Jodi Mancuso

In her two-hour interview, Jodi Mancuso talks about her early life, and how she followed her mother into a career as a hair stylist. She describes stepping away from hair to raise a child, and eventually going back to it to work on Saturday Night Live. She chronicles the crazy atmosphere during Saturday Night Live’s live broadcasts, and recounts a typical workweek styling wigs for the cast members and the hosts of the show. She specifically recalls working with several cast members and hosts, including Tina Fey, Amy Poehler, Tom Hanks, Melissa McCarthy, Kenan Thompson, and Kate McKinnon. Mancuso discusses the difficulties she sometimes encounters with last-minute changes to the show, and details winning six Emmy Awards for her work on Saturday Night Live. She speaks of working as a stylist on other shows, including Baskets, Portlandia, and Miracle Workers. She concludes with advice to aspiring television stylists, and by putting the interviewer in a Donald Trump wig. Dan Pasternack conducted the interview on May 9, 2018 at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in New York, NY.

All views expressed by interviewees are theirs alone and not necessarily those of the Television Academy.

Jodi Mancuso on Saturday Night Live cast members needing to wear "self wigs"

01:37

Jodi Mancuso on being the inspiration for Amy Poehler and Maya Rudolph's "Bronx Beat" sketches on Saturday Night Live

04:25

Jodi Mancuso on crafting Tina Fey's "Sarah Palin" wig for Saturday Night Live, and on Palin appearing on the show

02:18

Jodi Mancuso on hairstyling for the Saturday Night Live 40th Anniversary Special and on wigs for old characters like "Roseanne Roseannadanna" and "The Church Lady"

05:27

Jodi Mancuso on working with Melissa McCarthy as guest host of Saturday Night Live and on making her up as "Sean Spicer"

02:31

Jodi Mancuso on what a viewer can learn about a character from the way they are styled

01:42

Jodi Mancuso on collaborating with Martin Short on Maya & Marty, and on the importance of wigs to a performer

00:59

Jodi Mancuso on being called in last-minute to style hair for Maya & Marty

02:37

Jodi Mancuso on collaborating with performers like Fred Armisen on hairstyles for sketches on Saturday Night Live and Portlandia

02:41

Jodi Mancuso on going to work styling hair for Portlandia

01:15

Jodi Mancuso on the differences between doing hair for Saturday Night Live and for Portlandia

01:53

Jodi Mancuso on doing wigs for Portlandia characters "Toni" and "Candace," the bookstore ladies, and gender swap couple "Nina" and "Lance"

02:15

Jodi Mancuso on how she started working as a hair stylist on Saturday Night Live

03:29

Jodi Mancuso on her memories of first walking into Saturday Night Live, and on her first time "running a track"

02:52

Jodi Mancuso on the experience of styling hair for live television on Saturday Night Live

01:14

Jodi Mancuso on a typical workweek for her as hairstylist on Saturday Night Live

04:18

Jodi Mancuso on dealing with the hosts and their wigs on Saturday Night Live

01:20

Jodi Mancuso on collaborating with performers like Fred Armisen on hairstyles for sketches on Saturday Night Live and Portlandia

02:41

Jodi Mancuso on collaborating with other departments on Saturday Night Live, and on doing hair for pre-taped segments

01:51

Jodi Mancuso on doing hair for Digital Shorts like the Lonely Island segments on Saturday Night Live

02:30

Jodi Mancuso on her Saturday as a hairstylist on Saturday Night Live including dealing with last minute changes

06:01

Jodi Mancuso on Saturday Night Live cast members needing to wear "self wigs"

01:37

Jodi Mancuso on her interaction with Lorne Michaels on Saturday Night Live

03:28

Jodi Mancuso on working with Tina Fey on Saturday Night Live

01:48

Jodi Mancuso on crafting wigs based on real people for Saturday Night Live

02:28

Jodi Mancuso on crafting Tina Fey's "Sarah Palin" wig for Saturday Night Live, and on Palin appearing on the show

02:18

Jodi Mancuso on being the inspiration for Amy Poehler and Maya Rudolph's "Bronx Beat" sketches on Saturday Night Live

04:25

Jodi Mancuso on working with Tom Hanks on the "David S. Pumpkins" sketch on Saturday Night Live

03:25

Jodi Mancuso on working with Melissa McCarthy as guest host of Saturday Night Live and on making her up as "Sean Spicer"

02:31

Jodi Mancuso on working with Kristen Wiig on Saturday Night Live

02:29

Jodi Mancuso on Alec Baldwin's "Donald Trump" wig on Saturday Night Live

03:09

Jodi Mancuso on working with Kenan Thompson on Saturday Night Live

01:21

Jodi Mancuso on working with Kate McKinnon on Saturday Night Live, and on McKinnon appearing on-air with Hillary Clinton

04:45

Jodi Mancuso on her difficulty in dealing with big stars' and newsmakers' cameos on Saturday Night Live

02:19

Jodi Mancuso on Robert De Niro doing a cameo as "Robert Mueller" on Saturday Night Live

02:05

Jodi Mancuso on her collaboration as hairstylist with Saturday Night Live director Don Roy King

02:04

Jodi Mancuso on hairstyling for the Saturday Night Live 40th Anniversary Special and on wigs for old characters like "Roseanne Roseannadanna" and "The Church Lady"

05:27

Jodi Mancuso on winning six Emmy Awards for her work on Saturday Night Live and on the challenges of doing prosthetics on the show

03:05

Jodi Mancuso on being called in last-minute to style hair for Maya & Marty

02:37

Jodi Mancuso on what has kept her working at Saturday Night Live

01:03

Jodi Mancuso on crafting Tina Fey's "Sarah Palin" wig for Saturday Night Live, and on Palin appearing on the show

02:18

Jodi Mancuso on her difficulty in dealing with big stars' and newsmakers' cameos on Saturday Night Live

02:19

Jodi Mancuso on being the inspiration for Amy Poehler and Maya Rudolph's "Bronx Beat" sketches on Saturday Night Live

04:25

Jodi Mancuso on working with Tom Hanks on the "David S. Pumpkins" sketch on Saturday Night Live

03:25

Jodi Mancuso on hairstyling for the Saturday Night Live 40th Anniversary Special and on wigs for old characters like "Roseanne Roseannadanna" and "The Church Lady"

05:27

Jodi Mancuso on doing wigs for Portlandia characters "Toni" and "Candace," the bookstore ladies, and gender swap couple "Nina" and "Lance"

02:15

Jodi Mancuso on being the inspiration for Amy Poehler and Maya Rudolph's "Bronx Beat" sketches on Saturday Night Live

04:25

Jodi Mancuso on crafting Tina Fey's "Sarah Palin" wig for Saturday Night Live, and on Palin appearing on the show

02:18

Jodi Mancuso on working with Tom Hanks on the "David S. Pumpkins" sketch on Saturday Night Live

03:25

Jodi Mancuso on hairstyling for the Saturday Night Live 40th Anniversary Special and on wigs for old characters like "Roseanne Roseannadanna" and "The Church Lady"

05:27

Jodi Mancuso on doing wigs for Portlandia characters "Toni" and "Candace," the bookstore ladies, and gender swap couple "Nina" and "Lance"

02:15

Jodi Mancuso on her difficulty in dealing with big stars' and newsmakers' cameos on Saturday Night Live

02:19

Jodi Mancuso on crafting Tina Fey's "Sarah Palin" wig for Saturday Night Live, and on Palin appearing on the show

02:18

Jodi Mancuso on Alec Baldwin's "Donald Trump" wig on Saturday Night Live

03:09

Jodi Mancuso on working with Kate McKinnon on Saturday Night Live and on McKinnon appearing on-air with Hillary Clinton

04:45

Jodi Mancuso on a typical workweek for her as hairstylist on Saturday Night Live

04:18

Jodi Mancuso on collaborating with other departments on Saturday Night Live, and on doing hair for pre-taped segments

01:51

Jodi Mancuso on crafting wigs based on real people for Saturday Night Live

02:28

Jodi Mancuso on being called on by actors to design wigs for them on various projects

02:51

Jodi Mancuso on what a viewer can learn about a character from the way they are styled

01:42

Jodi Mancuso on enjoying helping to create a new character

02:12

Jodi Mancuso on basing wigs for fictional characters on real people's hair

00:57

Jodi Mancuso on advice to an aspiring television hair stylist

02:14

Jodi Mancuso puts the interviewer in a Donald Trump wig

01:49

Jodi Mancuso on a typical workweek for her as hairstylist on Saturday Night Live

04:18

Jodi Mancuso on collaborating with other departments on Saturday Night Live, and on doing hair for pre-taped segments

01:51

Jodi Mancuso on crafting wigs based on real people for Saturday Night Live

02:28

Jodi Mancuso on being called on by actors to design wigs for them on various projects

02:51

Jodi Mancuso on what a viewer can learn about a character from the way they are styled

01:42

Jodi Mancuso on enjoying helping to create a new character

02:12

Jodi Mancuso on basing wigs for fictional characters on real people's hair

00:57

Jodi Mancuso on advice to an aspiring television hair stylist

02:14

Jodi Mancuso puts the interviewer in a Donald Trump wig

01:49

Jodi Mancuso on styling hair for Portlandia

05:23

Jodi Mancuso on doing wigs for the series Baskets

01:56

Jodi Mancuso on doing wigs for the series Miracle Workers

02:51

Jodi Mancuso on styling hair for Saturday Night Live

51:44

Jodi Mancuso on styling hair for Saturday Night Live

24:15

Jodi Mancuso on being called in last-minute to style hair for Maya & Marty

02:37

Jodi Mancuso on working with Tina Fey on Saturday Night Live

01:48

Jodi Mancuso on crafting Tina Fey's "Sarah Palin" wig for Saturday Night Live, and on Palin appearing on the show

02:18