Cory Stillman
Overcompensating stars Wally Baram and Benito Skinner have become overnight sensations in the wake of the hit coming-of-age series on Amazon Prime Video. As Carmen and Benny, respectively, Baram and Skinner play a pair of social outcasts navigating their first year of college together. Their performances speak for themselves, but their unique hair styles actually play a surprisingly pivotal role in the show’s storytelling. Hair Department Head Blake Arsenault is the man behind these dynamic looks, and he sat down with us at Awards Radar to discuss the ways in which hair can often indicate emotional growth.
Carmen’s hairstyle becomes an especially significant plot device partway through season one. As Arsenault points out, by S1E5, Carmen “becomes completely consumed by the desire to hide her true self.”
“I used the idea of Carmen obsessing over straight hair to show how desperate she is to fit in and hide her true self,” says Arsenault. “The flatiron becomes the tool she uses to do this.”
The episode “Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites” offers a smorgasbord of the kinds of creative decisions that have made Overcompensating such a sensation. There is the classic Halloween party that defines any great coming-of-age project, not to mention an unexpected moment built around an expressionistic video game.
“Seeing the VFX department recreate our character for the video game was a very surreal moment for me, and it came from a true place of creativity,” says Arsenault.
The heightened nature of this particular episode also elevates its final moment, a heartfelt clearing of the air between Benny and Carmen. Despite the scene’s emotional weight, it still maintains the show’s signature comedic tone. “The characters are still dressed in absurdly over-the-top costumes and elaborate hair designs,” says Arsenault. “It’s a perfect example of the delicate balance we aim for between heartfelt storytelling and comedic relief.”
Check out our full discussion with Arsenault below!
Episode 105 moves through some intense emotional beats. How did you use hair to reflect that arc, particularly in visualizing Benny and Carmen’s growth or unraveling?
Episode 105 is a pivotal moment in our show, where everything starts to unfold, and the characters begin to unravel. Throughout the previous episodes, Carmen (played by Wally Baram) has been desperately trying to fit in with the F&G girls. To enhance her integration, we decided to embrace her natural hair texture at the beginning of the season. The intention for Carmen was to showcase her beautiful, natural wavy hair, which stands in stark contrast to the other girls, who all have long, smooth, and straight blonde hair. As Carmen looks around, she begins to feel that her beautiful curls are holding her back and making her feel “othered.” By episode 105, she becomes completely consumed by the desire to hide her true self. I used the idea of Carmen obsessing over straight hair to show how desperate she is to fit in and hide her true self. The flatiron becomes the tool she uses to do this.
For Benny, he’s deep in the closet, even to himself, and is only now beginning to discover who he really is. To keep Benny in the closet, he needs to blend in with other bros as much as possible. The idea for Benny‘s hair was to keep it as non-descriptive as possible; nothing about Benny can stand out, so creating a low-key, very natural-styled look was key for him to fit in with the F&G brothers. Keeping his hair soft without much product and never freshly cut or intentionally styled was very important for him to blend in. To achieve this look, I used the scissor-overcome technique with a dry matte texture, clay, and a diffused blow dry, working with his natural wave and texture.
There was a noticeable change in styling for the party scene. Can you walk us through the creative process for designing those looks, and what inspirations did you pull from?
In episode five, we also have an iconic classic college Halloween party. Creating these looks was the most exciting part of the show, and this is where Benny let me have the freedom to create. Starting with Carmen, her costume is inspired by her favorite video game character Tatiana from Slut Slayers. The interesting part about this was that I collaborated with the costume designer, Hanna Puley, and together, we designed the character from the video game before the FX department designed the video game. So, based on our looks and Hannah’s designs, the VFX department then created the video game character. The inspiration for Carmen Tatiana’s character was classic anime design. I gave her two long, exaggerated, braided pigtails starting at the top of her head and going all the way down to her waist.
In this episode, we also begin to see Grace (Mary Beth Barone) start to remove the mask. She has been wearing it to hide her past as she and Peter begin to drift apart, and she starts to see the F&G girls as flat, two-dimensional losers. This was a really fun episode to design for Grace because I got to create three different hairstyles for her. Starting the episode with a flawless blonde blowout inspired by the iconic Cheryl Tweedy. Then, as the episode progresses, she begins to seek solace in an old friend, Mimi. We learn that Mimi is her best friend from high school, and Grace has been hiding her emo, goth true self behind blond hair and a blowout. So, as she tries to reconnect with Mimi, she abandons her Great Gatsby couple costume with Peter in favor of her favorite character from her and Mimi’s favorite childhood movie, Twilight. Then, to create the Twilight character, I used a wig to replicate her hairstyle from the movie. But when Mimi rejects Grace, she returns to the party dressed as Michelle Williams’s character from The Great Gatsby movie. To achieve this look, we used a short blonde wig, cut and colored, and styled it into an iconic 1930s hairstyle. This episode also features the legendary genius improv comic Pete Holmes as Haley. With Haley, what you see is exactly what you get. Haley is not hiding who she is. She lays everything out on the table, and nothing is too sacred or hidden, so in classic Haley form, she shows up at her party dressed in an exact replica of Christina Aguilera from the iconic music video “Dirty.” This look was basically drag, and the hair was no different. I used the music video as well as behind-the-scenes photos of Christina Aguilera to replicate her hairstyle. We used a full lace, handmade drag wig and then added braids, foils, dreads, and black yarn to achieve the design.
How did you balance realism with stylization in this episode, particularly when contrasting Benny’s more polished appearance with Carmen’s increasingly chaotic energy during key scenes?
This is a hard question to answer because it was very important to our creator, Benny, to use hair to tell the story of our characters’ journey at every chance we could get. At the same time, they have creativity, freedom, and fun, but a big part of it is using hair to hide who they really are, and to also use hair to enhance who they really are. It was a tricky balance. We start the episode with Carmen’s hair wet, symbolizing her attempt to shed the mask she had been wearing, as her hair begins to revert to its natural texture. At this moment, she hooks up with Peter, and as her hair changes to its natural texture while she desperately seeks acceptance from Peter, it shows that the mask is no longer staying on, no matter how hard she tries. At the same time, Benny continues to push his polished, non-descriptive aesthetic, just beginning to uncover his true self.
Looking back at Episode 105, is there a particular hairstyle or moment you’re most proud of, either technically or creatively? What made it stand out for you?
Oh gosh, where do I begin. We worked for weeks designing this episode, collaborating with costume designer Hannah and makeup designer Sarah Milk. One of my favorite parts of my job is researching and creating characters, either fictional or based on real people, so this episode was a blend of all of these things. Benny, Peter Haley, and Grace (The Great Gatsby, Christina Aguilera, and Clark) are all based on real people or characters from pop culture, so doing the research and recreating them. These characters were so much fun! But getting to design and build Carmen‘s character from scratch in collaboration with the costume designer and makeup artist was a real treat. Then, seeing the VFX department recreate our character for the video game was a very surreal moment for me, and it came from a true place of creativity, so I can definitely say that Carmen was by far my favorite character to create for this episode.
Hair can often reflect how a character performs for others. Were there specific choices where you deliberately styled against the character’s emotional reality to create contrast or tension?
Oh yes, absolutely. I think that was at the core of the entire visual aesthetic for our show. The hair was a major part of hiding who these characters truly were; they used their hair to disguise their true identities at every opportunity. We also used hair to enhance the comedic aspect of the show, as well as the emotional element. This was achieved by contrasting how our characters looked in the scene with the emotional intensity of the scene, which helped maintain a comedic tone throughout the emotionally heavy moments in the show. One moment that always makes me laugh is when Carmen confronts Peter at his door, and in the moment of telling him off and expressing her anger, she rips off her sweater because she’s overheating and continues to express her anger while her bangs are sticking straight up off of her head. The entire season was infused with these moments, allowing us to continue the very specific comedic style of Benny Drama while still showcasing the emotional intensity of some of these scenes.
How closely did you collaborate with the costume and makeup departments on this episode to create cohesive character looks, especially during scenes with heightened visual storytelling like the party or final confrontation?
For me, and I think for most creative departments in the film industry, collaboration is absolutely vital to the success of any film or television show, so every chance I get, I collaborate very closely with the costume and makeup department to tell a cohesive, collaborative story using all of the tools in each department’s belt. We spent hours discussing styles, aesthetics, and designs for each and every character, meticulously going over every detail of every episode.
In the final moments of the episode, Carmen finally sees Benny for who he truly is, and for the first time, someone truly sees him. It’s an intense, emotional turning point for Benny, marking a pivotal moment in his life. I think it’s something any young, closeted gay man can relate to: the feeling of finally being seen. At the same time, the scene maintains the show’s signature comedic tone, despite the emotional weight, the characters are still dressed in absurdly over-the-top costumes and elaborate hair designs. It’s a perfect example of the delicate balance we aim for between heartfelt storytelling and comedic relief.
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