American Hustle, the new film from David O. Russell (The Fighter, Silver Linings Playbook), opens with a can of L’Oreal’s cult hairspray Elnett and a very complicated comb-over. Even for a movie set in the late ‘70s, that’s a lot of focus on the hair. It wasn’t always so, says Kathrine Gordon, head of the film’s hair department. “Christian [Bale] and I spent two days figuring it out,” Gordon says of the character’s unique comb-over technique. “We came up with a back story and the unusual thing is that he actually incorporated my idea into his whole character. I taught him how to do it and David re-wrote the movie. I’ve been doing this for 35 years and that’s never happened.”
Needless to say, the hair in American Hustle is as dazzling as the all-star cast. More secrets from the set, above.