Each Halloween, it takes an entire team of costume designers, makeup artists and wig designers to bring the anchor’s looks to life.
Among them? Jodi Mancuso, head hair designer for “Saturday Night Live.”
The 24-year veteran has won 9 Emmys for her work and brings her next-level talents to the plaza each year.
Creating the iconic looks for the co-hosts, Mancuso said that each wig presents its own challenge, but, on average, each one takes around 80 hours to build.
The TODAY Halloween wigs can take up to 80 hours to create. TODAY
“I do crazy research,” Mancuso tells TODAY.com. “I print every angle and go over it and over it.”
To help speed up the process, wigs are split into two, then worked on by two different designers before being sewn back together when they’re done.
Fortunately, not every wig has to be built from scratch. Some can be repurposed from other wigs or reimagined, which helps cut down on time.
Savannah’s Miranda Priestly wig wasn’t one of them.
Savannah’s Miranda Priestly wig was among the most challenging to build this year. TODAY
“That’s a very specific wig, we actually had to build it,” she explains, saying that between its distinctive color and cut, it was the most challenging of this year’s wigs to create.
“Savannah’s took quite a long time,” says Mancuso. “You had to go slow and really mix the colors.”
Once she got the shade right, Mancuso says the wig required three additional hours of cutting and styling to mimic Meryl Streep’s iconic look in “The Devil Wears Prada.”
“We’re pretty specific on how we do things,” Mancuso says. “Even though it’s Halloween and it’s supposed to be fun, because we’re SNL, hair-based trained, we usually make it specific, then let everybody have fun with it.”
Craig’s Prince wig is a perfect recreation of the legendary musician’s “Purple Rain” look.
Despite the long hours leading up to Oct. 31, Mancuso says the payoff is watching the TODAY anchors see themselves in their wigs on Halloween morning.
“When they put it on and they’re happy because they were part of choosing it, it’s so nice to see them excited. It’s like little kids at Halloween. Literally.”
