeup, but also special effects,” she continued. “We had dirt, we had blood, we had cuts, we had all the things that would showcase the range of the team and the different genres of makeup that can be done.”
We Are Not Prepared for Season 3
Working on BTG is something that Martin loves. “I enjoy the camaraderie. I enjoy the support. I enjoy coming to work and doing what I love with a team that shares the same vision. And we all collaborate. We all piggyback off of each other.”
The department head couldn’t say much about the third season, which the cast and crew are currently filming. But she did give a little bit of a tease. She hints that there will be a variety and a range to the makeup, much like she and her team were able to display with the cotillion and the tornado.
“I can’t really go too much into it, but you guys have to stay tuned to see that. Oh, you think season two was good. [Season 3] is going to be a roller coaster.”
MORE: Find out more about Wankaya Hinkson and BTG’s Hair Team.
