"Babylon" is not your typical 1920s Old Hollywood film, and, as such, Chazelle didn't want the stars to look traditional in any way. "We actually looked at mug shots from that period," Thorisdottir says. This was a unique experience for everyone involved.
"You don't get to do this very often," Jaime Leigh McIntosh, the movie's hair department head, says. "Most of the time, you must follow the same formula that's been done for years when re-creating a period. People will just scratch the surface of research and do what they always see." For "Babylon," they had clear instructions to not do that. "[Chazelle] was just like, 'Please stay away from the cliché bobs.' He didn't want to see an ocean of women with the same hairdo." Translation? Finger waves, pin curls, and anything else that scream 1920s was out.