80 Wigs & Zero Dress Rehearsal: Inside the Hair and Makeup Magic That Made “SNL50” Possible

When Saturday Night Live first aired in October 1975, no one could have predicted it would become a cornerstone of American culture. Now, five decades later, Lorne Michaels and company have celebrated another milestone with SNL50: The Anniversary Special, a three-hour telecast directed by Liz Patrick, which brought together Studio 8H legends onto one stage.

With a star-studded cast that included current performers, alumni, and surprise guests, the hair and makeup departments faced one of their most ambitious challenges to date. Led by hair department head Jodi Mancuso and makeup department head Louie Zakarian, the teams brought back a number of beloved characters, their specific looks intact. With a little bit of precision and creativity, the glam squads looked to custom wigs, bald caps, and prosthetics to help performers slip seamlessly back into characters some hadn’t played in decades – all of which required a complete transformation under a very tight turnaround.

Below, Mancuso and Zakarian sort through the blur of brushes and tools to share how they brought back some of SNL‘s most beloved characters, one perfectly coifed wig at a time.

HAIR

The hair department consisted of: Jodi Mancuso, department head hairstylist; Cara Hannah, key hairstylist; Inga Thrasher, hairstylist; Amanda Duffy Evans, hairstylist; Chad Harlow, hairstylist; Gina Ferrucci, hairstylist; Brittany Hartman, hairstylist; Katie Beatty, hairstylist; makeup – entire special. 

Jodi, with so many eras and iconic characters, when did you start hearing about sketches so you could manage the inventory?

I started to hear sketch ideas along the way. I also had a few meetings about what the possibilities could be. So I had my team prepare for all of it! We truly did not have anything solid until that week. My department and wigshop prepared over 80 wigs for the Friday music special and the three-hour live 50th special.

What hurdle did your team have to overcome?  

One of the biggest challenges was that we did not have a full dress rehearsal. So you just gave it to wig gods in the hopes it would all go smoothly. We also tried not to damage the guests’ hair, as most had just stepped off the red carpet, been pulled from the audience to perform, and then had to return looking the same.  

That doesn’t sound easy to achieve.

One of my favorite moments was Meryl Streep! She is just so laid back, professional, and just a lovely human. I put her wig for Close Encounters in her dressing room for rehearsal. I told her I would be back to put it on her for her sketch. I went back to put the wig on, and Meryl and the wig were gone! I giggled, knowing she put it on herself, and when I saw it on her, she did a great job of it. I asked her if she was available to work in the hair department! She said ‘oooh, that sounds like fun.’

Were there any specific looks that you felt a special responsibility to get exactly right?

The Bronx Beat wigs are especially close to my heart. The sketch originally was based on me. I designed those wigs for my friends Amy and Maya, knowing that Mike Myers’ Linda Richman was going to be in it! I was so excited to see these two worlds collide. It was a lovely SNL moment for me.

MAKEUP

The makeup team: Louie Zakarian, department head makeup artist; Jason Milani, key makeup artist; Amy Tagliamonti, key makeup artist; Rachel Pagani, makeup artist; Young Bek, makeup artist; Stephen Kelley, makeup artist; Joanna Pisani, makeup artist.

Louie, with the longer runtime, how did the team approach coordinating the makeup?

Unlike a regular season episode, there would be no dress rehearsal this time. We had to time the changes from a loose rehearsal without most of the cast that would eventually be in the sketch. Everything was prepped in advance and staged in the makeup room to be ready to apply.

What was the most challenging transformation to pull off?

In the John Mulaney musical number, there were a number of cast members who would be playing political characters needing four or five bald caps and facial hair. We had to time out the application of each of these make-ups. In the case of Kate McKinnon as Rudy Giuliani, I had to omit certain parts of the make-up (like the cheeks prosthetics) I usually do because there would not be enough time to apply and remove them all. There was also a bald cap on Emil to make him look like De Niro from Taxi Driver.   

The Close Encounter sketch saw Pedro Pascal and Woody Harrelson with Meryl Streep popping in. Is the best approach to keep things simple with their characters?

That character is always best when downplayed. Less is really more for sure, and once Kate gets into it, it’s magic. Meryl was a late addition; I believe I didn’t know about her until that day, but I coordinated with her and had her make-up slightly toned down.

Watch the hair and makeup magic of SNL50 online.

Featured image: SNL50: THE ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL — Pictured: (l-r) Amy Poehler, Maya Rudolph, and Mike Myers as Linda Richman during the “Bronx Beat” sketch on February 16, 2025 — (Photo by: Theo Wargo/NBC)