Station Eleven's hair department worked hard to create the perfect apocalyptic look

Mashable

"Some people might think that doing natural hair is super easy, but it's actually hard because you have to pay attention to the rhythm of the hair and how it's behaving," says Station Eleven hair department head Nani Casillas. As Mashable's Belen Edwards points out, the problem with many postapocalyptic TV shows and movies is that the hair looks too good. But for Station Eleven, Edwards says, Casillas "and the hair department monitored hair lengths and oiliness throughout shooting in order to keep the looks consistent. The types of hair products — including 5-in-1 leave-in conditioners and texturizing powders — and the amount used varied depending on each actor's unique hair texture. Aside from consistency, another challenge was realistically conveying the passage of time. To age characters across decades, Casillas worked with wig makers to create life-like wigs and extension pieces. Station Eleven characters' hairstyles also depend on their lifestyles and their accessible resources. For example, the Traveling Symphony, a group of actors and musicians who perform at settlements around Lake Michigan, look very different from the survivors staying put at Severn Airport."

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• Himesh Patel on how his Station Eleven character has evolved to being useful in postapocalyptic life: "There was talk of it, but it was still being built when we initially spoke two and a half years ago," he says. "What was clear to me was that they were going to expand the character from the book, and this is the episode that makes good on the promise. He becomes a doctor in a way, but there’s the moment toward the end of the episode where he says he’s not a doctor, and this character says she knew and that he’s a healer. That’s almost the equivalent of a doctor in this new post-pandemic world. He doesn’t qualify for it by getting a Ph.D or in any official way. It’s simply through the act of doing what he does that he takes on this mantle."