"The Little Mermaid" Hair Interview Behind-the-Scenes

Transforming Halle Bailey's Locs Into Ariel's Hair

Image Source: Disney

In real life, Bailey wears her hair in locs and it was important to her to keep them in the film — no wig. "After speaking to Halle, she really wanted to keep her natural hair," says Friend. They had to figure out how to translate the style into this other world, fitting director Rob Marshall's vision, and change its colour.

When the topic of hair colour came up, Friend knew she had to find a solution that worked best for Bailey. She was concerned about dyeing her entire head red and the damage that would cause, so Friend came up with a workaround. In partnership with a company called Extensions Plus based out of California, Friend got three custom shades of red, 30-inch hair extensions made to encase Bailey's locs.

"We just started mixing the colours, starting from darker and working to lighter and literally, taking and wrapping each of her locs with this hair," Friend says. The process in total required three stylists and took two days but once it was in, they were set for a while. "It could stay in her hair anywhere from six to eight weeks, and then be touched up in between because when you're in the water, it's a little harsh on the hair," says Friend.

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Ariel's New Shade of Red Was Intentional

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Intertwining the three different shades of red allowed them to completely transform Bailey's brown hair into Ariel's red hue. The result wasn't the same as the cartoon Ariel had in the 1989 movie, but that was very intentional. "They're all golden-orange reds because we wanted to bring that golden-sunshiny colour out of Halle's skin," says Friend.

She acknowledges some people wanted to see the cherry red from the original, but she stands by the decision. "It was just about what looks good on your actor," says Friend. "You can create a great hairstyle, but if it's the wrong shape, the wrong texture, or the wrong colour, it still doesn't look great."

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The Secret to Getting Her Hair to Dance In Water

Image Source: Disney

The colour was still only half of it. "Rob really wanted to make sure that the hair had that dance and that movement he envisioned," says Friend. In water, hair takes on a life of its own, and they wanted to make sure that came across as she swam around. Friend added loose hair in with Bailey's locs to create even more fluidity and give her that mermaid-like look. "Once we doubled [the loose hair] and we put her in the water and all that hair was dancing, we were there."

CGI, visual effects, and the hair department worked hand-in-hand throughout the entire film. " I knew where we were gonna be doing live action, if we were gonna switch into CGI, and then if we were gonna go back into live action," says Friend. "I knew what the cuts were gonna be, and that was a game changer for me." The end result, as Friend describes it, was magical.

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