Cory Stillman
Natalie Nelson has served as the Hair Department Head on a wide variety of television shows, dabbling in genres ranging from sci-fi to crime to coming-of-age stories. Her work on Prime Video’s Cross, starring the always terrific Aldis Hodge, has generated buzz lately for its authentic rendering of Washington D.C. in real time. Nelson’s designs impressively reflect the D.C. of 2024, particularly the city’s Black communities. It was a process that required a great deal of research and attention to detail. Nelson even hunted down particular hair salons in the D.C. area!
“I looked up Ooobeexzy Salon, Bryan Joseph Salon, and Exclusive Impressions Hair Studio in Washington, DC, so I could get an idea of the hair trends in the city where Cross was set.”
As the brilliant detective Alex Cross, Hodge must navigate his high-stakes work while staying true to the community with which he identifies. That balancing act proves trickier and trickier as he builds relationships with characters personally affected by the increasing crime rates and murders in the city. One such character is Malika Goodspeed, a D.C. native in her late 20s, who is committed to finding justice for her late brother Emir. Her brother’s death was framed as a meth overdose, but Malika is convinced Emir was murdered by the police in response to his advocacy work for BLM and defunding the police. With all this context in mind, Nelson had to find a look for Malika that made her feel true-to-life, particularly considering the show’s engagement with the pressing issues of our time. She settled on a striking real-world trend: long bomb twists with a two-tone color.
“I always try to incorporate a braided look, as braids are very common in everyday life,” says Nelson.
In total, Nelson’s work Cross encompassed five styled wigs, each serving a narrative and visual purpose. That focus required close collaboration with costume designer Stacy Beverly, a process that proved immediately seamless.
“We had many meetings which allowed us to share our ideas so the cast’s looks could be fully realized,” says Nelson. “Every design idea I had worked well with the makeup and costume departments’ designs. I have, in the past, had to come up with workarounds for other projects, but this one just fell into place.”
The show’s roster of serial killers also required Nelson to dive even deeper into that side of her research. “I watched documentaries like Aileen: Life and Death of a Serial Killer (2003) to have a better understanding of what Aileen was like and what Ramsey was planning for Shannon’s ‘makeover,'” says Nelson. “I also watched Monster starring Charlize Theron.”
Fortunately, Nelson’s diverse body of work is constantly preparing her for the challenges of a given project. Apple TV+’s Murderbot is quite different from Cross, with its high-tech sci-fi environments. The show is set in a distant future where earth is no longer relevant. Nelson took a radically different approach here, working closely with the writers to develop hair designs that nearly existed outside of time, not defined by any one era or period. Of course, they still also had to appear practical within the show’s isolated and interstellar setting. Hair in Murderbot was conceptualized as something characters would manage themselves — no salons, no contemporary styling — resulting in natural, minimal, utilitarian looks. The designs reflect each character’s profession (scientists, doctors, etc.), age, and environment.
With such understated looks, Nelson encourages audiences to look closely at every frame and pick up on the impressive detailing.
“I hope they can see the subtleties of sweat at the hairline and flatness of the roots with a little oiliness to indicate when someone hasn’t washed their hair. I hope the audience can notice that when a character has a simpler hair look, it can be due to their financial situation and circumstances, that they may only be able to do their own hair, and it’s done for function and not to be fancy.”
Of course, Natalie was still able to embrace more stylized flourishes on Murderbot, including a standout look described by series star Alexander Skarsgård as “Outer Space Elvis.” The silhouette referenced Elvis’s iconic hair but with a futuristic, edgy curl pattern. Such designs would not be possible without the department head’s deep roster of trusted stylists and collaborators.
“I have a wonderful team of stylists around me to execute the hair designs that I come up with, so the work is evenly distributed among us,” says Nelson. “Huge shout out to Francine Francis-Lee, Blake Arsenault and Lorri Jennings. They were able to execute the hair designs that I came up with, so the work was evenly distributed among us.”
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