John Krasinski Wore a Wig That He Made Himself During Season 3 of The Office—Here's Why

It's been nearly seven years since The Office concluded, and yet we're still learning behind-the-scenes secrets about the hit show. Many fans already knew that John Krasinski, who played Jim Halpert, wore a wig during Season 3, but it recently came to light that the actor actually made the hairpiece himself, with the help of the on-set hairstylist.

At the time, Krasinski was also shooting a major role in the 2008 film Leatherheads, which didn't exactly call for his signature shaggy hair from The Office. This meant that the actor had to chop his 'do short and wear a wig while portraying the Scranton salesman.

A simple haircut may not seem like the biggest deal in the world, but, as reported by Collider, Andy Greene’s book The Office: The Untold Story of the Greatest Sitcom of the 2000s reveals that it was actually a pretty controversial matter. So much so, that a wig had to be made in secret.

"Continuity-wise and contractually-wise, actors are obligated to keep their hair how it is for a series unless they get producer approval, of course," hairstylist Kim Ferry explained. "But it would have been cutting his hair super short, which would mean getting rid of the wings on the side and his long hair. He came to me and said, ‘Could we do a wig?’ He went to talk to them and said, ‘I really want to do this project.’ And they were like, ‘I think it would be obvious that it was a wig.'"

Unfortunately, showrunner Greg Daniels was totally against the idea of the wig, so Krasinski had to keep it hush-hush that he'd cut his hair. Ferry added, "Hiring a wig maker is not inexpensive. We did the fitting in his trailer and when it was done it looked amazing. It looked exactly like him." So when Daniels did find out about the wig, he'd been fooled so well he wasn't even mad.

"John told me later that Greg said to him, ‘John, I’ll know if it’s a wig. You can’t fake that kind of thing,’" Ferry said. "As he’s staring at him with the wig on. And then John’s like, ‘Really? I don’t think you would,’ and he takes it off right in front of him."

To learn more behind-the-scenes secrets from the show, you can buy Greene's book on Amazon.

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[h/t Collider]