In The Decameron, Misia (Saoirse-Monica Jackson) is a character whose identity is so tied up in serving her mistress Pampinea (Zosia Mamet) that she doesn’t really spare a second to think about herself. At least, at first.
It’s 1348 in Firenze, Italy, and Misia has been tending to Pampinea with unwavering loyalty, accompanying her as they flee to Pampinea’s soon-to-be husband Leonardo’s villa in the countryside once the bubonic plague descends upon the masses.
When she and Pampinea arrive at Villa Santa, Misia shows up wearing what some may call rags. “Even though Pampinea comes with this huge dowry and is so wealthy, she treats her handmaiden so badly,” says Jackson. “She doesn't have any self-respect [when it comes to] how her staff are dressed.”
But one thing Pampinea cannot take away from Misia, no matter how much she asks of her? Her signature bob.
To get to the root(s) of Misia’s hair care in The Decameron, Tudum sat down with Jackson to learn about the inspirations behind Misia’s look, whether it would have been all the rage in medieval Florence, and her nickname for Misia’s hairstyle.
When Misia arrives at the villa, she’s wearing her old brown dress. We heard you nicknamed it “spud bag.” Is that true, and how did it come to you?
It really wasn’t hard. It really goes to show where Misia is at as a character. It literally feels like she has made her clothes from old potato sacks, and she’s just put her wee head through it and then just dawdled on. I do like the hood.
So if “spud bag” is the outfit, what nickname would you have for her short bob hairstyle?
That is so perfect. Were you thinking that on set when you saw your wig for the first time?
I leaned between Lord Farquaad, Christopher Robin, and Zendaya at the Met Gala a couple of years ago. I feel like it’s mostly Lord Farquaad, though. Misia also gives off Dobby vibes. When Misia gets that purple bow in her hair and that purple dress, it’s like when Dobby gets the sock.
The clothes definitely transform the character. To confirm: it’s a wig, right? Not your real hair?
It’s a wig.
Were there ever any other options or contenders? Did you have any say in what it looked like?
Do you know what’s such a funny story? The way that this wig even happened. Claudia Catini, this amazingly talented [hairstylist] was dead set on Misia having this Joan of Arc haircut. Even when she comes into the villa, and she is so psychologically abused at the start — for most of it — she wanted her to have something that had a promise of strength to it. She felt like [Misia] had Joan of Arc vibes in her soul.
And it also really worked artistically. In Villa Santa, there are so many paintings, these Italian depiction paintings, like Renaissance-y sort of paintings. They’re in the villa where loads of different people stand in the background and loads of those people have that haircut in those old paintings.
In a lot of my scenes, I’m stood in the background observing what’s going on, so it’s nearly like I could blend into the painting, which I thought was really clever. But Claudia did tell me that Kathleen [Jordan, creator and showrunner] wanted the wig, and then when the show was done and wrapped, me and Kathleen were out together and Kathleen was like, “And I was so surprised to hear that you really wanted that wig.” And I was like, “Oh, [Claudia] played us.” I still love her. But she did.
So the wig would’ve been all the rage in medieval Florence?
It probably was the easiest. And I imagine that Misia got a knight’s helmet and that’s how she did the haircut. And then she was just like, “Right. Done.”
Like the bowl cut, but medieval times.
I’ve also imagined sometimes Pampinea cutting her hair, which is quite cruel. I often joke that the wig came first and the script came second.
How long would it usually take you to get your wig on?
Not long. It’s a pretty, pretty short wig. There was one other option that was a full pixie cut, but I honestly looked so much like my dad. And we didn’t really want the character that comes in as a quite openly gay character to have a typical short pixie cut hairstyle. So we leaned more for the Lord Farquaad.
Do you think when people see the show they’ll want to cut their hair short like hers?
I would be so flattered if they did. It was quite difficult at times because you’re used to having full movement as an actor. But it was so short and so severe, I couldn’t do any hair action. Or when she’s becoming more confident, I had to find other ways to [show] that, because nothing would move because it's the shortest wig.
Did it make you want to cut your hair short afterward? Or would you miss having long hair? [Editor’s note: Jackson had long, blonde locks on Zoom.]
No, it made me really want to get my roots done after the show was done, because I was low-key considering going back [to] brunette before the job, like, “Oh, it will grow so long. It will be so nice.” And then when I was on that job, I was like, “Fuck no.” [Laughs.] I actually had [Misia’s] very haircut as a child.
Most of us had parents that made us get bangs as a child, at least once.
The brown bob, with the fringe. I can show you a photo. [Pulls up the photo in less than a second]
Love that you had that photo at the ready.
I have so many. Because I had that haircut, honestly, from 2 until I was 10.
Oh, it was your signature hair?
It’s my signature hair.
Look to Misia for hair inspo in The Decameron, all episodes streaming now. Only on Netflix.
