Domhnall Gleeson Got a Permanent Perm for a Role, and He’s Still Not Over It

Character actors have long been willing to physically transform themselves in pursuit of a role, whether through dramatic weight changes, elaborate prosthetics, or accents perfected over months of coaching. Few of those sacrifices, though, come with quite the lingering, visible consequence of a bad haircut that simply refuses to grow out.

Domhnall Gleeson has spent his career disappearing into an eclectic mix of characters, from Star Wars villains to real historical figures, without ever settling into one obvious type. That reputation for total commitment recently found itself tested in a considerably more mundane, if unexpectedly stubborn, way.

Gleeson revealed that he ended up with a permanent perm for five months following production on his Scottish comedy ‘The Incomer,’ jokingly calling it the actor’s dedication that nobody ever talks about. He explained he wanted his character to have a distinct visual quality, describing the look he was chasing as resembling “a big lollipop sort of thing,” according to The Guardian.

In ‘The Incomer,’ Gleeson plays Daniel, an awkward mainland bureaucrat sent to evict a pair of reclusive siblings, played by Gayle Rankin and Grant O’Rourke, from their remote Scottish island home. The distinctive, curly hairstyle was meant to reinforce his character’s geeky, unassertive energy, giving the performance a specific visual quirk that clearly stuck around long after filming wrapped.

Gleeson didn’t hold back describing just how long the transformation lingered once the cameras stopped rolling. He explained that he ended up living with the perm for roughly four or five months after production concluded, treating the whole ordeal with a mix of humor and genuine exasperation about the lengths actors go to for their roles.

Beyond the physical commitment, Gleeson also spoke about the emotional undercurrent running through the film, describing his character as being every bit as lonely as the isolated siblings he’s tasked with relocating. That shared sense of isolation and eventual acceptance runs throughout the story, giving the film’s oddball premise a surprisingly grounded emotional core beneath its comedic surface.

The perm revelation comes amid what’s been dubbed the “summer of Domhnall,” a nickname Gleeson finds considerably more embarrassing than flattering. He’s currently juggling an unusually busy release schedule, including ‘The Incomer,’ the second season of ‘The Paper,’ and a new film from director Werner Herzog titled “Bucking Fastard.”

Gleeson has admitted he’s unsure exactly where the “summer of Domhnall” nickname originated, though he suspects it may have come from his ‘The Incomer’ co-star Gayle Rankin. Regardless of its source, the phrase has clearly stuck around online in much the same stubborn way his character’s perm managed to outlast the production itself.

‘The Incomer,’ written and directed by Louis Paxton, premiered at Sundance earlier this year, where it won the festival’s NEXT Innovator Award, before opening in the United Kingdom on September 4. The film follows Isla and Sandy, siblings who’ve lived alone on their remote island for 30 years since their parents disappeared, whose isolated world gets upended by Gleeson’s arrival as the titular incomer.

Given how thoroughly Gleeson has committed to physical transformation throughout his career, from Star Wars to historical dramas, this particular sacrifice feels almost fittingly absurd, a reminder that not every act of dedication makes for a glamorous behind-the-scenes story. Sometimes it just means walking around with an unwanted perm for the better part of half a year.

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