Yes, Joey King is Wearing a Wig in ‘The Kissing Booth 2’ on Netflix

At long last, The Kissing Booth 2 has premiered on Netflix and with it all the horny teen energy we all need to get through this summer. Star Joey King returns in the Kissing Booth sequel, once again playing Elle Evans, a plucky tomboy-turned-kissing booth mastermind. However, somethings different about King’s performance this go around. Not only has the actress shot to fame thanks to her Golden Globe- and Emmy-nominated turn in Hulu’s The Act, but she looks…changed. Specifically, Elle’s hair in The Kissing Booth 2 is a wig. It’s a fabulous — almost perfectly passing — wig, and I am obsessed with it.

The Kissing Booth 2 is, naturally, the sequel to Netflix’s The Kissing Booth. The first film was an explosion of adolescent horniness, full of making out and safe sex hookups. The story followed Elle Evans (Joey King), a teenager who feels conflicted over a crush on her long-time best friend Lee’s (Joel Courtney) older brother, Noah (Jacob Elordi). These feelings come to a head when Elle and Lee organize a kissing booth as a fundraiser for their private high school. When she and Noah passionately kiss, the “secret” of their mutual crush is out. However, the two continue to keep their relationship under wraps.

The Kissing Booth 2 will follow what happens to Elle and Noah’s love when he goes across the country to attend Harvard University. Separated, the two find their connection under pressure.

But I don’t really care about that. I care about how The Kissing Booth 2 navigated the fact that its starlet shaved her head in between movies. I want to talk about the wig and the wig’s timeline upon this earth…

MAY 2018: THE KISSING BOOTH PREMIERES ON NETFLIX

Ah, were we ever so young? The original Kissing Booth movie premiered on Netflix in May 2018, kicking off the streaming service’s big summer of rom-coms. Set It Up and To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before would soon follow. Now in spring of 2018, Joey King was still rocking longer Elle Evans-esque locks. (She was also reportedly dating co-star Jacob Elordi.)

So how did we get from this to a wig in The Kissing Booth 2?

NOVEMBER 2018: JOEY KING ROCKS A SHAVED HEAD

After the success of The Kissing Booth on Netflix, King lined up a dark, dramatic role on rival streamer, Hulu. King was slated to play Gypsy Rose Blanchard in the miniseries The Act. The series dramatized the incredible true crime story of Dee Dee Blanchard and her daughter Gypsy.

Because the real Gypsy sported a shaved head at the time, King followed suit. She showed off her new chrome dome at the 2018 Hulu Holiday Party in November of that year…

SUMMER 2019: THE KISSING BOOTH 2 FILMS IN SOUTH AFRICA

After wrapping The Act for Hulu, King traveled to Cape Town, South Africa to film the Kissing Booth sequel. (Yes, both of The Kissing Booth movies were filmed in South Africa.) As you can see from promotional materials, her hair seems perfectly back to Elle Evans-length.

Except Joey King’s hair wasn’t this long. Oh no, because she is wearing a wig.

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Crushed it

A post shared by Joey King (@joeyking) on Jul 12, 2019 at 3:22pm PDT

As King herself revealed on Instagram, her actual hair was at a sort of pixie-esque length while she was shooting The Kissing Booth 2. Indeed, all of her personal posts from this time in Cape Town reveal her adorable short mop of curls.

Why couldn’t Elle Evans have short hair in The Kissing Booth sequel? I’m not sure. I haven’t read the WattPad novels the films are based on so I couldn’t say if the exact length of Elle Evans’s hair is the key to her character. Like Samson, if Elle snips her locks, will she lose her power over the erotic magic of the kissing booth? But if I was being cynical, I would guess Netflix and the film’s producers didn’t want to risk a Felicity Season 2…

SEPTEMBER 2019: JOEY KING SPORTS CUTE CROPPED CURLS AT THE EMMYS

As if we needed reminding, Joey King’s hair was hella short in 2019. It was also incredibly chic and cute, but it was short. This is because King left the long wig on the set and embraced her own natural growth on the awards circuit for The Act.

Since then, King seems to have been growing her hair out naturally, with the most growth seemingly taking place while she’s been in lockdown…

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Every artist has their process….

A post shared by Joey King (@joeyking) on Jun 22, 2020 at 9:39am PDT

SUMMER 2020: JOEY KING’S LONG HAIR IS BACK, BABY!

If you care as much about the state of Joey King’s follicles as I do — and I don’t know why I do, I just do – you’ll notice that her hair seems to have almost completely grown out as of last month. The actress posted a series of short videos of her playing the keyboard and singing. Her hair? Seemingly real! (It’s hard to synthetically fake that bounce!)

So there you have it: Joey King wore a wig in The Kissing Booth 2, but if Netflix orders The Kissing Booth 3, she should be able to leave the wig cap in the trailer. You know, provided she doesn’t shave all her hair off again…

Where to stream The Kissing Booth 2