While the dress rehearsal is a little more relaxed, getting from wig to wig between sketches during a live taping involves, “a lot of running around.” Even when you see Fineman and other cast members in what you think is their actual hair — during monologues, sketches where they play themselves, the outro at the end of every episode — those are wigs, too. Each cast member, as Fineman confirms, has a custom-made wig designed to look identical to their real hair.
“When you start SNL, your first week of the show you get what’s called a wig bubble,” she says. “They put tape all around your head to measure your scalp, then they carefully cut that and put it over a foam [head], then basically recreate your own head so that if a wig is getting made to your head, the lace and everything that’s sewn is in that exact shape. It’s crazy.” This way, everyone can facilitate back and forth between their real selves and characters when needed.
To reiterate: Fineman and the rest of the show’s cast are wearing all this stuff from the late afternoon, through dress rehearsal (which usually takes place at 8 p.m. ET), then all the way through each live episode taping, which doesn’t end until the late night turns into the early morning. And yeah, it does take a toll on Fineman’s hair. “After my first year on the show, my friend who cuts my hair was like, ‘your hair’s really thinning.'” She points to the sides of her hairline, where the wig caps and headbands feel the tightest, to show where the hair loss is most noticeable to her.
Fineman as Britney Spears.
NBC