We chat with AbbottElementary's Lead Hair Designer Moira Fraizer about preserving natural hair on set, her creative collaboration with Quinta Brunson, and how each character's hairstyle reflects their personality:
Summary SCREENRANT VIDEO OF THE DAY SCROLL TO CONTINUE WITH CONTENT Abbott Elementary is a mockumentary-style sitcom that follows a dedicated group of teachers at a Philadelphia public school. With the odds stacked against them, these teachers work hard to bring the best educational experience possible to their students. This strange work family takes care of one another just as they do their students, and the audience is invited to laugh as they grow as people and educators.
We all love a good curl pattern. But with Janine, she's never really stepped outside of herself, outside of just her curly hair because that's what fits her. I know in the beginning of her character development, we didn't want to stray too far from that look because if she was to come in with blonde hair, that's not Janine. It doesn't speak to her.
And Ava represents every woman out there who has the ability to change and change that hairstyle. And switch a wig like she switch her shirts in her wardrobe. And that's the fun part about Ava. Melissa Schemmenti, her... I'm just going down the line. I'm flying. Moira Frazier: Melissa Schemmenti, her hair speak...
All of us come from the salon world. As a licensed cosmetologist, we understand the importance of healthy hair. And a lot of times with these schedules of these actors, if they're shooting in Brazil, they may or may not be able to bring their normal hairstylist with them. It's up to us in this industry to make sure that we bring that knowledge and that practice to the trailer so that they can be able to have their hair fully taken care of.
I had to make it, color it, all of that in under two hours and get it approved by Quinta. And after she saw it, she was like, "Yes, that's it. That's the one." And that's how we came up with that character. So a lot of my wigs that are already on the show, the hundred plus, that plus sign comes from when I have to do it on the spot and make something on the spot.
Even with the characters that come in for the season, we're always on the same page. And it's such fun creating, collaborating with her because she gives me the freedom to really create. And a lot of times when you're working different projects, sometimes it is built off that relationship that you have with the person's vision that they trust you enough to bring that vision to life. And I can't thank her enough for just trusting me for that. And here we are now.
That's a unique technique, using water only to remove wigs, which helps natural hair growth. Can you talk about that and why that's important? Moira Frazier: I really wanted to go bigger. I wanted to go bigger during that episode because I actually put three wigs together on that episode. Three wigs stacked on top of each other. But for this, I think we only ended up doing... Yeah, we went from three wigs stacked on top to two wigs stacked on top to one wig, which just still was great. But there was a technique that I did use for that, and it's an old school technique.
There's that episode where Janine goes out to the club during Christmas break and she straightens her hair. Honestly, she almost looks like a different person when her hair's straightened like that. Can you talk about the challenges maybe of shaping a style according to somebody's face? Yeah, she's fantastic. Can you talk about your process? Do you get the script and read it, and at that point, are you already mapping out what you're going to do with each person's look? Do you talk to the actor about the look that you want to apply?
So when I talked to one of the writers, which was Brittany Nichols, I asked her, I'm like, "Okay, let's talk about this. Where do you see them having the durags and the bonnets? And where do you see them winding down with that?" And that's how we really incorporating and I saw comments online when everybody was finally a show where they're showing the real us, our culture and how we do. You know what I'm saying? So that was good.
And we take care of them and we try to get them ready. Some of us do them personally outside of the show. And sometimes if we're not booked for that, just depending on how busy our lives are, we try to make them as ready for their hairstylists that they go to outside of the show as well. So it is a collaborative effort across the board.
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