In most movies, the main characters have a signature look that lays the groundwork for additional spinoff hairstyles as the plot evolves. The extent of it is usually an updo for a fancy event or maybe the addition of a hair accessory here or there, but mainly, just as we don’t change our entire look day in and day out, most film characters don’t either. However, in “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” we see over 25 different hairstyles on our main character, Evelyn Wang (played by Michelle Yeoh), and each one is vastly different from the next.
The sci-fi drama, which hit theatres on March 25, follows Evelyn, a Chinese immigrant, who has to save the world by traveling through the multiverse. It also stars Jamie Lee Curtis (Deirdre Beaubeirdra) and Stephanie Hsu (Joy Wang).
Because the plot involves Evelyn exploring multiple realities, she has a distinct look for each one, created by the movie’s hair department head, Anissa Salazar. “There is so much happening, as anyone can see from the trailer,” Salazar tells POPSUGAR. “There are so many different looks, from a Chinese opera house, to K-pop star, to a gothic Sailor Moon, to an Elvis pink universe.”
Ahead, learn more about the standout hairstyles you see in “Everything Everywhere All at Once,” from Curtis’s epic blond microbob to Hsu’s pink Elvis wing.
Everett Collection / Courtesy Everett Collection
Michelle Yeoh's "Frazzled" Hairstyle
We’re first introduced to Evelyn in what Salazar calls her principal look. “Evelyn is pretty exhausted and stressed and has a chaotic lifestyle,” she says. “So automatically, I knew she wasn’t going to have a beautiful blowout.”
Though her signature hairstyle may not look all that impressive, it was essential to the storytelling. “It was important that she looked very distressed and frazzled, and she’s always in a hurry and easily irritated,” Salazar says. The disheveled look provided contrast from the other versions of herself in the multiverse.
Everett Collection / Courtesy Everett Collection
Jamie Lee Curtis's Microbob and Bangs
There’s a funny story behind the shaggy microbob hairstyle Curtis wears in the movie – it was all her own doing. “Jamie actually pulled that photo off of one of our mood boards,” Salazar says. “She said, ‘I just want to be her. This is my goal now for the movie.'” The image that was calling to her was a stock photo of an IRS tax agent who she says “looked very angry.”
The agent in the photo had microbangs and a very short bob to match in a faded blond color. “It was very unkept, a little messy,” Salazar says. “[Curtis] just fully embodied that character. She let out her gut, her posture changed. She even wore a signature Deirdre scent every day.”
Courtesy of A24 / Allyson Riggs
Stephanie Hsu's Pink Wig in the Elvis Universe
Evelyn’s daughter Joy makes an appearance in the “Elvis universe,” complete with Elvis’s white bedazzled costume and shoulder-length pink lob. “We knew that she was going to have a rad Elvis costume; we knew that she was going to be walking a pig – a pink pig, obviously – and we knew that there was going to be some type of pink smoke,” Salazar says. Immediately, the film’s director, Daniel Scheinert, said Joy needed a pink wig to round it out. “I thought it would be really fun to kind of create something that was on trend with an ombré effect [with] a deep root.”
But they didn’t stop there. “I added a bunch of glitter on the root,” Salazar says. This complemented the winged diamond eyeliner, face gems, and glitter lip created by the film’s makeup department head, Michelle Chung, as well as the embellishments on the Elvis suit.
Courtesy of A24 / Allyson Riggs
The Chinese Opera Singer Hairstyle
The most ornate look in “Everything Everywhere All at Once” is the one Evelyn wears as a Chinese opera singer. “Not only did I spend hours on YouTube researching behind the scenes of how these performers get ready and understanding why they chose certain styles and certain colours, [but] it was important to me to make sure that I’m representing that community and that look specifically in every little detail,” Salazar says.
Traditionally, tree sap was used to build the shape of the hair, so Salazar searched for an alternative product that would mimic the look and feel. “I ended up using a gel that I could form and rewet and place on her head day of,” she says. And once the headpiece was added by the movie’s costume designer, it all came together.
