About me
COSTUME DESIGNER
Karyn Wagner
award-winning, third-generation costume designer known for The Green Mile, The Notebook, and Friday Night Lights, with recent work including Three Triple eight, Waco, FreeRayshawn, and Self Made.
Karyn Wagner is an accomplished costume designer best known for her work on iconic films by celebrated directors, including Frank Darabont’s The Green Mile (starring Tom Hanks), The Majestic (starring Jim Carrey), and Nick Cassavetes’ The Notebook (starring Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams).
Her more recent television work includes the limited series Waco for Paramount Television; AMC’s Preacher, starring Dominic Cooper and Ruth Negga; and two seasons of Underground for Sony Television. Wagner’s feature film credits also include Daniel Barnz’s Cake (starring Jennifer Aniston), Mr. Church (directed by Bruce Beresford and starring Eddie Murphy and Britt Robertson), The Last of Robin Hood (starring Kevin Kline and Susan Sarandon), D.J. Caruso’s The Salton Sea (with Val Kilmer and Vincent D’Onofrio), Kasi Lemmons’ Eve’s Bayou (starring Samuel L. Jackson), Steven Soderbergh’s Underneath (starring Peter Gallagher), and Lovelace (starring Amanda Seyfried, James Franco, and Peter Sarsgaard).
Her television credits further include Murder Book, directed by Antoine Fuqua, and the critically acclaimed series Friday Night Lights.
A third-generation film industry veteran and California native, Wagner grew up immersed in Hollywood. Her grandfather met her grandmother on the set of an Erich von Stroheim film, and her father, Richard Wagner, was a respected sound mixer—circumstances that led to her early years being spent on studio backlots. She earned a degree in Art History from the University of California, Davis, and began her career working in production and later the camera department before discovering her true passion in costume design. Her work is distinguished by a deep understanding of cultural context and sociological nuance, particularly as it relates to period storytelling.
Most recently, Wagner designed Antoine Fuqua’s #FreeRayshawn, directed by Seith Mann and starring Laurence Fishburne and Stephan James, as well as Netflix’s Self Made, starring Octavia Spencer, Tiffany Haddish, Blair Underwood, and Carmen Ejogo. She most recently wrapped The Asset, directed by Martin Campbell and starring Michael Keaton, Samuel L. Jackson, and Maggie Q.