For 'Practical Magic 2,' Nicole Kidman's Hairstylist Revisited The Original Wig—And Reworked It For 2026

In the OG “Practical Magic,” Gilly’s fiery red hair was instantly adored as the movie itself. Long and topped with wispy bangs, the look was romantic and slightly unruly—a perfect fit for the more free-spirited of the two Owens sisters. Over the last three decades, it has undoubtedly become one of the film’s most enduring beauty signatures, with many viewers not realizing that it wasn’t Kidman’s real hair. 

For Kim Santantonio, Kidman’s personal hairstylist and the woman tasked with reviving Gillian’s hair for the sequel, there was a very handy reference at her disposal: the original wig itself. “Nicole brought it to us, she still had it,” Santantonio tells The Set Set. Kidman had kept it in storage all these years and brought it to Santantonio and wigmaker Rob Pickens early on in pre-production to allow them to color match her new set of wigs (there were two in total, although when she can she makes as many as three for Kidman).

 “It was really fun to have the original wig there. We compared the two wigs, and we got the base color the same,” Santantonio recalls. From there, Pickens “added a lot of highlights to the new wig to make it a little lighter and put a little more life into it,” since the pair, and Kidman herself, felt the original wig lacked color dimension. Some of the perceived difference between the two wigs, Santantonio notes, may actually come down to the way filmmaking has changed in the intervening years and the lighting and post-production used in the sequel.  “When we held them up together, they looked a lot alike,” she says. “But the way it's filmed now makes it look different.”

What did change, though, was the shape and style. Whereas Gillian's '90s hair was straighter and largely one length, Santantonio wanted Gillian’s modern-day look to be heavily layered, with far more movement built in. "We were always gonna go with a natural texture, more layered and with more movement," Santantonio says of the decision, noting that for that same reason they nixed the idea of bringing back Gillian’s bangs, instead opting for long face-framing layers at the front that seamlessly blended into the rest of the hair. The cut itself, she says, is basically a shag haircut, worked in with a razor. "We just went in and just kept cutting into it.” For Santantonio, the change tracks with who Gillian has become in the sequel. Although there are no bad-news boyfriends in sight, she’s still full of flirtatious energy. "It was to show a passage of time and a certain maturity… but still keeping her playful and light," she says.