Teen Drama Becomes Accidental Comedy Over Actor’s ‘Caveman’ Wig

The dramatic finale of a teen drama turned comical for viewers thanks to the production’s questionable choice to put one of its stars in a wig.

Hulu’s hit series Tell Me Lies stars Spencer House, 33, who portrays Mike Wrigley, a once fun-loving boy who struggles with his mental health after losing a brother.

The series is set in 2008, but includes flashforwards to 2015. In scenes set in the future, several actors wore wigs to transform into older versions of their characters—a common production trick that indicates the passage of time in a film or television show without dramatically changing an actor’s appearance.

However, rather than reading House’s appearance as just seven years older, viewers felt his wig in the show’s Feb. 17 finale aged him at least 10,000 years.

“Spencer, a very hard-hitting topic that we must address: Wrigley’s hair journey,” journalist Deidre Behar Wellman said in an interview with the actor for Entertainment Tonight.

“A lot of fun wigs I got to see you wear in season three,” she continued, asking, “Which one was your favorite?”

“The one that…” House began, smiling. “Where I looked like The Geico Caveman.”

The “Geico Caveman” appeared in several ad campaigns for the insurer, typically with chin-length wavy hair similar to House’s character.

“That was my inspiration,” he joked.

Many viral social media clips and comments had drawn out the comparison earlier, with some saying he looked like a “founding father,” and many fans saying they could not focus on some scenes of the final episode because of House’s wig.

“Oh my gosh. Both of us staring at each other in our wigs was like the funniest thing,” Cat Missal, who played Wrigley’s crush Bree in the show, chimed in.

Missal also wore wigs for some scenes, though hers were less apparent and received far less attention on social media.

House agreed, adding, “I loved it because Wrigley got to hide the whole time. He got to hide behind humor and hair.”

He also addressed the rumors about his hair in earlier seasons. “My hair was real in the first two seasons. I get a lot of people talking about how that’s a wig. And I said, ‘you’re wrong,’” he said.

When asked about whether he got to keep any of the famous wigs, the actor said no. “Those wigs are very expensive. They wouldn’t let me take them,” he explained.

People in the comments, however, found the actor’s statement difficult to believe. “That wig was not expensive. It was from Party City,” the top comment read.

“Expensive? Hate to think what a cheap one would have looked like,” another one joked.