One of the most buzzy performances of the year has been Kristen Stewart’s turn as the late Princess Diana for Spencer. The drama is referred to as “a fable from a true tragedy” that follows the British royal during the Christmas holiday in 1991 as she decides to separate from Prince Charles. In order to pull off the performance, Stewart had to learn her accent and mannerisms, but seeing is believing. One might not realize how much work went into making her look like the princess, especially with some super expensive wigs.
Wakana Yoshihara, Spencer’s hair and makeup designer, said it took six weeks to get Kristen Stewart’s wigs just right. While speaking with InStyle, she revealed that each wig that was made for the movie cost around $6,000 to make. The process was made more challenging by the fact that the movie was made during COVID-19. Yoshihara said that she had to send Stewart the wigs back and forth and make alterations to the style and color until it was to the liking of the production.
As the hairstylist shared, it was quite easy to visualize Princess Diana’s do thanks to the hundreds of pictures taken of the royal at the time. However, it was decided by director Pablo Larrain that they would use her look from 1986 as a reference point, since her hair was so short during that year.
One major element that was tricky was the hair color, which Wakana Yoshihara shared was altered slightly in order to better match Kristen Stewart’s complexion. She said Princess Diana’s was more of a honey blonde, but they went for a brighter, more ashier color to fit K-Stew. The wigs were switched out throughout the production, with the scene featuring Diana in a multitude of famous looks being the most difficult to manuever.
It’s likely Kristen Stewart could not dye her hair for the role because her brunette roots would have begun to peak through during production. The shoot started in January 2021 in Germany and wrapped in the U.K. at the end of March. If you’ve gone blonde before, you may understand how much of an absolute pain that would have been for Stewart’s scalp and the hairstylists involved. Plus, this allowed for Wakana Yoshihara to experiment with the color along with styling it to their liking.
Spencer has become a critical darling, as critics have raved about the film, including CinemaBlend’s own Corey Chichizola, who gave the film a 4.5 out of 5 stars in his review. Stewart is getting major Oscar buzz, with predictions (such as on Gold Derby) currently placing her performance at the top of their list for Best Actress. Spencer is playing in theaters now.