On September 5th, while hanging out at the famous Hilton Checkers lounge in Los Angeles with Hollywood hairdresser Robert Hallowell (CSI, Weeds, Dancing With The Stars, Dirt, Commander & Chief, 2 1/2 Men) I asked his thoughts about Ashlee Simpson Wentz’s red hair for The CW’s new Melrose Place. Even though Robert hasn’t personally worked with Ashlee, he thinks “she lovely” and has followed her well-documented hair color history where she transitioned through a wide range of hues from baby blonde to Raven black and ultimately settled on red, which she appears to prefer.

Since her marriage to Pete Wentz and the birth of her baby boy, Ashlee has stayed close to red based tones floating up and down from lighter to darker.

I mentioned to Robert that Ashlee, who has been flying under the wire for some time, has recently been spotted all over New York and LA on various talk shows to promote her new role as Violet on CW’s Melrose Place. I pointed out to Robert while Ashlee’s hair is still in the red family it is now a much deeper, richer, copper-toned vibrant tone.

I asked Robert his opinion on why Ashlee might have moved to more vibrant red tones. He explained “hair color worn by actors and actresses during filming of TV series must be big, bold and bright in order to be appropriately captured on film. If the hair color is too light or is one dimensional it will not be adequately portrayed on camera and the performer may look washed out or get lost.”

Robert said “when it comes to TV, hair is all about silhoutte and light.”  Afterall he explained “when it comes to film, hair is the ultimate frame around the face.”

In his duties as head hairdresser on CBS’ original CSI, Robert is always analyzing how the hair color and styles of the actors and actresses he is responsible for. Currently Robert is responsible for the CSI hairstyles worn by Marg Helgenberger.

Robert said Ashlee Simpson-Wentz is a good example of how a TV actress might change their hair color or hairstyle specifically for their roles. He also noted sometimes hair color has to be a certain way for it to translate appropriately on film but it may not look as natural in person because the colors or styles might be slightly exaggerated to work well with the cameras.

Also, Robert point out, “red hair is the most difficult to keep from fading.” He said “it can start to lighten after the very first wash” and in a TV series “it’s important for all the characters to present a consistent haircolor and style throughout the entire season”. Which could also explain Ashlee’s recent deepening of her red hues.

If Ashlee’s new character is a red head it’s unlikely she will be morphing through a range of hair colors during the filming of the current season of Melrose Place. Which means Ashlee’s on-set hairdressers will need to work to keep a consistent look and feel which works with her character, keeping her red hair at an appropriate shade of bold copper red.

The CW’s Melrose Place premieres September 8th.

- Source: examiner.com