James Norton’s Happy Valley Hair Transformation In 7 Pictures

Oct 03, 2023

When Happy Valleyreturned to BBC1 for its third and final season this year, few could have predicted that Tommy Lee Royce's (James Norton) hair would prove such a talking point. James made his Happy Valley debut as Tommy with a bright blonde short back and sides in season one, which he shaved into a tattoo-baring buzzcut for Tommy's prison stint in season two. When the first teaser trailers for season three dropped, fans were quick to note Tommy's latest transformation - a full beard and brown shoulder-length hair.

Speaking exclusively to Grazia, James explained that hitting on Tommy's look each season was a collaborative process that writer Sally Wainwright was very much a part of. 'Sally was always really keen for Tommy to have a really strong look,' he says, 'and that's one thing I'll miss actually - getting to the first episode of a new series and deciding what Tommy's look should be this time around.'

Season three's transformation required hair extensions. 'I grew my hair for a long time and I grew the beard in the lead-up to filming,' reveals James, 'and then they burnt in -' burnt?! 'well no, not burnt, they melted in these little plastic things that held the hair and I had long hair for a month or so while we shot.' James had a head of pre-bonded hair extensions. It's a form of hair extension that involves melting a small keratin bond directly onto hair with a heat gun. The bond fuses to the hair and the extensions are held in place. Applied well they can be close to undetectable - a must when it comes to filming a high-profile TV series like Happy Valley.

Taking to Instagram this week, James posted a series of behind-the-scenes selfies to illustrate the season three hair transformation in full. Scroll through them all below:

James grew out his own hair and beard in the lead up to Happy Valley season three filming, to give the hair professionals on set a good base to work with.

It wasn't long enough though. Using bonded hair extensions - the least detectable kind - the Happy Valley hair department set about applying shoulder-length hair extensions to James's existing lengths.

The team brushed through each layer of hair extensions to ensure seamless, natural-looking application. You can see they're halfway through here.

Attention to detail is key with any form of hair extension application, but especially when you're creating a look for a TV series watched by millions. In season three we revisit Tommy after a seven-year stint in prison and he's grown a few grey hairs in the interim.

Tommy's final look was never intended to look groomed. Once all the hair extensions were in it was time for a wet through and air-dry to encourage a few natural-looking waves.

And here are the results. You can see James's natural lengths dry and waved in a similar fashion to his hair extensions - the Tommy Lee Royce season three look is nearly complete.

And now for the topknot. Pulled onto the crow of James's head in a haphazard bun, the actor is ready for his close-up.