The show was supposed to begin filming before the pandemic, but as COVID-19 worsened, everything came to a halt. The cast took that time off to sharpen their musical skills — and to grow out their hair. Hennings says that, whenever she can, she prefers to use an actor's natural hair, so that long break worked in the hair team's favour. A wig was considered for Jones, but Hemmings tossed the idea. "[Keough] is so petite and soft that the wig just didn't work," she says.
Sam Claflin and Will Harrison, who play Billy and Graham Dunne respectively, didn't need wigs. After having the two actors grow out their short hair, Hennings shaped their looks to resemble each other's — they are brothers after all. Band member Karen Sirko, played by Suki Waterhouse, did have a few extensions added to her look. Hennings used Debbie Harry and Brigitte Bardot as inspiration for the edgy keyboardist, so the additional volume and length in which extensions could offer made sense. "[Sirko] is a little more early punk mixed with rock and roll," she says. "She's created her own thing." While no one character had a signature look, Wachtel did give Sirko a defining feature: a thick cat-eye (one Waterhouse often teased on TikTok).
Simone Jackson (Nabiyah Be), best friend to Jones and rising disco star, did wear wigs. Since the show starts in the early '70s, the character begins with a traditional Afro. She's more established than Jones, but as a Black singer in a predominantly white industry she faces adversities the other characters do not. As she becomes more successful, her Afro gets bigger. "Diana Ross was my inspiration," Hennings says. "When you think disco, it is Diana Ross."
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