Hair Color and You

This has been bugging me for a long time. Why is it that hair color is so often associated with the parts you recieve? At least, I have always felt that way. I am a natural blonde. I always get the ingenue or air-heady nothing roles. While brunettes always get the more juicy roles. I will use Wicked as an example because it works the best. First of all, Glinda is blonde. Her character is associated with the blonde wig. When Elphaba describes her, all she needs to say is blonde. In addition, all the people that have played Glinda have had blonde hair (or red, JLT)- Kristin, Megan, Kendra, etc. While Elphaba has black hair, and every actress that has played her has brown hair- Idina, Shoshana, Stephanie, etc. In some ways, I sort of see why they cast this way. But in others, it baffles me and makes me angry. I feel like my hair color will dictate whether I get a part or not. That they would automatically rule me out for Elphaba because I have blonde hair. Anyone else have similar experiences?

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not really. for guys it is much easier. but on audition sheets, or whatever i always put "I am willing to cut/grow/dye my hair for this production."

that sometimes makes them think about placing me in a role they would not associate with my current hair style/color.

Updated On: 5/16/05 at 09:27 PM

oh okay.

Well, I guess it just IS the way it is.. blondes being connected to frivolous characters I guess, if that's what you mean... not meant to offend or anything, it just sort of adds to the character and their personality..but I know where you're coming from

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When I was in High School, I lost the part of Jack in Into the Woods to a redhead. I lost the part of Huck Finn to that same redhead in Big River - and I was cast as Tom Sawyer. The director, idiot that she was, was unaware that Tom was the "redhead".

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I;ve seen it happen, the blonde casting, but it's never happened to me, and I'm blonde.

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Ana Gasteyer...............

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I find me and my friend who is also a blonde get type casted not just in shows but in life. I think I have come to accept it though.

On the same hand I have a friend who is older than me but looks very young. She ALWAYS gets cast as a child--when she has the voice and the talent to be THE STAR!!!

we do a thing called Senior Seminar and for MT majors you get cast as a lead in a show-My young looking friend's senior sem is Urinetown and we were all PISSED cuz we thought she was gonna be Little Sally *little again!* but she was cast as Hope so we don't have to kill anyone! :)

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OK first of all, totally jealous that you guys are doing Urinetown, and really really jealous of your friend who is Hope.

I am blonde, and I have always played the ingenue or ditzy character, and now its become almost a comfort zone for me. If ever a director asks me to step out of the box I get nervous, b/c I am like "I am not comfortable with this!!" Which is a shame, b/c as an actor, you need to always be challenging yourself or playing something different. If I continue to get the meek, starcrossed lover, dimwit parts, I am never going to grow. Plus I have a little sqeaukyish voice, so its really hard for me to play anything that is brazen, fiery, sexy or bold.

When I was in Footloose, my director was constantly telling me to lower my voice, and get sexy to play Ariel, and I had a hard time.

Updated On: 5/16/05 at 11:05 PM

i'm bringing this thread back because i think i agree. looks do matter, no matter how much we want to deny it. i have dark brown hair and i also look very young. i'm a senior who's 18 but people constantly think i'm a freshmen. for some reason i've been getting cast as the older womanly character(i.e. meg in damn yankees). don't really know why...

anyway, i think hair color definitely matters in certain cases. and when you walk into a room to audition, everyone will start judging you imediately, based on your looks alone. there's nothing that you can do to stop this. it's human nature. but when you sing or act, that's when you can change everyone's opinion.

i guess i'm kinda just rambling now. but i'd like to hear other cases of this!

One more thing - LittleFish, does your name refer to the Michael John LaChiusa musical of the same title, starring Jennifer Laura Thompson, Celia Keenan-Bolger, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Marcy Harriell, and other stars? It was at Second Stage several seasons ago, and I really liked it, even though I understood the criticism it received. Haha, maybe I should create my own post . . . sorry for the digression :)

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Updated On: 5/24/05 at 01:22 PM

I have been both blonde and brunette.

I find that when I am blonde, I am always looked at for Revues, cruise ship shows and showgirl-type material.

When I am brunette, I am looked at for straight plays and more serious type work.

Obviously Wicked is not a perfect example, and there are probably no perfect examples. But you get my point.

And thank, TCOF, I try with the title thing.

I actually just died my hair brown after wanting to for years. I did it a couple days ago and haven't had any auditions since then, but we'll see how it goes.

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