I call this the penis head, she says, pointing to the stretchy, fleshy, nylon.
Chloe looksgreatin period wigs, she says in a soft Bronx accent.
She wears the wig, the wig does not wear her.
Photographed by Caroline Tompkins
Its the highest of praise from Mancuso, the longtime hair designer head at the live sketch comedy show.
Drawn in sharpie are their exact hairlines and ear placement.
Mancuso always had the sense that she was destined to do hair.
Jodi Mancuso,Saturday Night Live’shead hair designer, puts a wig on Chloe Fineman.
Her uncle styled on Broadway, and her mother used to cut her friends hair in the kitchen.
Despite being untrained, she wasamazingat it.
We weirdly always had a knack for hair, Mancuso says now.
“She wears the wig, the wig does not wear her,” Mancuso says of the actor.
Jodi Mancuso,Saturday Night Liveshead hair designer, puts a wig on Chloe Fineman.
“She wears the wig, the wig does not wear her,” Mancuso says of the actor.
I just loved it, she says.
Political wigs from this season ofSaturday Night Live.
Then, in her 20s, she had children and took a break from the hair business.
For a time, she and her husband ran a pizzeria together, but Mancuso was miserable.
After two years, I was like, Oh God, I can’t do this anymore.
During a live show Mancuso oversees 21 other hair designers as they usher each cast member between multiple wigs.
I have to go back to being a creative person.
When youre not being creative, you feel like youre slowly dying, she says now.
She called her friend who was still in the business.
Donald Trump, Mancuso says, has been the most challenging wig of her career thus far.
Did he haveanyhair she could do?
Twenty-three yearsand eight Emmys for outstanding hairstyling for a variety, nonfiction, or reality program latershes still there.
Political wigs from this year ofSaturday Night Live.
Fineman flips through her wig binder, which contains polaroids of her in every wig she’s ever worn on the show.
Of the 14 that are chosen, nearlyallof them involve wigs.
After the table read, Mancuso works with the writers to flesh out the vision for their characters.
Oftentimes a sketch will be: This guy has crazy hair, cast member Mikey Day says.
Fineman tries on one of her wigs. The actor admits toVoguethat one of Mancuso’s wigs inspired her own current hairstyle.
And, you know, she has to figure it out.
Needless to say, he adds, She always delivers.
During a live show Mancuso oversees 21 other hair designers as they usher each cast member between multiple wigs.
The wigs of Wayne’s World.
Alec Baldwins Donald Trump, by far.
You cant really trust pictures a lot of timecolor-wise, Mancuso explains.
So she cross-referenced pictures of him both inside and outside, besides closely studying videos.
“Chloe looksgreatin period wigs,” Mancuso says of Fineman.
Donald Trump, Mancuso says, has been the most challenging wig of her career thus far.
After a sketch is over, every wig is filed away.
Then, a polaroid is taken and put into the actors wig binder.
Molly Shannon and Anna Gasteyer’s wigs from their reoccurring “Delicious Dish” sketch, where they plaid two uncharismatic N.P.R. hosts.
(The largest binder by far belongs to Kenan Thompson.
If it is for a hostor if a cast member leavesits filed into the wig wall.
As its name suggests, the wig wall is an entire wall of storage cabinets in a hallway.
Fineman in Sarah Sherman’s “self” wig—or the realistic wig each cast member has that mimics their own hair.
Open a random oneas this writer didand you may stumble upon Darrell Hammonds Al Gore wig.
(Move to gray?
reads a note on the bag.)
Will Farrell’s wig from the famous “More Cowbell” sketch. While many S.N.L. wigs are reused and restyled, some become so iconic that they are essentially retired like a sports jersey.
Fineman tries on one of her wigs.
The actor admits toVoguethat one of Mancuso’s wigs inspired her own current hairstyle.
Many of these archival wigs get restyled and repurposed season to season.
Fineman in a wig she wore during the recent “Sábado Gigante” sketch.
Out of respect to the actors, theyll never touch another head.
And maybe out of respect to us, too.
On a Halloween Night in the West Village, I walked out of my building and onto the street.
Mancuso in TheSaturday Night Livehair room. Each drawer is labeled with a current cast member and holds their fitted wigs for that season.
Excuse me, he said, his orange curl bouncing as he went.
The wigs of Wayne’s World.
Chloe looksgreatin period wigs, Mancuso says of Fineman.
Fineman in Sarah Sherman’s self wigor the realistic wig each cast member has that mimics their own hair.
Will Farrell’s wig from the famous More Cowbell sketch.
wigs are reused and restyled, some become so iconic that they are essentially retired like a sports jersey.
Fineman in a wig she wore during the recent Sabado Gigante sketch.
Mancuso in TheSaturday Night Livehair room.
Each drawer is labeled with a current cast member and holds their fitted wigs for that season.
