Hollywood stars Marisa Tomei and Robert Downey Jr. shared the screen in the 1994 romantic comedy Only You, following a young woman Faith Corvatch, who believes that she is destined to marry a man named Damon Bradley and embarks on a whimsical journey to Italy in pursuit of her fate. Despite its mixed reviews, the film made a fashion statement with Tomei’s stylish bob haircut.
However, costume designer Nicoletta Ercole later revealed that the Upgraded actress had to be convinced with a significant deal to cut her hair for the role, as she did not want to change her style for the movie.
Marisa Tomei Was Reluctant to Cut Her Hair For Only You
In a conversation with IndieWire, Emmy-winning costume designer Nicoletta Ercole reflected on working with Marisa Tomei in the 1994 film Only You. Ercole shared that the actress was fresh off her Oscar win for the 1992 comedy My Cousin Vinny.
She recalled that The Wrestler actress had long hair, but she felt a shorter style would better suit her character and suggested she go for a haircut. However, the actress was reluctant and denied following up on her suggestion.
Marisa, at the beginning, she arrived right after she won [the Oscar] for ‘My Cousin Vinny.’ She had very long hair — She’s so beautiful but she’s not particularly beautiful, you know what I mean? Like everybody else. So I said, ‘Why don’t you cut your hair?’ And she said, ‘No! I don’t want to cut my hair!’
Nicoletta Ercole, however, managed to persuade Tomei with an offer to get a haircut from the “best hairstylist in the world,” the Oscar-nominated makeup artist, Aldo Signoretti. “I told her, ‘OK, I know the best hairstylist in the world, Aldo Signoretti,” she recalled telling the actress.
“He’s in Rome. If you want, I can call him,” she further told Tomei, who agreed, after which Ercole discussed the same with the producer. And Aldo Signoretti flew to Los Angeles to give the Only You star the iconic bob hairstyle.
“He cut her hair in the little garden at my apartment,” Ercole shared. And the 59-year-old actress’ hairstyle turned out to be iconic, reigniting the pixie cut trend once again.
Marisa Tomei Recalled Her Hair Woes Before Only You
In an appearance on Today with Hoda & Jenna, Marisa Tomein reflected on starring in the popular sitcom A Different World along with her infamous hairstyle from the show. The Spider-Man actress shared that the show was a “highlight” of her career and she enjoyed working on it.
“It seems like another planet. It was a highlight, for sure. I really, really enjoyed it,” she said. However, as the conversation shifted to her distinctive hairstyle as Maggie Lauton on the sitcom, the actress humorously dubbed it an “unforgivable haircut.”
She said,
I had a really good time on that, other than my unforgivable haircut. They gave me that haircut. It was not my fault! I just was like, a babe in the woods and they were like, ‘We’re going to do this to you’ And I was like, ‘Okay…
While she embraced her appearance in the sitcom, the actress couldn’t bear to look at her look anymore and went on to shield her face upon the prospect of seeing the clips of herself sporting the ’80s hairdo.
Only You is available to stream on Prime Video.
A Different World is available to stream on Max.
