Peter Howitt's romantic comedy Pile et Face brought together in the late 1990s the American Gwyneth Paltrow and the Englishman John Hannah (also seen in Four Weddings and a Funeral). In this feature film, the screenplay explores the two sides of a life depending on whether the character played by Gwyneth Paltrow manages to get on the subway or not. The story thus follows the two destinies of the heroine in parallel.
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Stratagems to guide the viewer
In a podcast hosted by Jennie Becker called SD25 (the original title of the film is Sliding Doors), the director returned to this desire to help the viewer navigate between the two versions of the story: "During pre-production, we had many conversations about how we were going to make sure the audience knew where they were. How can we make sure it's not confusing?" And among the stratagems used, there is the Gwyneth Paltrow cut. "We decided on hairstyling quite early on because when we went to pitch our project to all the film companies, most people really liked it, but didn't really understand how we were going to do it," says producer Phillipa Braithwaiste.
The trick of the different hairstyle is then necessary: the character of Helen has on one side long hair and on the other, a short cut like Meg Ryan. But the actress who has to give up her lengths has one requirement: that it is her New York hairdresser who cuts her long hair. "It was probably the most expensive haircut in history because Gwyneth, rightly – she had beautiful hair – wanted her hairdresser to come from New York, and we had to fly him in. This cup ended up costing 5000,8000 pounds sterling (nearly <>,<> dollars at the time, Editor's note). Then we had a wig made for Helen's long-haired version."
Gwyneth Paltrow and Brad Pitt in March 1997. Kevin.Mazur/Gettty Images
The successful and very emblematic cut of the 1990s will enter the legend when the actress poses with her companion at the time, Brad Pitt, who will even decide to play the card of hair mimicry.