19 Times Celebs Wore Fake Hair In Movies And TV Shows And Tricked Us All Into Believing It Was Real

1.Miley Cyrus recently revealed that she wore "250 individual hair extensions" to achieve her signature look, best seen in the final seasons of Hannah Montana. "If it was under 250, my mom wasn’t having it. Tish [Miley's mom] would say, 'We need another row!'" she explained.

Young woman smiling, posing with hands under chin in a playful manner, wearing a casual outfit, in a decorated bedroom setting
Craig Sjodin / © Disney Channel / Courtesy Everett Collection

2.Taika Waititi wore a wig to play Blackbeard on Our Flag Means Death. He actually hated wearing it, though, and said, "It was very annoying to wear the beard and the wig. No one ever likes it. Also, you can't have a real conversation with someone because all the glue keeps your whole face tight, and as soon as you actually smile properly, it breaks all the glue, and things start peeling off."

Bearded man in leather jacket, tattoos visible, points forward on a ship's deck
Max / Warner Bros.

3.Ted Danson wore a hairpiece on Cheers to cover his receding hairline. At first, he'd wear it all the time — even when he was at home — but eventually felt comfortable enough with his hair that he could leave the hairpiece at work.

A person in a suit with a tie poses against a plain background, looking directly at the camera, featured in a TV and Movies article
Paramount Television / ©Paramount Television/Courtesy Everett Collection

4.Rachel McAdams wore a wig when she played Regina George in Mean Girls. According to her costar, Rajiv Surendra, Rachel didn't want to bleach all of her hair but agreed to lighten the front pieces so the wig could look realistic.

A person stands in front of open locker doors, wearing a red top and a necklace, with long hair, displaying a confident expression

5.Rachel Zegler wore a wig to play Lucy Gray Baird in The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes. She said that the wig was what helped her get into character each day. "I had really short brown hair, and I'm wearing a wig for the entirety of the film. And getting into that wig every morning was just kind of like … the last piece to flip the switch and say, 'This is who we are today.' So I absolutely felt that for Lucy Gray," she said.

Actor crouched in a dramatic scene, wearing a light top and pastel tulle skirt. Background features industrial setting
Lionsgate / Courtesy Everett Collection

6.Brandon Parea wore a wig in Twisters even though his character Boone wore hats for most of the movie.

Person in a car looks surprised, wearing a cap and bandana, holding a camera with a microphone, another person is seen in the background
Universal Pictures /Courtesy Everett Collection

7.Robin Tunney wore a wig for The Craft because, at the time, her head was shaved for the movie Empire Records, which wrapped a month before.

A woman in a dramatic scene, wearing a dark top and a light skirt, extends her hand over a lit candle surrounded by ritualistic items
Columbia Pictures / courtesy Everett Collection

8.Tessa Thompson wore a $10,000 wig for Thor: Ragnarok. At the time, she was also filming the movie Sorry To Bother You, in which she dyed her hair neon orange.

Person sitting in a futuristic chair, smiling, with styled hair and face makeup, wearing a sci-fi costume
Marvel / © Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures /Courtesy Everett Collection

9.Kate Winslet wore a two-toned colored wig when she starred in Mare of Easttown. The makeup team added hair to her eyebrows too. "For this role, we wanted to change me, but not in obvious ways. It's amazing what you can do when you change the hair and change the person's clothes to what you're used to seeing," she said.

Person in casual outerwear stands outside a building with a police sign, appearing focused and thoughtful

10.Paget Brewster wore a black wig while playing Emily Prentiss on Criminal Minds. In 2018, she decided to cut off her dyed hair and let it grow in her natural gray color. She's since donned her gray hair in Criminal Minds: Evolution.

Actor with straight, dark hair wearing a casual top, looking slightly to the side, appears concerned in a dramatic TV scene
Paramount / CBS

11.Sarah Paulson ended up wearing four different wigs to play Marcia Clark in American Crime Story: The People v. O.J. Simpson. When filming for the show wrapped, she asked if she could keep her "chia pet wig" so she could keep it in a box and put it whenever she wanted to.

A courtroom scene with a person in a pinstripe suit, appearing emotional, with people seated in the background, likely during a trial
FX

12.Bob Odenkirk wore hair pieces for the entirety of Better Call Saul. Since the series is a prequel to Breaking Bad, his character is supposed to be several years younger. Then, over the course of the series, as his character lost his hair, the wigs became thinner.

A man in a striped suit uses a public payphone on a city sidewalk, looking pensive
Amc / ©AMC / courtesy Everett Collection

13.Ariana Grande wore a wig in her series Sam & Cat. After bleaching and dyeing her hair red for Victorious, Ariana said the process "destroyed" her hair. The wig helped her avoid any more damage.

Actress with long hair wearing a casual hoodie in front of an ATM machine in a scene from a TV show
Nickelodeon

14.Dacre Montgomery wore a wig to play Billy on Stranger Things. He explained in Season 2 that it was his actual hair on top and a wig for the sides of the mullet, but by Season 3, he wore a full wig.

A person with wavy hair wearing a denim jacket stands outdoors, looking pensively into the distance. Forest and buildings are in the background
Courtesy Netflix / ©Netflix/Courtesy Everett Collection / Everett Collection

15.Kristen Stewart wore "really uncomfortable" extensions when she played Bella Swan in the Twilight movies.

A young woman stands outside, holding a backpack, with a serious expression. A vintage truck is parked behind her, set against a forest backdrop
Summit

16.Jennifer Lawrence wore wigs for the final two Hunger Games movies because her hair was so damaged from dyeing it for the first two films. During her breaks between films, Jennifer would want to go back to blonde, so she'd spend hours bleaching it only to dye it dark again. She finally ended up cutting it into a pixie to get rid of the damage.

Actress dressed as Katniss Everdeen in tactical gear with a quiver of arrows, standing amidst a crowd, likely a scene from a film
Lions Gate / ©Lions Gate/courtesy Everett Collecti / Everett Collection

17.John Krasinski wore a wig for a few episodes of The Office because he had to cut his hair to appear in the movie Leatherheads. At first, producers told him not to cut his hair because they didn't want him to wear a wig, but he cut it anyway. Then, at a meeting, he showed up secretly wearing a wig that looked exactly like Jim's shaggy bowl cut.

Person in an office setting looks at the camera, wearing a shirt and tie, next to computer monitor and office supplies
NBC

18.Julianna Margulies wore a $10,000 wig for The Good Wife. She explained that since she has naturally curly hair, it would be much faster to style it with a wig. "My own hair is very curly, and they wanted her to look coiffed and have straight hair," she said. "I thought, 'Oh my God, 22 episodes a year, 14 hours a day,' and if the weather changes, my hair starts growing like a Chia pet."

Woman with wavy shoulder-length hair in a structured blazer, appearing thoughtful in an indoor setting
Paramount / CBS

19.Finally, Ashley Benson wore a wig during Season 4 of Pretty Little Liars. She said she was "tired" of being blonde and dyed her hair brunette, but her PLL character was iconically blonde, so she was forced to wear a wig.

Actress in a dramatic scene, wearing a patterned top with a blazer, looking focused and concerned
Freeform