How the Hair Department Head of ‘The Bear’ Turned Back the Clock

Family is at the heart of FX on Hulu’s “The Bear,” which has earned a record 23 Emmy nominations for its second season. The sixth episode, “Fishes,” takes viewers beyond the restaurant, flashing back five years to a chaotic Berzatto family gathering that features a host of A-listers—including Oscar winner Jamie Lee Curtis as Donna, the troubled family matriarch—and with them, brand-new hairstyles. 

But Ally Vickers, the head of the hair department on Christopher Storer’s series, opted not to drastically alter Chef Carmy Berzatto’s (Jeremy Allen White) signature ’do: “Subtle things do change it. In the flashback scenes, his hair’s a little curlier, and when we see him in the kitchen [in the present day], it’s curly, but a little wilder.” Here, Vickers discusses the challenges of maintaining “everyday hair” on television shows.

When you’re returning to an enormously successful show like “The Bear,” is it difficult to avoid the mindset of: Oh, people know what this show is now? Or can you put that external element to one side? 

It’s a little bit of both. I put a lot of pressure on myself. Everybody loves the show and has seen it now, whereas before, it was unknown. I knew it was a beautiful thing we were creating, and it felt super special. But when you come back, it’s like, Oh, wow, the world is watching; everybody’s gonna see my hairdos. But you just compartmentalize it. I’m here to do the work. I know what I’m doing, and it’s a wonderful and creative environment.

Where do you begin with an episode like “Fishes” where we meet new characters played by recognizable actors? 

With Jamie Lee, instantly we knew it would be a wig and a different look, because that takes her out of the Jamie Lee–ness of it. We want to see Donna, not Jamie Lee. Donna is such a specific [type of] person; I know a lady like that. This is a woman who does her hair, and even though things may be bad on the inside—struggling with family, crisis, and substance abuse—that woman is not going to be showing that to the outside world. She’s keeping it together. 

We started discussing ideas of how Donna would look with Chris [Storer] and worked with Jamie and collaborated with costumes and makeup. Then, we put it all together. Courtney Wheeler, our costume designer, is incredible; and her work gets me going, like, OK, yes, I see this outfit. This lady goes to the salon.

On this episode, Carmy’s sister, Sugar (Abby Elliott), has a different hair color from the one we see in the present day. Did you have to dye her hair mid-production from blond to brunette and back to blond?

We did. It was not a wig. We colored her hair for about a week in the middle of shooting and had a week to have it brown. We shot that week up through Saturday. And then on Saturday night, she and I went to a salon and worked with a wonderful colorist who helped get us back to Sugar’s color. Monday morning, it was back to Sugar with blond hair—and it was a pickup scene, so it needed to be an exact match. Abby is literally the best; she was pregnant at the time, and she was down for anything.

It’s interesting to see whose look is different and whose isn’t on that episode. Can you tell me why Carmy’s classic curly hairstyle didn’t change much? 

I do believe Carmy is someone who doesn’t have a lot of time for self-care. This is what he looks like; that’s kind of it. He’s not changing his look. He’s not going to the barbershop and getting the latest fade. That gives me a small space to work in to change his look, but I like that. Because “Fishes” is set five years ago, maybe his hair’s a little curlier or a tiny bit longer.

Another person whose hair doesn’t change much is Richie (Ebon Moss-Bachrach). On the episode “Forks,” you see him brush his hair, which suggests he’s thinking about his appearance, even if his hair hasn’t changed. Did you have someone doing touch-ups on the male actors’ hair to maintain consistency?

I have everybody on a scheduled haircut. Ebon gets his hair cut, let’s say, every Thursday to maintain length throughout the season. I cut Jeremy’s hair every eight days to maintain his length. I let it grow out a tiny bit longer for “Fishes”; we skipped a haircut. We have all the guys on a schedule of haircuts and on set with touching up as well. Richie wears suits now, so he’s gonna start brushing his hair.

You recently worked on Richard Linklater’s “Hit Man,” which features a lot of wigs. Is that less challenging than designing everyday looks on “The Bear”?

Yeah, it is, because everyday hair moves, and it has to be believable. If I’m doing more of a soap-opera style, a wig, or a really coiffed hairdo, it’s OK to set it and forget it. I can make a hair helmet that won’t move all day; I could give you a bulletproof hairdo. But to have natural hair that moves and looks good, there’s a lot more maintenance. 

A lot of thought goes into it, and the shape of their haircuts is important, particularly for Carmy. Everybody loves his wild, unkempt bad-boy hair, or whatever they’re calling it. Jeremy has great hair. If you have a really good haircut, then it’s easier to create that look. If you just let your hair grow and have no shape to it, then it would look insane on camera. So there is a lot that goes into that look.

Season 2 takes place over such a short time period, since the story counts down the days and weeks until the new restaurant is set to open. Is it an extra challenge when the season takes place over such a short period of time?

It is, especially when we’re jumping back and forth with flashbacks. We also block-shoot this season, so we cross-shoot through episodes. So, maintaining continuities is about putting together a big puzzle and seeing a big picture. It’s a huge part of the job. We are very on top of that with pictures and records. I make a spreadsheet, I make a chart, and I make color-coded notes. 

I could probably work for NASA at this point. I feel like I could get a rocket launched with my organizational skills; I may be overstepping there. [Laughs] It’s a lot to maintain, and everybody’s seeing it. I want it to be perfect. The writing, the show, and the acting are incredible; I want no one to be distracted by the hair. I want it to help tell the story; that’s really important to me.

You share videos on social media that aren’t straight-up tutorials; they’re more like mood boards. What’s the thought behind that format? 

I enjoy making those videos. It’s fun to put them together. It’s almost like a meditational thing; looking through everything and fitting it together is satisfying for me. I don’t do tutorials because I feel like I’m such a nerd. Maybe someday I’ll be able to do that, but it just feels like it would be forced for me. I still want to show what we’re doing and celebrate my team, the actors, and the work. 

I get DMs and questions asking, “What did you use?” I have products that I love. Back when I was first thinking about going to beauty school in 1996, I devoured fashion magazines, and my favorite thing was Vogue’s “Behind the Scenes.” What are they doing backstage at a runway show? I would watch movies, and I remember, when I watched “Legally Blonde,” I had no idea she was wearing a wig. I thought, Why can’t I get my hair like that? There was no social media or outlet I knew as a kid in Southern California where I could find that out. So I think it’s fun to share.

This story originally appeared in the Aug. 8 issue of Backstage Magazine.