The second season of the anthology series “Beef" introduces audiences to a new cast and a new beef, as a Gen-Z couple witnesses an alarming fight between their Millennial boss and his wife, with Carey Mulligan and Charles Melton playing one half of each of the intergenerational warring couples (Oscar Isaac and Cailee Spaney play their respective partners). But beneath the immaculate surfaces lies something far more calculated—and hair color plays a surprisingly pivotal role in constructing that world.

Behind both actors’ on-screen hair looks is celebrity colorist and Schwarzkopf Professional’s U.S. Creative Director of Color and Technique, Tracey Cunningham. Best known for creating effortlessly elevated, red carpet-ready color, Cunningham spent this year’s awards season making multiple house calls across both coasts to prep the likes of Emma Stone, Anya Taylor-Joy, Kate Hudson, and Heidi Klum. But with years of film and television experience under her belt, she’s also become a trusted collaborator for productions requiring subtle, character-driven transformations. “For film and TV, it’s all about character and continuity,” Cunningham explains. “The color has to feel real and live in the world of the story.”

That distinction shapes every decision she makes when working on an actor who requires a new look for a role. Unlike editorial or red carpet work, where “you’re creating something polished and intentional for a specific look or camera flash,” television requires hair that can withstand changing lighting conditions, non-linear shooting schedules, and close-up scrutiny without ever distracting from the performance. “On ‘Beef,’ the goal was always: does this feel like the character, not like ‘hair color’?” she says.

For Mulligan’s Lindsay, that meant creating a nuanced blonde that subtly conveyed a crisis bubbling just below the surface. Cunningham describes the character—a British-born interior decorator whose marriage and dreams are simultaneously falling apart—as someone who is “consciously maintaining a certain image—youthful, polished, put-together.” 

Working with Mulligan’s existing dark blonde base and highlights, Cunningham started by brightening the hair with Schwarzkopf Professional’s IGORA Vario Blond Super Plus before layering lowlights back in with IGORA Vibrance to restore depth and movement. Around the hairline, she used a delicate balayage technique to maintain softness, finishing with an all-over gloss for what she describes as “lived-in, dimensional shine that reads beautifully on camera.” 

According to Cunningham, it took no more than two hours to achieve, and the resulting color walks a fine line between aspiration and authenticity. “We didn’t want it to feel too perfect,” Cunningham says. “The dimension softens it and keeps it grounded, so you still feel the humanity underneath.”

If Mulligan’s blonde is meant to read as aspirational, Melton’s hair operates the opposite way. Its intention is to be almost invisible, which, according to Cunningham, is precisely the point. His character,  a developmentally arrested Gen Zer working paycheck-to-paycheck at the country club, is adjacent to wealth rather than inside it. While he may rub shoulders with the West Coast elites who pay five figures a month to work out at the country club, he’s not one of them. His hair needed to reflect that positioning without appearing overtly styled. “The approach was really about restraint,” Cunningham says. “You’re not trying to transform the hair, just elevate what’s already there.”

Working with Melton’s natural dark brown hair, Cunningham created ultra-fine woven highlights using 30-volume developer before toning all over with IGORA Vibrance. The technique adds subtle depth and light reflection while remaining virtually undetectable to the viewer. “You never want to see obvious highlights in men’s hair,” she explains. “The goal is always for it to feel completely natural in real life, but still have enough dimension and depth to hold up on screen.”

That kind of “invisible” color work is often the hardest to achieve. Cunningham describes it as a series of small adjustments—tone, gloss, and placement that audiences may never consciously register, even though the camera absolutely does. “If you’re noticing the color,” she says, “it means I’ve probably gone too far.”

Across both looks, continuity remained key, with color maintenance happening roughly every six weeks during production. As for why she doesn’t stray from Schwarzkopf Professional’s IGORA range, “they’re really reliable for set work,” she says. “I can lift cleanly while still keeping the hair feeling healthy, which is so important when you’re working over a long shoot schedule.”