“The Little Mermaid” Hair Interview Behind the Scenes

In real life, Bailey wears her hair in dreadlocks, and it was important to her to keep them in the film, without a wig. “After talking to Halle, she really wanted to keep her hair natural,” says Friend. They had to figure out how to translate the style into this other world, adjusting director Rob Marshall’s vision as he changed her color.

When the subject of hair color came up, Friend knew she had to find a solution that would work best for Bailey. She was worried about dyeing her entire head red and the damage that would cause, so Friend came up with a solution. In partnership with a company called Plus Extensions Based in California, Friend sourced three custom shades of 30-inch red hair extensions made to cover Bailey’s dreadlocks.

“We started mixing the colors, starting with the darkest and going to the lightest and literally taking and wrapping each of his dreadlocks with this hair,” says Friend. The whole process required three stylists and took two days, but once it was done, they were on for a while. “You could stay in your hair for six to eight weeks and then touch up in between, because when you’re in the water, it’s a little hard on the hair,” says Friend.