Capitol Citizens Wigs in the Hunger Games Movie

Here is an article from The Los Angeles Times featuring Hunger Games movie's lead hair colorist Cherry Petenbrink. Hear what Cherry has to say on how the Capitol citizens are brought to life.

“The look of the Capitol as it’s described in the book is bright and we stayed true to that,” says Petenbrink, who dyed more than 600 wigs and hair pieces for main characters and extras in the film. “The color couldn’t look ’80s punk, it had to be very high fashion in a couture kind of way.”

How does one make a neon and pastel wig eye-catching with embracing the right feeling? Well it was no easy task. Petenbrink says there was a real mix of time periods. She referenced the ’20s and ’40s as well as Edwardian and Victorian eras, adding that while there are a lot of brights, there are also strange and antique shades like mustard yellow and moss green.

But the key was to keep a refined finish to the hair seen in the Capitol, even if it was an offbeat color. “The people in the Capitol are very refined, almost like a big group of old moneyed people that get together,” she says. “A very rich and disturbing group of people.”

Petenbrink went with candy colored pastels such as pink, lavender and chartreuse for Effie Trinket, played by Elizabeth Banks. Lead hairstylist Linda Flowers gave Banks what she calls “exaggerated Afro texture,” which was tempered by elegant 1930s finger waves in the front. The mix of traditional and out-there is what Flowers refers to as “contemporary classic.”  “We did exaggerated chignons and other classic shapes that from a distance are perceived as very beautiful, but then you get up close you see that they’re green or pink!

“The color is all very bright and intense but in a very couture, chic kind of way,” says Petenbrink, who used Joico’s Vero K-PAK Color Intensity semi-permanent hair colors to dye all the hair.

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Seventeen's Interview With Hunger Games Movie Stylist Linda Flowers

Here is Seventeen's interview with Linda Flowers, the head hairstylist of the Hunger Games movie. Read and learn her techniques in creating Katniss' hairstyle with her "Girl on Fire" costume.

Seventeen: What was your inspiration for the hairstyles you came up with for the characters in the movie?

Linda Flowers: I collaborated a lot with Judianna Makovsky, our costume designer. I looked at the clothes and they are cut very classically and are very beautifully tailored. I knew the hair needed to have harmony with that. I used very contemporary shapes and deep finger waves from the 30s and 40s and looser ones from the 50s with the bright colors. Then, I incorporated weird fuzzy textures into these classic styles. I mixed classic hairstyles and shapes with contemporary colors and textures. Everybody loved it!

17: Were any of the actresses super excited about her hair?

LF: Elizabeth Banks, who plays Effie! Her hair was a challenge because the books describe her hair as having a lot of colors, like orange and aqua. I wanted to make sure it looked beautiful and couture, not like a Halloween party. I wanted it to look really beautiful. It has to look right on screen or else we lose people in believing that this is a really sophisticated and advanced culture of people.

17: I think the image that has already become an iconic Hunger Games photo is Katniss with the side braid. Can you share your tips on achieving that style? 

LF: Jennifer Lawrence's style had to be a really functioning hairstyle for her character. She was an archer who hunted amd protected herself with a bow and arrow. Her hair needed to be contained so when she reached back and pulled out an arrow, her hair wouldn't be getting in the way. I styled her hair by starting from the left of the ear and did a reverse French braid, where the braid is on top instead of the bottom. Then, I just looped it all the way around, cupping her nape and coming around to the right. It really hugs her head as it comes down toward the nape, giving her maximum control and keeping it out of the way of her bow and arrows.

17: Jennifer had to run around a lot during filming. What products did you use to keep the braid in place?

LF: The styling tool that everybody used that became very popular on set was the Top Styler made by InStyler. It's a new tool that just launched. And of course, hairspray! But more than anything, the Top Styler was important because it was able to make all those different textures that you usually need a lot of different hair tools for. When I was doing Jennifer Lawrence's hair, I would use the Top Styler to give her hair texture before I braided it. So it was more the styling tools than products. Products help, but they don't give you the texture and movement you need.

17: Can you give any hints as to how you styled Jennifer Lawrence's hair for the first time we see Katniss as "the girl on fire" in the parade?

LF: I can! During the chariot ride, I made a helmut out of hair. It looks like a headpiece, almost Gladiator-like. The main headdress lookes like a helmut out of different types of braids. I used basket weaving, plaiting, French braids, everything. There were 10 different braids in there and I made this headdress out of braids.

17: Were any of the guys, like Liam Hemsworth and Josh Hutcherson particuarly picky about their hair?

LF: Stanley Tucci, who plays Ceaser Flickerman, had a blue wig, just like in the book. We put a lot of wigs on guys. I was using anywhere between 400 and 450 wigs and hair extensions on set. Almost everybody had something! You would think that the guys would be easy, but they weren't in the Capitol. Josh
Hutcherson's hair had to be colored blonde, which is a bleaching process and Liam's hair had to go darker.

17: What wad the vibe like on set?

LF: Oh, it was fun! Everyone worked so hard and such long hours, so there's always fatigue. But everyone on the movie was really nice and really into The Hunger Games. We definitely fed off each other's energy!

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