How Kristin Chenoweth’s Hair Saved Her Life After On-Set Injuries
Kristin Chenoweth's life was saved after an on-set accident filming The Good Wife by her metal hair extensions.
In an amazing sequence of events, Kristin Chenoweth relates the story of an on-set injury that would have been much worse if not for her hair extensions. Deadline reports that the Pushing Daisies star related the incident in her new book, I’m No Philosopher, But I’ve Got Thoughts. The accident took place over a decade ago, in 2012, while the Broadway star was filming an episode of The Good Wife.
Kristin Chenoweth was actually not sure what happened on the set until she woke up in the hospital with a hairline fracture, a skull fracture, and damage to her teeth and ribs. Apparently, a large piece of lighting equipment broke loose and struck the actress in the face, throwing her to the curb with enough force that she would have died except for her hair. Hair extensions saved her life according to the doctor that oversaw her recovery.
The hair extensions held Kristin Chenoweth’s skull together, preventing the seven-inch fracture from being worse than it was. As she says, “My doctor said, ‘What are these metal things?’ And I said, ‘They’re hair extensions.’ And he said, ‘They saved your life.'”
Kristin Chenoweth admitted to Andy Cohen on an episode of Watch What Happens Live that she didn’t sue CBS, the studio producing The Good Wife. The GCB star admits “I didn’t do it out of fear and anxiety, so don’t ever let fear rule your life. I have long-standing injuries from that.”
“My doctor said, ‘What are these metal things?’ And I said, ‘They’re hair extensions.’ And he said, ‘They saved your life.'”
Kristin Chenoweth on how hair extensions saved her life
The Good Wife Season 4 storyline involving Kristin Chenoweth was dropped, as the actress never returned to the show following the accident. Even after the release of her book, and a fresh round of publicity over the incident during the era of social media, allegedly no one from CBS has reached out. Chenoweth has clarified that she purposely did not discuss the incident publicly out of fear of being labeled by the studio and struggling to find work.
Kristin Chenoweth is one of Broadway’s biggest stars, famously playing Glinda the Good Witch as part of the original cast in Wicked. Her latest show, Kristin Chenoweth: For The Girls was a revue highlighting the music of female singers, which ran for a limited engagement in 2019. An album of the same name, the singer’s sixth, was released at the same time.
While the injuries from The Good Wife accident continue to bother Kristin Chenoweth, she kept working in television between Broadway performances. From playing Maleficent in The Descendants, to Easter in American Gods, and appearing in the competition show The Voice as a team advisor, Chenoweth has kept busy. Her latest appearance came in 2022, in a cameo as herself in the gay rom-com Bros.
Kristin Chenoweth is working on her next project, The Biggest Star in Appleton, starring as Carol Dannhauser, a waitress that performs at her local community theater. The comedy has no other cast or crew at the moment, meaning it’s still early in production, but for fans of the singer so good that the singing technique “chenonote” was named for her amazing technique, any chance to see her on screen is worth the wait.
