Joey King’s World War II costumes

In Hulu’s “We Were the Lucky Ones,” Joey King plays Halina, a young girl who dreams of finding romance, but the impending World War II throws her life on another unimaginable path. Based on the book by Georgia Hunter, the series follows the true story of the Kurc family living in Poland and how the Holocaust threatened to tear the family apart.

When dressing Halina, costume designer Lucy Duncan made sure the outfits remained anchored in the period of Polish history. Flowers and bright clothes give way to darker colors as Halina fights for survival.

Here, King and Duncan reflect on adding authenticity to Halina’s costumes and how hair, makeup and costume helped transform the actor.

What was the process of bringing Halina to life through costumes?

LUCY DUNCAN: We were lucky enough to get some family photos of Georgia, but only a few were of Halina. Once filming started, we found even more. But I read the script and the book and tried to get into that world. And then I started hunting for clothes from that period. Halina wears many original clothes from that era. So I went to all the costume houses and vintage markets. I had buyers looking for vintage clothing, and I would see items and think, ‘That’s Halina.’ We had so many changes – 46 for her.

Joey, what was it like working with Lisa and building that first outfit we see you in?

JOEY KING: I concentrate on the accent, the lines and getting the emotions right. And I walked into my first fitting with Lisa, and there were no questions. She has thought of everything. My underwear is from the right period, the bra you never see and the briefs are all so well thought out. It was so detailed. Every detail was so helpful mentally.

Halina is the youngest, so she’s younger with her patterns, and what’s great about Lisa is that she intentionally drew pieces for all of us because she really thought about what our character’s journey was and where we were at that particular moment in the story.

That first Passover scene we see is so important because it shows the family together. What colors did you use for Halina and what did you want to say in that scene?

DUNCAN: I wanted to show the joy and love in the family. I looked at pictures of Halina in real life and she had style. They were a stylish family. So I put her in a beautiful 1930s floral chiffon dress and the colors were amazing for Joey. It was really about showing the joy and showing someone who was about to grow up without too many worries with a wonderfully supportive family. That was establishing who they were, because life was changing quickly. As it got darker, the colors became more somber.

How does their costume evolve, given the circumstances of this family’s separation?

DUNCAN: I really kept the family in the 1930s because, first of all, I had a very strong feeling that they didn’t live in New York, London or Paris. They are in Radom, Poland. It felt very much like they would be wearing clothes from the 1930s. War broke out and they wouldn’t have shopped and seen Hollywood fashion. I was very aware. I wanted them to always look like they were wearing what they had, and those clothes were made of good fabrics.

KING: Considering how many years our show spans, that’s completely true and it would have happened. So the fact that in episode 3 we see a piece that is later repeated in episode six – many years have passed and they’re still wearing these clothes because that’s all they have. The clothing was often impractical.

You talked about good fabrics, what did that mean for what you used?

DUNCAN: So much was rented. We had hundreds of jackets from the 1930s, made from sturdy wool. There were so many suits. Most of our custom work came from that period, but we did make many beautiful jackets that we copied.

In the show, Halina uses jackets to act and pretend to be Aryan. How do you work that into her arc?

DUNCAN: I wanted to make sure it didn’t look like we were taking it lightly. I didn’t want them to suddenly look like they were dressed too fashionably, too frivolously, and wearing things they couldn’t afford. I always wanted to make it feel real. There were times when Halina had moved cities and Aryan was trying to pass and had to look for her job in a certain way. So she made money and she got some new clothes, I would be careful to limit them. So she only had a few pieces, and they were worn again and again.

KING: It’s interesting because she passes there as an Aryan, it’s important that she fits in. It seems like she can afford the same things as everyone else, but because she’s not Aryan, and there are so many other moving pieces she has to deal with. She tries to get fake papers, so she spends money in other ways. There are so many limitations in her real life that others don’t know about. She tries to look as normal as possible and tries to stand out, while taking care of what really matters. Of course she does her hair every day and puts on a nice blouse as best she can. She makes sure she looks clean and nourished, considering the circumstances. It’s all of these things and as she goes on we see Halina become a ghost of herself, whether that be in health, appearance, hair or clothing.

Joey, you talked about how putting on a costume helped you. How did that completed look with hair and makeup help you tap into Halina?

KING: It was so helpful because you’re preparing for something and you’re doing as much preparation as you can, but you haven’t seen what you look like yet. I went to Romania and we knew we were going to dye my hair and eyebrows lighter and that was a big change. There are several versions of Halina and she is constantly evolving. But each piece is so interesting because the clothes help you get there and help you stay there and you can evolve with them. She thinks she looks cute in the beatfield outfit and then this beautiful gray suddenly turns gloomy gray. It’s such a beautiful outfit, and then it becomes this outfit that symbolizes something terrible to me.