HAIR TODAY

mary chieffo (L’rell) on the thinking behind the klingons’ new look

the klingons were bald before, but now have hair! What’s that about? So, there’s this episode in Next Generation, “Rightful Heir”. Glenn Hetrick, who’s the head of [prosthetics company] Alchemy Studios remembered this moment where they bring Kahless back. He’s like our Jesus – a warrior Jesus! And he tells the story that he forged the first bat’leth by cutting off a lock of his hair, putting it in the lava of the volcano at Kri’stak, and cooling it with the lake of Luso’s water. That was the impetus for the shift. Glenn wanted to keep it consistent within the first season: that with these Klingons, when it was a time of war, they shaved their heads. We were talking about how the Klingons are very ceremonial, and we’re diving into that on a deeper level, with the symbolism of a time of peace. So letting your hair down, both literally and figuratively, is something they really wanted to push aesthetically in the second season.