How Fake Facial Hair Is Made For Movies & TV | Movies Insider

Sometimes, an actor can’t grow a piece of facial hair they need for a role. Other times, it is better for continuity to be clean shaven. In cases like this, makeup and hair artists will create fake facial hair for performers, from sideburns to mustaches to eyebrows and beards. Makeup artist John Blake of John Blake’s Wigs made a fake beard for some scenes for Kurt Russell in “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.” Pieces like that can be made on a very durable piece of lace, where the artist must painstakingly punch individual hairs into every hole of the piece. These pieces are great for action scenes because they stay tight on the face, but they’re also uncomfortable.
Another method is instead hand laying clumps of hair directly on an actor’s face. Blake did this for John C. Reilly for several scenes in “Walk Hard.” While less durable, hand-laid facial hair allows actors more freedom to move their face around. Meanwhile, this method is also great if you need to add more hairs to an actor’s already existing facial hair, which is what Richard Redlefsen did for actor Martin Starr when he needed to give his character a longer and older-looking beard in HBO’s “Silicon Valley.”
Then, special effects makeup artist Kenneth Calhoun showed us how to float off a beard, which is when you build a beard on a fake head and then take it off as one piece using a brush. They are great for background characters and performers who will only be on set for a short amount of time. In addition, Calhoun also has to put hairs on fake bodies and prosthetic pieces. When punching eyelashes into a fake head, he has to make sure the lashes both fan out and curl.
No matter what the facial hair piece looks like or how it’s made, there are a few things they must follow to look real: they must be a blend of multiple colors, use the correct type of hair for just the right texture, and be styled like any real piece of hair would be.
Thank you to all the makeup artists who provided us with footage and photos. Check out more of their work:
Kenneth Calhoun: / superkenfx
John Blake’s Wigs and Facial Hair: johnblakeswigs...
/ johnblakeswigs
/ johnblakeswigs
Richard Redlefsen: / richardredlefsen
Kristy Staky: / kstaky
/ topknotwigs
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How Fake Facial Hair Is Made For Movies & TV | Movies Insider

[@JustinY.]

Not gonna lie this video is scarier than any horror movie shown within this past year

[@gkhan6710]

Hi Justin!

[@NuhashTheHash]

F

[@karlllllllllllll]

ze fook

[@creamycrappy9372]

I SWEAR TO KZbin-

[@MillieDuu]

Holy shnitz I see you everywhere

[@autumn4838]

They worked so hard for something that we barely pay attention while watching movies.

[@xxxXKPoPXxxx]

If you didn’t notice it then they did their job lol

[@randomstuff3413]

Superman in Justice League

[@jala5293]

But if they did a bad job we would complain so they did a good job

[@thatonegoat501]

Super mans mustach was cgi

[@djdavis6837]

You notice it uncociously just as you interpret peoples emotions.

[@Bandstand]

Answering questions I didn’t know existed

[@CoasterHorizons]

Insider: explained

[@jzv.71]

verified and second reply

[@gunlyte4661]

@ً Um...

[@lurji]

idc cuz verified

[@kerenmolina9915]

it’s crazy how many people are behind this and don’t get recognition

[@joeybaseball7352]

They get a paycheck

[@Someone-zn4dh]

@@joeybaseball7352 they mean the people was not much talked about

[@joeybaseball7352]

@@Someone-zn4dh they aren't supposed to. Their job is to be invisible. If people talk about them, that means they did a bad job. If their work goes unnoticed, that's the greatest compliment they can receive. That means it was so realistic, you didn't even know it was fake.

[@tommyvercitty328]

i dont get recognition for being a cop

[@Mochi-nk4pg]

At first I thought it was a real person that had to put a needle inside their eyes-

[@tulongasalomo1096]

Me two 😂😂

[@zr11289]

Me three😹

[@whaleygrande6611]

Me four 🤪🤣

[@ernysyahfinaz8931]

Fr tho...😂

[@vibecat3307]

me five

[@TheAdnanmajor]

That thumbnail of this video is scary AF!

[@cap5839]

I thought it was something else (͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

[@angelnumber2002]

I think when they first post they make the thumbnail as eye catchinh as possible

[@ssh1487]

I first thought correctly, that it was an eye, but then I thought that it was legit a real face so I was like ok nah these aren’t just eyelash extensions - so then i thought armpit - then vagina - now i realise it’s all prosthetic whoopsie

[@cap5839]

@@ssh1487 bruh you relised vergina last 🤣

[@joontns6336]

@@cap5839 same dude ngl

[@delilah7565]

I feel bad for the guy who had to make Hagrid..

[@adsylvium5736]

Who all thought that they were punching the fake hair directly into the actors body??

[@kindredspirits7646]

Me 😥

[@_lycorisx]

Me

[@safiyah3455]

Me I was creeped out as hell

[@adsylvium5736]

Me too guys

[@adsylvium5736]

@@safiyah3455 me to

[@FingeringThings]

So its like a face wig

[@kayJBayla]

That’s what it is

[@CoasterHorizons]

Whoa

[@DaCheeseIsEpicSubToHim]

ik you

[@Thrill_Hou]

A face -front

[@charfree6888]

*The person who made the thumbnail knows. They know.*

[@charfree6888]

They...they changed the thumbnail. They knew.

[@Drainosk]

?

[@charfree6888]

@@Drainosk tsk tsk..u missed it dude. It was very suggestive

[@charfree6888]

@@Drainosk tsk tsk..u missed it dude. It was very suggestive

[@glorbnorgaborg37yearsago10]

@@charfree6888 what did it look like?

[@Aoxhw]

"Film the flashback after we film all the bearded scenes? What on earth are you talking about?"

[@Okkkkkkk-ol5kz]

When i was a theatre major in undergrad I had to take a production makeup class and we worked with the crepe hair. It was HARD! I gained so much appreciation for makeup artists during that class

[@theoneandonlyMALevolent]

Not centimeters, not millimeters.... *M I C R O M E T E R S*

[@haveanicedaythanks1570]

Lol

[@gottalivehappy]

My profile picture is exactly how I feel right now

[@theoneandonlyMALevolent]

@@gottalivehappy *thanks squarebadge4952, very cool*

[@swallowedinthesea11]

My mum was beside me thinking I was looking at porm from the thumbnail.

[@DuckybeauROBLOX]

💀

[@phos9580]

I saw that thumbnail differently 👁👄👁

[@diiii_mond]

Thought I was the only one😭

[@saimai4630]

😂

[@MsEliteForever]

How you saw it?

[@MsEliteForever]

@ZearyToons A eye?

[@cap5839]

me to 🤣 when I first saw it I was so confused ಠ_ಠ

[@sreejeshsaji5849]

I almost freaked out 🤯 thinking the hair artist was poking a needle 😧 into a real person's eye lids 😳 to put that hair and the actors were not feeling a thing lol 😂.

[@potatoisangry]

0:13 made my eyes pain

[@cameronr323]

I looks so real

[@stinkstink69]

My guy is literally just stating what he thinks and yall are like "woow never knew that" tf??

[@stinkstink69]

Yeah then they should say "yeah it is". Sorry for getting sensitive about this, it pisses me off for some reason when people say stuff like that

[@stinkstink69]

I never said that you can't say what you want, I said that people trying to be sarcastic pisses me off sometimes for some reason, and I'm sorry for that? Where'd you get that you can't say what you want lmao

[@stinkstink69]

The first thing I said was "why did you have to say it like that" and then went into "they should say something else" my bad, I got off track but I'm sticking with what I said in the first comment because I never said that they had to change what they said, I asked a question. I feel like I'm explaining my answer for my language arts class now

[@youtubeking2686]

Why don't they use CGI to make things more real?

[@pallasathena4133]

First of all.... I thought that was a real person laying there, and, they punched that needle deep into the eyelid!!! My solar plexus chakra is still in pain! lol

[@hermark]

3:02 So he shaved for the scene that isn't even on the end and they didn't just filmed him with his beard and film the later parts that isn't the flash back and after there done with the scenes with a beard he should've shaved it for the scene and make the editors arrange the scenes.

[@anastasia183]

Meet cosplayers: they use lasefront already for 7 years straight.

[@mactocmo]

Crazy respect to makeup artist.

[@Aanushka897]

What about the actors who are getting hair punched into them Ouch.

[@arturohuertaperez]

Were they poking a needle to the eyes😱

[@onitaijeoma1450]

I was scared

[@papasscooperiaworker3649]

Inspired Dreamer wdym

[@arandomcat9647]

It was a fake face though it looks real which is a good thing

[@bonkeu]

Imagine stabbing hair into someone's eyelids as a job.

[@diomont8155]

Thank you for this! 👏

[@-...................-]

i thought that was a real face for a moment

[@Mickimoss]

Damn, very very talented to be able to recreate someone's beard.

[@violagentsch]

Very suggestive thumbnail pic. 😆

[@sdarkao9297]

Great job !!!! 4:15 So Handsome!!!!

[@jasonayra2227]

The eyelash punching made my skin crawl

[@PalakJain15]

Saw this video without context on Instagram a few days back. Had a lot of questions as to what was going on. Finally found the answers.

[@Suddgy]

The thumbnail got me thinking Realized it's an eye

[@SeashellMerchant]

Am I the only person confused as to why the Guardians of the Galaxy volume 2 director didn’t film the flashback scene at the end to avoid the extra labor and cost of a fake beard...

[@izellove783]

At the first clip, I actually thought it was a real human

[@MrSpy-jo4je]

I don’t envy their jobs but I do appreciate them more

[@yu.tanaka3322]

God knows what u saw on the thumbnail, you cannot escape

[@ihatezilla8187]

bruh lmao they changed it what was it?

[@CraftyAlli]

What?-

[@gottalivehappy]

what

[@snowvetica1862]

How hair is used in movies and TV in people's recommends: 5,270 people: *interesting*

[@mja532]

1960: I'm 2020 there will be robots and flying cars 2020: Fake hair BTW I appreciate the time it took for them to make this my comment is a little joke 😊😊

[@andreaspath9569]

I don’t think you will respond but I’m going to ask anyway. I’m looking to make my own realistic fake silk eyebrow wig. I know you said angora hair was used to make the fake brows in your video but there is angora rabbit and angora goat hair. Can you please let me know witch one was used? Also, if the lace is we’ll take care of and cleaned properly how many times can it be reused?

[@KillerTacos54]

That is absolutely insane

[@hi-qr9tm]

0:15 i literally flinched

[@iloveporkandchicken4718]

Okay somebody change the thumbnail please!

[@BIOL6895]

What was it?

[@Nograssforyou]

Ugh this video hurts my eyelids in ways I cannot explain😖

[@adrielau5041]

Nice thumbnail

[@GauravSharma-dy8xv]

I thought that thumbnail was something else😂

[@Haaris.Qureshi]

What did you think it was?

[@Mcbruuh]

*I thought the starting was a real human and almost had a panik attack*

[@johnlamarca9439]

Spirit gum is the name of the glue that is used for theatrical makeup… So you know what to ask for when you all shop for it…

[@iamtrash288]

Goodness, can't stop cringing at them needling the hairs into the fake heads

[@sheikhspeare6637]

4:27 Tonight at Gotham, breaking news as video footage suggests Dr. Hugo Strange's beard is fake. Tune in later as our very own team of journalists tries to solve the Riddler's latest puzzle.

[@MrBricksy]

I have no clue how I got here. Great video nonetheless.

[@Lilixxia]

Putting it in an eye like pinning it is scary XD

[@nupursinha1495]

*The only people who can count hair*

[@chamuditharajapaksha]

We need to send this to jj 😂😂

[@rajbhavsar5098]

when u realise the super realistic human head is a real human head *welp i lost my job and he/she lost their sight

[@nealdmiller]

Boy, the actor was real crappy about it too!

[@revelmonger]

Watching this makes me physical hurt.

[@NoodleDoodlesKree8s]

If they sold eyebrows that realistic i would buy those instead of makeup lol

[@amandavines2174]

Imagine getting stabbed in the eye with a needle just to put on fake eyelashes when you can go to Walmart buy some fake eyelashes and put it on with glue

[@franksanchez1716]

How do you make the floating beard can’t find it on KZbin?

[@ineshkademel1137]

I was shocked thinking its a real face at first😳

[@philipeisenberg6984]

Amazing

[@Yes-sp2kh]

I know what you guys were thinking with the thumbnail 😏

[@Drainosk]

?

[@Haaris.Qureshi]

??

[@Barryschitpeas42069]

( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

[@monsieur.Chipmunk]

You should've said that it's a fake head at first, man gave me heart attack

[@sangvapich5373]

IM SORRY BUT...am I the only one who umm thought-??………… 😂 SO SORRY

[@hazzadude1mitchell300]

I thought the thumbnail was....something else😳

[@NathanPa-xo3zj]

Damn became impostor does need time consuming process to give illusion they're real

[@kingkumar1]

3:05 could have shot beard scenes of the movie first then flashback or younger shaved ones later

[@jamesgarrett8833]

Hey Kumar your probably right. But you and me don’t know the schedule of what days the actors would be available because maybe the actress who played Star Lord mom was possibly acting in another movie or tv show and would’ve only been available for one day or two days on set, so that’s means they would’ve had to put filming on the main plot on hold to film the flashback scenes

[@yabze4198]

The thumbnail lookin kinda sus still

[@yabze4198]

@Kiel Anderson First of all I didn’t even say bruh. Second I ain’t the one that gets messed up, I’m the one that messes people up. And by the way I think the problem is with u because if random words remind u of a toilet ur the one that probably gets messed up a lot.

[@ainz5453]

Who else thought they were doing it to a real face?

[@ChloEHopsonSings]

I thought they were stabbing hairs into someone's eyes😂

[@lucius99k]

why thumbnail

[@rashedulkabir6227]

I thought Jhonny Depp beard was all real.

[@sydneyloo5866]

I could _NEVER_

[@jamesgarrett8833]

Hey insider, an idea I have for a future video is how do hairstylists keep actors hair the same length and size all throughout the movie because yeah filming a movie takes months and the hairs would grows longer. So what method do they do to keep the actors head hair the same from the first day to the last day of filming?

[@Barryschitpeas42069]

This is gonna sound *crazy* but they get these people called, "hairdressers" that use these plastic things with metal blades, called "scissors" and they actually *cut the hair* 🤯

[@pingu3984]

@@Barryschitpeas42069 🤣🙈

[@pranav_at_yt]

Plz make a video on the special softwares used by pixar to make incredible animations

[@kinakk6260]

It looks real but now I know they are all fake 😂

[@elijahmoua8901]

imagine poking into the wrong person

[@meetmeatmidn1ght]

I thought it was something else in the thumbnail-

[@b_atanassov]

That thumbnail was... Interesting

[@Drainosk]

Real beard and fake beard?

[@Barryschitpeas42069]

( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

[@mightbeiguess]

2:12 so mini latch hook

[@jothishprabu8]

Ehh why didn't they shoot the flashback scene in the end in Gotg 2?

[@spillme7279]

Ngl the thumbnail got me dirty🤐😧

[@becausehelivees4672]

0:16 so painful to watch 😖

[@gebilato]

y'all had to choose that thumbnail?

[@mohitkhatri9907]

How come actors need fake eyebrows?

[@notgojo491]

Imagine these guys day on the set of the Hobbit movies

[@KathBorup]

LOL My lashes are completely straight/have almost no curl to them 😭

[@mockingbird2681]

Yo your thumbnail is confusing seriously

[@naveencrazy5847]

Didn't it pinch ur heart? 😣

[@劉秋生-m8t]

So hard to look at when they poke the fake hair to the eyes.

[@kaedeakamatsu4059]

This is creepy and disturbing at the same time ...

[@aaronraghav3580]

Paramount didn't know this existed when shooting Mi6??

[@daniela-sb7hy]

Is that hurt?!

[@123maximus9]

Why do my eyes hurt??

[@kaleab27]

I thought he was gonna try the fake beard

[@lovelylipbonesouwwwwwwwolv2198]

The needles piercing the fake human flesh is kinda disturbing

[@Aprilhooks22]

They could of just used got2beglued to put on the mustache 🤣😂😂😂

[@ohmanhotham8823]

Hell yea, not an add every 3, 6 second videos.

[@christinamoore9618]

Interesting

[@mmic6691]

0:09 1mm is 1000μm not 100. (If your american this μm is the sign for micrometers).

[@aadhyachintala8532]

Ngl I thought they were punching into skin lol

[@amank188]

ngl that's a bit stupid :I