Ferguson plays Crawford Mackenzie, a Scottishhairdresser who, while being filmed as part of a fly-on-the-wall BBC documentary, is invited to the World Hairdresser International Federation annual contest. The documentary team (with Chris Langham playing the interviewer) follows Crawford to L.A., where he discovers that his invitation is to be a member of the audience rather than a competitor. He eventually weasels his way into the contest and produces the greatest creation of his career.
It was filmed on location in Glasgow and Los Angeles. The inspiration for this film came from Craig Ferguson's desire to make a cheerful film celebrating Scottishness, as opposed to the epic nature of films like Braveheart and Rob Roy, or the downbeat quality of Trainspotting and Shallow Grave.
The script was snapped up by Warner Brothers after a five-day bidding war.
Warner Brothers was the only studio prepared to immediately greenlight the film. A fast turnaround was required so it could be shot while Ferguson was on hiatus from The Drew Carey Show.
The Big Tease was not the only hairdressing film in development at the time; The Big Tease was released first in 1999, causing Blow Dry to be delayed until 2001.[2]
Casting
It took casting director Kris Nicolau about five weeks to fill all seventy roles in the film.[citation needed]Frances Fisher was originally to read for the part of Monique, a role which went to Mary McCormack. Instead she opted to play Candy, the publicist.
Craig Ferguson attended a hairdressing institute to learn all about the art of hairdressing. The hairpieces used in the final Platinum Scissors competition are made from real human hair. Acrylic (which is normally used in wigs) doesn't photograph well and ends up looking like plastic. Each hairpiece weighed about 4 pounds (1.8 kg)
