Michael Stuhlbarg's Various Wigs Were The Best Thing About 2022
Perhaps this is an experience you felt earlier this year. You walk into your local movie theater, eager to watch "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness." Maybe it's because it is Sam Raimi's first film since that time James Franco pretended to have an ounce of Frank Morgan's charisma. Maybe it's because you're still invested in the Marvel Cinematic Universe in some way, or perhaps you just thought the trailers looked cool. Either way, you've taken your seat. The trailers finish rolling, and the film has begun.
Then, after a few minutes of tension-building action, you see him. He's sitting next to Benedict Cumberbatch's titular wizard. He's wearing a tan suit, but most importantly, he's wearing the flattest, most skater boy-looking wig you've ever seen in your life. It looks horrible, but beautiful at the same time. You want to rip it off of his head, but you also just want to keep staring at it, exploring all its intricacies.
If you are anything like me, then these were the thoughts racing throughout your mind seeing actor Michael Stuhlbarg in his barely three-minute appearance in the Marvel flick. Sure, he was in the 2016 film that solidified Strange's importance in the MCU, playing the annoying Dr. Nicodemus West (seriously, who names their child that?), but his wig certainly didn't look like that. However, much like one of Stuhlbarg's completely-committed performances, it is impossible to hate, and the same can be said for all three of his wigged appearances throughout 2022.
Nature has cunning ways of finding our weakest spot (bad hairstyles)
Yes, I said all three. "Multiverse of Madness" may have been his most high-profile project of 2022, but he kept busy both on the screen and in the makeup chair. In fact, one of these projects premiered the very same day as the Raimi flick.
"The Staircase," a miniseries that stands as one of the few examples of somewhat-ethical true crime media, recounted all of the twists, turns, lies, and truths behind the death of Kathleen Peterson (Toni Collette), potentially at the hands of her husband Michael (Colin Firth). While the story itself was heartwrenching and important to dissect, you would be forgiven if you kept getting distracted by the hair of Michael's attorney, David Rudolf (Stuhlbarg), because goodness gracious. That hairline is an absolutely fascinating work of art, and dare I say the most enchanting on television. It sits on his head like a helmet and looks like a single hair on his head wouldn't budge if he was walking through a category-five hurricane. Impeccable stuff.
After "The Staircase" ended in June, all of us Stuhlbargians were left unfed. Weeks turned to months, and after a while, all hope for a wigged Stuhlbarg seemed lost. However, like a vision of a beach amid a desert, "Bones and All" came to save us all, and this time, it was with the thinnest and greasiest strands he's ever placed on his head. While his role as the cannibalistic "eater" Jake might have been small, his gangly hair did wonders to make him as memorable as possible.
A true acting chameleon
Okay, I admit that a lot of this article does sound silly, and that was totally by intention. While I love writing about more serious topics within the film sphere, it's just as fun for me to write about the goofy stuff, like Stuhlbarg and his apparent affinity for acting with wigs. Plus, it's not like that is an over-exaggeration — he's donned a ton of wigs over his career, and you can't deny that some of his most memorable performances had one as a little cherry on top.
As much as we can joke about Stuhlbarg's excessive wig-wearing, it's hard to deny that it's an essential part of why the actor is just so captivating on screen. No matter how crummy, minuscule, or poorly written the role is, he will always deliver the best performance he possibly can. He has never slept-walked through a role, nor has he ever tried to spew convoluted explanations about going method to achieve the right performance. He just has a way of becoming the character he is playing on screen that is electrifying to watch, even in the most minor of roles.
At the end of the day, that is what makes Stuhlbarg such a fascinating actor. Every performance he's given has been passionate, nuanced, and most importantly of all, natural. It just so happens that he sometimes ends up wearing extremely goofy-looking wigs while giving these extremely good performances. And honestly? We as a society are better for it.