The heyday of the side bang is well behind us, but I can't shake the sense that pop culture was better when every celebrity had them. Nicole Richie and the Olsen twins are often credited as early adopters of the trend. And to that list, I think we're obligated—as a culture—to add dark-comedy darling Aubrey Plaza.
Side bangs were made for people like Plaza because they subtly frame her defining feature: her deep-set eyes. Some of her best acting happens in the uncomfortable intensity of her gaze.
Here's how the White Lotus cast member's sideswept fringe has evolved over the years.
The moment: Plaza told The Cut she thinks “the deadpan thing” started when she was an undergrad at NYU. An Upright Citizens Brigade classmate cast her as an apathetic teenager in a web series. And on the strength of that performance, she was able to land an agent and three spiritually similar roles: April Ludgate the bored intern on Parks and Recreation, Julie Powers the irritable frenemy in Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, and Seth Rogen's mousy love interest Daisy in Funny People. Plaza would go on to play the role of April Ludgate—the show’s most quotable character—on Parks and Rec for seven years.
When she was ready to pivot, working with acting coach Tish Till helped Plaza “dive off the deep end” with characters like Ingrid Thorburn, an unhinged social media stalker with Los Angeles influencer dreams in Ingrid Goes West.
The look: Childhood photos that appear in a Delaware Today profile of Plaza seem to suggest that she’s been rocking bangs for most of her life. But the comedian has come a long way from the sheet of inky-dark hair and blunt bangs she became known for on the first season of Parks and Recreation in 2009.
Plaza's side bangs made their red-carpet debut at the 2010 MTV Movie Awards. Accompanied by her Scott Pilgrim costars, she glowed in a nude strapless minidress, pink glossy lip, and undone waves—a refreshing change from the Daria-esque way she's normally styled onscreen. Years later, Plaza admitted during an appearance on RuPaul’s podcast What’s the Tee? that she and Michael Cera dated for a year and a half after wrapping Scott Pilgrim. “We drove across the country after we shot that movie and almost got married in Vegas,” she said.
Plaza decided to wear something a bit more daring to the 2013 Emmys: a long-sleeve Marios Schwab grown topped with a sculptural floral choker. Parting her curtain bangs down the center, she pulled her hair into a relaxed updo for the occasion. (Memorably, only six months prior, Plaza was kicked out of the 2013 MTV Movie Awards for an unplanned bit wherein she ran onstage and stole Will Ferrell's award for “comedic genius” with a drink in hand and the name of her most recent movie—the underperforming CBS title The To Do List—scrawled across her chest.)
I love this mermaid moment Plaza put together for the 2014 American Comedy Awards. It encapsulates all the hottest hair trends of the 2010s: ombré caramel brown highlights, tousled waves, and side bangs. Pairing a bright pink lip with a cobalt blue halter gown, she took a risk and stuck the landing.
Female actors (unlike musicians) are understandably a bit more hesitant to make big, unexpected changes to their cut and color unless it’s necessary for a role. Perhaps that's why Plaza chose to keep her hair long until the final season of Parks and Rec. At the 2015 Emmys, however, she sported a sleek asymmetrical bob, warm brown babylights, and neatly cropped side bangs.
The following year, the bob got shorter and the side bang got heavier. You can't imagine the chokehold this cut had on millennial women between 2009 and 2019. That said, Plaza's love of vintage continues to come through in this ’60s mod-inspired shift dress. Get a good look before you go—this is the last time you'll see a true side bang on Plaza for now.
In 2017, Plaza began to have an on-again, off-again relationship with her side bangs. Here they're present but probably in the process of being grown out. For the titular role in Ingrid Goes West, renowned celebrity colorist Tracey Cunningham oversaw the creation of Plaza’s cinnamon red hue.
The knife barrette Plaza tucked into her long layered cut on the Child’s Play red carpet in 2019 signaled the end of her side-bangs era. “Aubrey is so funny and obviously a comedic icon, but she's also classically beautiful,” stylist Clayton Hawkins told Popsugar. “I always try to find the middle ground with her where it's not just campy or boring beauty. Two weeks ago, when I was thinking about the Child's Play premiere, I was like, ‘OMG, what if I did a classic Hollywood blowout and had a tiny knife behind her ear?’”
The ‘70s-inspired curtain bangs made a major comeback in 2020. To host that year’s Independent Spirit Awards, Plaza opted for cheek-grazing curtain bangs and a killer blowout courtesy of her longtime hairstylist Rheanne White.
Which brings us to 2022 and Plaza’s press tour for the scammer comedy Emily the Criminal, which gave birth to some of her biggest red-carpet slays to date. Take this ’90s bombshell ensemble she wore to the ESPYs, featuring a formfitting Et Ochs slip with metallic silver detailing and the grown-out bob of my dreams courtesy of Hawkins.
The legacy: Having the perfect face for bangs is a gift. And it should be treated as such. Curtain bangs are flattering for all face shapes. But some of us will simply never know what it feels like to be able to pull off side bangs the way Aubrey Plaza can. She appears to be in the process of growing out her bangs right now, but my guess is she’ll come back eventually. She always does.
Season three of HBO’s The White Lotus premieres October 30, 2022.
