Actress Meagan Good is a veteran in the entertainment industry, but even her decades-long career can’t shield her from the nightmare encounters with hairstylists who lack experience with textured hair.
From long silky tresses, to edgy bobs, pixie cuts and goddess locs, the actress has rocked almost every version of the hottest hairstyles among Black women in the past two decades. While the actress stuns fans on camera with her seemingly effortless beauty, what many have been oblivious to is the fact that Good has been responsible for styling her tresses on set more times than she count.
Good explained to US magazine that being a Black actress in any production means “Always being in a situation where, to some degree, if the stylist doesn’t know how to do my hair,” the onus falls on her.
The “Think Like A Man” actress added that no, not every hair experience on set leaves her riddled with stress over the care for her tresses. But even with 25 years in the industry, her veteran status has yet to secure her peace of mind when walking into the beauty trailer of a production.
“I’m holding my breath hoping that the person can do my hair. And when I find out that they can, it’s like I can breathe,” she said. “On other occasions, I get there and I realize they can’t do my hair. I always have a bag with me because I’ve learned that I have to do that. And then I get to my trailer and the unfortunate thing is I’ve already been in hair and makeup for an hour, so my time has run out and I’m now in my trailer spending an extra 15, 20 minutes trying to actually do my hair myself.”
Sadly, despite the strides Black actors have made in the fight for more notable and higher paying roles, there remains a disconnect in the industry’s beauty practices. Other actresses, such as Gabrielle Union and Yvette Nicole Brown have both expressed their frustrations with the reality they face when entrusting their tresses to someone else’s hands on set.
In 2019, Brown tweeted, “Most black actresses come to a new set w/ their hair done (me) or bring their wigs & clip-ins w/them. It’s either that or take a chance that you will look crazy on screen.”
“The pressure to ‘just be happy they picked you & you got a job,’ don’t ask for the SAME things every other actor / model gets on GP.’ Listen, if u stay quiet, u WILL have bald spots, hair damage, look NUTS (tho they will tell u its cuuuuuuuuute),” Union tweeted in response to a post about Hollywood’s beauty inclusivity shortcomings.
Union has been vocal in the past about the lengths she and her trusted hairstylists take to ensure her the integrity of her tresses is not compromised by the demands of filming.
“We create rituals in the hair and makeup trailer. Before work, we treat my hair. After work, we treat my hair. We do different steams every few days just to make sure it’s healthy and I survive a project,” she told Madamenoire. But even her rituals and having a Black hairstylist of her choosing are luxuries not offered to most of her peers. “I was able to do that the longer I’ve been in the union [Screen Actors Guild] and the business by putting my stylists in my contract so there can be no funny business.”
