Some of Thompson’s personal nostalgia made its way into Practical Magic 2, incorporating hair accessories from the original movie into the second one. “In the sequel, [Bullock] wears one in the cemetery scene,” she explains. “I brought a huge box of them and gave them to the [hair department head] for the sequel, and she snuck them in, in different places.”
It’s a film about sisterhood and, of course, magic. And there was plenty of the latter to take in. We spoke to Thompson and Whitney James, Bullock’s personal makeup artist, as well as Nicole Kidman’s team, Kim Santantonio and Angela Levin, about how they reimagined the beauty of the Owens sisters nearly three decades later, from de-aging special effects to the sorcery of a good wig.
Nicole Kidman’s Wig Is Not the Same Color—Intentionally
Kidman’s love of wigs is well-known in the industry. But when the original film debuted, viewers were shocked to learn she wore an auburn-and-copper-colored wig to play Gilly Owens. People largely thought it was her own hair at the time.
To bring Gilly into the 2020s, Kidman’s longtime on-set hairstylist, Kim Santantonio, updated both the cut and color, bringing wigmaker Rob Pickens onboard to help. “He does all of her wigs, and luckily he was able to come to the trailer and show her samples,” says Santantonio.
Despite having the original wig in their possession, Kidman’s new wigs—she had two, one for backup—didn’t match the OG because the team intentionally added layers and texture to give her hair more movement. “The first wig was very straight, like we flatironed it,” says Santantonio. “It felt heavy [and looked] all one length. This time around, [Kidman] was moving her head a lot, wanting a lot of movement, flickering and flying, so when I put [the new wig] on her the first time, we razor-cut into it around her face, creating a lot of layers.” To style the wig, Santantonio first went in with a curling iron to add volume, then used a flatiron to straighten parts of it, creating a “rock and roll” effect. “In the first film, she had that edge to her,” Santantonio explains.
When it came to the color of the original wig, the shade was very flat, according to Santantonio. “There was no color variation. So when Rob made [the wig for the second film], we had highlights and beautiful color through it because natural hair has a highlight in it.”