Transformation

Debra Messing may look like she just stepped out of a shampoo ad, but it takes more than a few twists of the curling iron to get her there. "She does have natural curly hair," confides her stylist, Luke O'Connor of the Lukaro Salon in Beverly Hills. "But it's not even close to this texture normally." What does a curl need to look good enough for the former Will & Grace star? O'Connor lets Messing's hair air-dry, then uses two curling irons—one large, one small—to create wave formations all over. "The goal is to make it look like it dried that way," he says. See if Messing goes for a curly or straight look at the 2006 Emmy Awards, where she's up for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for Will & Grace.

1986: After high school graduation, Messing attends Brandeis University in Massachusetts and majors in theater arts.