Jada Pinkett Smith disclosed during the Sept. 15 episode of “Red Table Talk” why she decided to get her own hairstylist after suffering a catastrophe on the set of “The Nutty Professor.”
The actress played Eddie Murphy‘s love interest Carla Purty in the 1996 comedy about an overweight professor taking a special concoction that turned him into his slimmer alter-ego.
She said while recounting her “rough” hair experience with an unidentified stylist that tailored her wig for the movie, “This was a rough one.”
Pinkett Smith added the reason why it was an unpleasant encounter was because that particular hairstylist lacked knowledge about Black women‘s hair, especially the roots. “She thought the roots should be, not smoothed, but the hair should be straight. She was like, ‘Well, you know, usually for Black women, you don’t have straightened roots.’ And I said, ‘Oh no, we do. We either straighten it with a hot comb or we perm it.’ But she didn’t believe me.”
The 49-year-old wrapped up the conversation by stating despite fighting with the stylist to try to achieve the look the actress was going for, it didn’t happen. Pinkett Smith claimed it was in that particular moment she realized she needed her “own hairstylist.” “So, she made it with roots that weren’t straight but the hair was… And I fought, and I fought and I fought. That was the last time I didn’t have my own hairstylist.”
Pinkett Smith isn’t the only celebrity who is speaking out about hair struggles within the entertainment industry. Earlier this month, actress Meagan Good revealed that she styles her “own hair” on movie sets. She said, “I’m holding my breath hoping that the person can do my hair. And when I find out that they can, it’s like I can breathe. On other occasions, I get there and I realize they can’t do my hair. I always have a bag with me because I’ve learned that I have to do that. And then I get to my trailer and the unfortunate thing is I’ve already been in hair and makeup for an hour, so my time has run out and I’m now in my trailer spending an extra 15, 20 minutes trying to actually do my hair myself.”
Other high-profile actresses such as Gabrielle Union and Yvette Brown Nicole have also been very vocal regarding that topic in the past.
