NAKED CITY: THE NOT SO SUBTLE ART OF WIG WRANGLING
The story has it that actor Jack Nance really hated wearing the wig that helped propel him to cult immortality in David Lynch’s Eraserhead. Even within the bizarre context of the film itself it was a convincing prosthetic and many believed it was Nance’s own prolific foliage – teased to within an inch of its life.
Unfortunately the same can’t be said about the quality of hairpieces in the forthcoming Channel Nine mini series, Howzat, a much vaunted docudrama that promises to spill the behind the scenes beans on Kerry Packer’s groundbreaking World Series Cricket. While we will have to wait until after the Olympics to view another of Nine’s “drama events of the year”, we have already been bombarded with an avalanche of promos – and one thing really stands out.
Yes it’s the wigs, in particular those sported by the numerous cricketers portrayed in the series who admittedly in real life were all victims of some dastardly fashion extravagances that existed in the late 70s. While it’s too much to ask modern-day actors to suddenly grow wind flapping mullets and chin tickling side burns, you would think that the makeup and costume departments would pull out a rabbit and deliver a reasonably convincing hairpiece.
Maybe we are just being too critical but most of the rugs in Howzat look like they were sourced from the Halloween department of Cec Cook’s Magic Shop (for those who can remember). Even Packer’s own hairpiece looks like it was applied with a can of the spray-on hair once endorsed by Rugby League immortal Wally Lewis.
Yes there is a subtle art to wig wrangling, particularly when it comes to television and the movies. It’s no secret that many celebrities wear hairpieces and some like Bert Newton and David Letterman are happy to include their rugs in their regular schtick of jokes and self-deprecating humour. Others are a lot more guarded and any mention of their hairpiece is strictly off limits. Tough guy John Wayne wore a hairpiece throughout much of his career and was reportedly ambivalent when it came to discussing it. A few year’s ago a rug he wore in the 1967 movie El Dorado went up for auction and no doubt is now a proud inclusion in somebody’s movie memorabilia – they could even be wearing it!
The importance of a good theatrical wig in any TV drama or feature film cannot be underestimated. It’s claimed by some psychologists that the first thing we identify with, albeit subconsciously, in meeting somebody new is the state of their hair (that must be true as we checked the details in Wigipedia!). Similarly when watching TV or a movie our eyes are immediately drawn to the character’s mane. Any suspicion that a rug is involved makes the job of the actor all that more difficult in convincing us he or she is real and not a caricature.
Given what seems like a prevalence of bad wigs in Australian TV we would love to see a special gong in next year’s Logies, awarded in the category of “Best Performance In A Drama Despite The Actor Wearing A Bad Wig”. Maybe Bert could present the lucky recipient with the coveted Gold Toupee and if the promos are any indication Howzat is a hot favourite to take out the inaugural award.
