Season three of 'Abbott Elementary' sees Janine Teagues have a job glow up, going from teacher to school district employee, as well as a serious style glow up! But there's more to her transformation than meets the eye. Creator and star Quinta Brunson, as well as the show's costume designer, head hair stylist and head makeup artist spoke to The Hollywood Reporter all about the story the ABC series is telling through Janine's on-screen evolution.
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00:00I always joke that she watched some YouTube videos over the summer.
00:03She learned how to define her curls.
00:06Erica took her shopping.
00:08You kind of see her come in looking a bit fresher for Development Day.
00:12Season 3 of Abbott Elementary sees Janine Teeks have a job glow-up,
00:15going from teacher to school district employee, as well as a major style glow-up.
00:20But there's more to her transformation than meets the eye.
00:22Creator and star Quinta Brunson, as well as the show's costume designer,
00:26head hairstylist, and head makeup artist all spoke to The Hollywood Reporter
00:29about the story the ABC series is telling through Janine's on-screen evolution.
00:34Style-wise, in season 1, her clothing was that of, you know, a girl, not only a teacher
00:41trying their best, but a girl trying her best.
00:44In her 20s, like, Janine's not the coolest.
00:47She's a bit of a nerd.
00:49And honestly, clothes to her are a way to express what she's feeling on the inside.
00:54But that doesn't mean she's good at it.
00:56And I really wanted her to start from that place in season 1.
00:59And I knew it would garner some attention.
01:03But I really wanted that.
01:04I wanted it to, you know, evoke something in people of, like, what is she wearing?
01:09But to not kind of tell the audience that you're going to be on a ride of evolution of style.
01:13This season, the clothes fit her, which is good.
01:16I mean, before, it was just this really big stuff.
01:18And she would put it on right before she went and cinch it in with a belt, you know?
01:22And we would sort of fake alter it really quickly.
01:24And this season, everything, I deliberately went for knits to make them fit her better.
01:29And it was some prints, mostly stripes, not quite the same.
01:33And some lower necklines.
01:34And then the shorter skirts and the fitted blazers.
01:38I mean, it's such a strong visual to see her in something that actually fits her.
01:44Versus, like, the kind of crazier stuff, those, like, really full skirts.
01:49I mean, it's her progression to becoming, like, more together, more confident.
01:56The show isn't just communicating Janine's personal growth through her clothing,
01:59but her hair and makeup as well.
02:01I spoke with our hair team.
02:02You know, they constantly wanted to make the hair look better.
02:07And I so often was like, guys, I get it.
02:11But there's a story that I really want to tell with Janine.
02:16And you'll have those opportunities, like, with Ava and with guest cast.
02:20But with Janine, it's really important to protect
02:24the evolution of a person learning to take care of themselves,
02:28love themselves, and know themselves.
02:30As a hairstylist, as a cosmetologist,
02:32you naturally want to do a glam up or a makeover on everybody.
02:35But I love the fact that I'm able to tell stories every single season
02:40with the development of Janine's character.
02:43I remember having a conversation with Mireya at the top of the season,
02:47and I was like, we're going to do a middle part this year.
02:49And it's really exciting for something so small to be that big to us.
02:53And not only to us, but the audience.
02:55Like, when the season first came out,
02:57or just, like, even promos for the season first came out,
02:59people were like, wow, Janine, bust down middle part.
03:02And I think it's really beautiful to be able to build those moments.
03:06This season meant so much for her to even,
03:09for Quinta to call me and text me and be like, girl, middle part.
03:12I'm like, okay, girl.
03:17Y'all don't understand.
03:18I've been trying to get this girl to switch from the side part for seasons.
03:22And she was like, nope, nope, nope.
03:24But it does fit her character because the first thing after a breakup,
03:28what's the first thing we as women do after a breakup?
03:33We change our hair.
03:34Yeah, honey.
03:35Going online and Googling, okay, how can I make my curls more defined?
03:39Because, you know, we as Black people,
03:40we know how to mix this, mix that in our kitchen and make it work.
03:45So that's basically the approach that we went for this season.
03:48Everyone sees themselves in Janine.
03:51She's a little part of everybody.
03:52But this season, because of her little hiccup with Gregory,
03:55and now she's at the district, of course, you got to kind of elevate.
03:59Like, she's been hanging around Barbara.
04:00She's been with Ava.
04:02And, you know, she's been on YouTube.
04:04And she's like, what can I do to, like, spruce myself up?
04:07And I feel this season, when we were discussing her character,
04:11like, she's more cognizant of what she's doing and how she speaks.
04:15And she wants that presence.
04:17And I went with more jewel tone eyeliners because we all know the,
04:22what is that?
04:22Her jelly bean belt that has all the different colors and stuff like that.
04:27That's Janine.
04:28So I was like, how can I bring teacher Janine into the district, Janine?
04:32This season, I also went with more of lip liners with lip glosses and color in her lip.
04:40Because usually she's just a lip gloss girly.
04:42And she's more toned down.
04:44But again, she's stepping it up.
04:46She's letting you know, you know what?
04:47I take myself more seriously now.
04:50I am still in the district.
04:52Not making that much money, but I can be more presentable.
04:54I always wanted this evolution for Janine.
04:57There's still places I think we have to go with her.
05:00And while the evolutions for the other characters, as far as hair and makeup,
05:05are way more subtle, they're there.
05:08Like they matter.
05:10And I don't need them to be smacking everybody's face.
05:14But you know, they do make a difference in how we tell our stories.