Why Paula Jai Parker Re-Did Her Braids Every Week For Her Role In Friday

The cast of characters in Friday were unforgettable. So much so that we still talk about them today and folks are begging for a reboot.

All of that is up in the air for the time being. But in the meantime, we can reminisce about the original and even learn some behind-the-scenes facts.

Recently, Paula Jai Parker, who played Joi, Craig’ovie s cheating girlfriend, shared a story about those long, flowing, blonde braids.

In an interview with Page Six Style, Parker said that Joe was supposed to have a different hairstyle for the film but the stylist hired for the film wasn’t that skilled yet.

Together, the stylist and Parker collaborated on Joi’s signature look.

But Parker’s schedule presented a bit of a problem.

“I booked ‘Friday’ and ‘Tales From the Hood’ at the same time, so I had to put the braids in. I requested blond twists and she didn’t know how to do [the style]. She was like, ‘Look … this is all I know how to do. So sit your a$$ still, because we got to be taking these in and out for like four months.”

While the look took hours to create, they had to remove the braids every week.

“Every week she had to take [them] out because I was shooting both of the movies simultaneously … My character from ‘Tales From the Hood’ wore a wig, and there was no way I was gonna be sticking all those box braids up in a wig.”

While the stylist might have needed a little more time to perfect the styling technique, she was also a skilled nail tech.

“…so she would go to work and then she would come to set. She was 18 at the time and she just graduated from cosmetology school, so I was really a guinea pig.”

In addition to those waist-length blonde braids and long red nails, Joi was also known for her cut off shorts.

Parker kept those for herself. But unfortunately in the years since the film was released, she misplaced them.

“I don’t know what happened to them,” she said. “I think they got lost in storage. You know how it is, when you move and you forget to pay your storage fee. But somebody’s wearing them shorts out there in the world.”