Even We Have to Admit Gillian Anderson Pulls Off Margaret Thatcher's Famous Bouffant

Published on 10/30/2020 at 10:00 AM

Gillian Anderson's résumé is packed with powerful film and TV roles, this we know. In fact, her role as Dana Scully on The X-Files is even credited as being the catalyst for many young women to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields, now known as "the Scully effect." But if you thought Anderson couldn't get more iconic, you should see her as Margaret Thatcher in the fourth season of The Crown.

If you thought re-creating Princess Diana's beauty looks on screen would be difficult, imagine bringing the "Iron Lady" to life. Turns out, her iconic bouffant was more difficult than one would imagine. According to Cate Hall, makeup and hair designer for The Crown seasons three and four, everything from the color to the famous volume posed a challenge. In a recent Netflix press release, Hall shared exactly how she and her team helped Anderson fully transform into Britain's first woman prime minister. Spoiler alert: it involved a lot of experimentation.

Thatcher Went Through a Lot of Hair Dye

"It became clear that Thatcher dyed her hair constantly and, consequently, it changed color as it faded. The wigmakers used a huge selection of colors in the wig and we revisited it after camera-testing several times to add more highlights."

Thatcher's political achievements were unprecedented, and apparently, so was her specific hair color. "It took a lot of work to achieve the right color and texture hair for Thatcher," Hall said, adding that she prepared for months ahead of production, collecting photo research for each character. Still, it wasn't until she completed a book of images for Anderson's character that she realized the color would specifically be a challenge. "It became clear that [Thatcher] dyed her hair constantly and, consequently, it changed color as it faded," Hall said. "I didn't want to dye her wig to achieve that false golden tone, as I knew it would read badly and be unreliable on camera. So, the wigmakers used a huge selection of colors in the wig and we revisited it after camera testing several times to add more highlights."

According to Hall, because Anderson needed so many color changes, her character required at least three different wigs throughout the season: "We [started] with an iconic golden 'brand Thatcher' wig for episodes one through five, a deeper red tone for episode eight and, finally, a flatter, extra highlighted and thinned wig for episode 10."

The Bulletproof Bouffant

While the color changed regularly, the prime minister's voluminous bouffant shape never wavered. Not one strand of hair was ever out of place, that's for sure. "[Makeup artist] Stacey Holman experimented for weeks to find a method which would achieve the bouffant that Thatcher was so well known for," Hall said, recalling that they finally settled on an extensive process of dry baking and back combing, essentially destroying the hair structure in the wig.

Don't Expect to See Prosthetics

Unlike Meryl Streep in The Iron Lady, Anderson apparently did not wear any prosthetics to resemble Thatcher. Hall noted that, typically, her team focuses on re-creating recognizable hair and makeup styles but let the actors do the rest in their performance.

"We use makeup subtly, but tend not to use prosthetics or teeth appliances unless we feel they are subtle enough not to be noticed," Hall said. And Thatcher's makeup was certainly simple; Hall and her team barely used any base makeup at all on Anderson and none at all during her final, older years, specifically in episode 10.