If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy.

Superman director James Gunn shows just how much work went into making Guy Gardner actor Nathan Fillion's terrible bowl cut

The Rookie actor had to have a full prosthetic with a head of red hair attached, which was then styled.

Nathan Fillion As Guy Gardner
Image credit: DC Studios

Part of playing a superhero on screen is trying to recreate that character’s most iconic features. For Superman, it is the muscles. For Iron Man, it is his chinstrap beard. For Guy Gardner, it is that terrible bowl cut. Putting that iconic, horrendous hair on Nathan Fillion’s head was a key part of bringing the character to life in Superman and James Gunn has given us an inside look at how they made it happen.

In a post on social media, James Gunn showed just how much work went into making the brown-haired Nathan Fillion into the red-headed Guy Gardner involved more than just a wig. A full prosthetic with a full head of hair was applied to Fillion. The hair then got styled until it resembled the bowl cut that we know and hate. The idea is to make it look as much like a real head of hair as possible, which is a lot more involved than just plopping a wig on an actor’s head.

Judging by Nathan Fillion’s reaction, they had to go through multiple iterations of the wig before they found the right one. “Oh yeah,” the actor commented when he saw the final result in the mirror. “Much better shape than last time.” This means that somewhere out there are multiple Nathan Fillion-shaped heads with worse bowl cuts than what you see in the movie.

“Really, I’m just making this movie as an excuse to give Nathan a bowl cut,” James Gunn joked in the same video. Honestly, given the power, we’d probably do the same.


James Gunn's Superman is flying into theaters soon enough, and Popverse has all you need to prepare. Refreshing your cinematic memory with our Superman movie watch order, learn what we know about the upcoming Superman movie, Superman's S-Shield through the ages, and read about what DC is doing ahead of their flagship hero's triumphant return.

Trent Cannon

Trent Cannon: Trent is a freelance writer who has been covering anime, video games, and pop culture for a decade. (He/Him)

Comments

Want to join the discussion? Please activate your account first.
Visit Reedpop ID if you need to resend the confirmation email.

View Comments (0)

Find out how we conduct our review by reading our review policy