{"id":1120,"date":"2026-03-10T08:13:37","date_gmt":"2026-03-10T00:13:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sasgai.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/10\/inside-sarah-pidgeons-10000-carolyn-bessette-kennedy-hair-transformation\/"},"modified":"2026-03-10T08:13:37","modified_gmt":"2026-03-10T00:13:37","slug":"inside-sarah-pidgeons-10000-carolyn-bessette-kennedy-hair-transformation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sasgai.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/10\/inside-sarah-pidgeons-10000-carolyn-bessette-kennedy-hair-transformation\/","title":{"rendered":"Inside Sarah Pidgeon\u2019s $10,000 Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy Hair Transformation"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div>\n<p><em>In<\/em> The Scenario<em>, reporter Kirbie Johnson takes readers behind the scenes of the buzziest movies and TV shows to reveal how the best wigs, special effects makeup, and more are created. For this edition, Johnson spoke with<\/em> <em>Barry Lee Moe, Kari Hill, and Alex Pardoe\u2014the hair team behind Sarah Pidgeon\u2019s look in \u201cLove Story&#8221;\u2014to break down the cost of becoming Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>When Ryan Murphy Productions, the team behind FX\u2019s much-anticipated limited series <em>Love Story,<\/em> shared a first-look image of actor Sarah Pidgeon as Carolyn Bessette-Kenedy, it caused a public hair crisis. Bessette-Kennedy is an icon because of her effortless style, but anyone with eyes could see the wig placed on Pidgeon was anything but: It was too blonde, too too flat, too fake. The wig looked nothing like CBK&#8217;s buttery &#8217;90 blonde, and it sent the internet into a tailspin.<\/p>\n<p>Murphy would later reveal to Puck News that he posted the photos to get the press off the actors\u2019 backs, but the decision had the opposite effect. The outcry to CBK\u2019s fashion and beauty was fast and fierce, resulting in the production company removing the images from the internet and bringing in a new behind-the-scenes team. \u201cWe knew that the wig wasn&#8217;t going to sell the energy of this,\u201d says Barry Lee Moe, Pidgeon\u2019s hairstylist on the project, who started on the show after Wiggate, along with costume designer Rudy Mance, colorist Kari Hill, and extension specialist Alex Pardoe. \u201cWe came in as \u2018Team CBK,\u2019 and had a week to overhaul everything. With Carolyn, she is the epitome of lived-in luxury\u2014easy, effortless, carefree\u2014and it needed to feel like it was her hair.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Moe, who also transformed Lily James in her turn as Pamela Anderson in <em>Pam &amp; Tommy,<\/em> said it could have been possible to craft the perfect wig for Pidgeon if they had more time. But given the time constraints, they had to build the character utilizing Pidgeon\u2019s natural hair. \u201cWe were looking at a six-month shoot and changing the hair color throughout,\u201d says Moe. \u201c[We wanted] Sarah&#8217;s hair to be healthy. It had to look effortless. It had to look real. So how do we get there?\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"GroupCalloutWrapper-dilQaj klodgC callout callout--group callout--group-2\" data-testid=\"GroupCalloutWrapper\">\n<figure class=\"AssetEmbedWrapper-iJvQnD cOWUYC asset-embed callout--group-item callout--group-item-1\">\n<div class=\"AssetEmbedAssetContainer-fnduJP iaVSwI asset-embed__asset-container\"><span class=\"SpanWrapper-kFnjvc eKnjjD responsive-asset AssetEmbedResponsiveAsset-gaAbQ hXaxHA asset-embed__responsive-asset\"><picture class=\"ResponsiveImagePicture-jKunQM gjCCFj AssetEmbedResponsiveAsset-gaAbQ hXaxHA asset-embed__responsive-asset responsive-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Actor Sarah Pidgeon at the I Know What You Did Last Summer Trailer Launch Event sitting in a dirfector's chair and...\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"ResponsiveImageContainer-dkeESL cQPiWi responsive-image__image\" srcset=\"https:\/\/media.allure.com\/photos\/69ab1f37f941521973bc9d13\/3:4\/w_120,c_limit\/GettyImages-2220186115.jpg 120w, https:\/\/media.allure.com\/photos\/69ab1f37f941521973bc9d13\/3:4\/w_240,c_limit\/GettyImages-2220186115.jpg 240w, https:\/\/media.allure.com\/photos\/69ab1f37f941521973bc9d13\/3:4\/w_320,c_limit\/GettyImages-2220186115.jpg 320w, https:\/\/media.allure.com\/photos\/69ab1f37f941521973bc9d13\/3:4\/w_640,c_limit\/GettyImages-2220186115.jpg 640w, https:\/\/media.allure.com\/photos\/69ab1f37f941521973bc9d13\/3:4\/w_960,c_limit\/GettyImages-2220186115.jpg 960w, https:\/\/media.allure.com\/photos\/69ab1f37f941521973bc9d13\/3:4\/w_1280,c_limit\/GettyImages-2220186115.jpg 1280w, https:\/\/media.allure.com\/photos\/69ab1f37f941521973bc9d13\/3:4\/w_1600,c_limit\/GettyImages-2220186115.jpg 1600w\" sizes=\"100vw\" src=\"https:\/\/media.allure.com\/photos\/69ab1f37f941521973bc9d13\/3:4\/w_1600%2Cc_limit\/GettyImages-2220186115.jpg\"\/><\/picture><\/span><\/div>\n<p><span class=\"BaseText-fEwdHD CaptionText-cQpRdU izcOBd hbiMYj caption__text\">Actor Sarah Pidgeon at the &#8220;I Know What You Did Last Summer&#8221; Trailer Launch Event, sitting in a dirfector&#8217;s chair and holding a mic.<\/span><span class=\"BaseText-fEwdHD CaptionCredit-cUgOGk foWpck hRFzlA caption__credit\" credittextstyle=\"default\">Getty Images<\/span><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<figure class=\"AssetEmbedWrapper-iJvQnD cOWUYC asset-embed callout--group-item callout--group-item-2\">\n<div class=\"AssetEmbedAssetContainer-fnduJP iaVSwI asset-embed__asset-container\"><span class=\"SpanWrapper-kFnjvc eKnjjD responsive-asset AssetEmbedResponsiveAsset-gaAbQ hXaxHA asset-embed__responsive-asset\"><picture class=\"ResponsiveImagePicture-jKunQM gjCCFj AssetEmbedResponsiveAsset-gaAbQ hXaxHA asset-embed__responsive-asset responsive-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Actress Sarah Pidgeon as Carolyn BessetteKennedy in a still from FX's Love Story.\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"ResponsiveImageContainer-dkeESL cQPiWi responsive-image__image\" srcset=\"https:\/\/media.allure.com\/photos\/69ab1e8099266723c7bf1a90\/3:4\/w_120,c_limit\/11.jpg 120w, https:\/\/media.allure.com\/photos\/69ab1e8099266723c7bf1a90\/3:4\/w_240,c_limit\/11.jpg 240w, https:\/\/media.allure.com\/photos\/69ab1e8099266723c7bf1a90\/3:4\/w_320,c_limit\/11.jpg 320w, https:\/\/media.allure.com\/photos\/69ab1e8099266723c7bf1a90\/3:4\/w_640,c_limit\/11.jpg 640w, https:\/\/media.allure.com\/photos\/69ab1e8099266723c7bf1a90\/3:4\/w_960,c_limit\/11.jpg 960w, https:\/\/media.allure.com\/photos\/69ab1e8099266723c7bf1a90\/3:4\/w_1280,c_limit\/11.jpg 1280w, https:\/\/media.allure.com\/photos\/69ab1e8099266723c7bf1a90\/3:4\/w_1600,c_limit\/11.jpg 1600w\" sizes=\"100vw\" src=\"https:\/\/media.allure.com\/photos\/69ab1e8099266723c7bf1a90\/3:4\/w_1600%2Cc_limit\/11.jpg\"\/><\/picture><\/span><\/div>\n<p><span class=\"BaseText-fEwdHD CaptionCredit-cUgOGk foWpck hRFzlA caption__credit\" credittextstyle=\"default\">Kurt Iswarienko for FX<\/span><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p><strong>Creating Two Versions of Historic Color<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The trio had their work cut out for them. Pidgeon came in with a brunette bob, which, given the length of her natural hair, could be detected if left to inexperienced stylists. The passage of time also posed a challenge, as the bleach and dye used to create Bessette-Kennedy\u2019s sunny blonde in the \u201990s have come a long way. Everything from how Moe styled the hair and the color technique Hill used, to the amount of hair used in each bonded extension Pardoe applied, had to be purposeful and exact.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In The Scenario, reporter Kirbie Johnson takes readers behind the scenes of the buzziest movies and TV shows to reveal how the best wigs, special effects makeup, and more are created. For this edition, Johnson spoke with Barry Lee Moe, Kari Hill, and Alex Pardoe\u2014the hair team behind Sarah Pidgeon\u2019s look in \u201cLove Story&#8221;\u2014to break [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1121,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[55],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1120","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-beauty"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sasgai.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1120","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sasgai.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sasgai.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sasgai.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sasgai.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1120"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sasgai.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1120\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sasgai.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1121"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sasgai.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1120"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sasgai.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1120"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sasgai.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1120"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}