Tell us about the hairstyles for Amy Adams' character, Rose.
Well, she's a single mother so there were a couple different looks—mostly things that her character would be able to do herself, like a ponytail or bun. Her character needed to have her hair out of her face so that she'd be able to attend to the gruesome act of cleaning up crime scenes. It literally only took about five minutes to put Amy's hair up; because we were on the move, a lot of times we were picking up shots as we went along. So her hair would go up and down, from a low ponytail to a high ponytail, etc.
How did the hair for Emily Blunt's character, Norah, differ from Rose's?
Emily's character is edgier and kind of an outsider—she has a hip style. She wore more makeup and we dyed her hair darker since her character is a bit rebellious. We also went ahead and put electric blue and dark lavender semi-permanent hair extensions in for color, just feathering them in. But we had to take them out at one point, because Emily was a presenter at the Academy Awards!
You were on location in New Mexico—did the climate play a factor in the hairstyling?
If you're in that kind of climate, it's easy to get a lot of static after you blow-dry. The weather really dries the hair out, so you need to put moisture in so that it doesn't become electric. I mixed a volumizing mousse with Redken Color Extend Sun Sparkling Shield Leave-In Smoother in the palm of my hand and applied it to the girls' damp hair before blow-drying—this way I protected their color from fading in the sun and also gave their strands a bit of lift.
Any tips and tricks for making hairstyles last on set?
The less product, the better; a little goes a long way. I try to keep the hair as clean as possible.
FOR MORE ON AMY ADAMS AND EMILY BLUNT IN SUNSHINE CLEANING, CLICK HERE
