Jerry O'Connell On 'Haircut Night In America': 'It Just Made Us Laugh'

Haircut Night In America comes to CBS and CBS All Access on Friday, May 29th at 8:00PM ET/PT. This special will be hosted by Jerry O'Connell and features celebs taming their quarantine manes at home as we all manage the last few months without our barbers and hairdressers. Joining O'Connell will be a cast of celebrities including his wife Rebecca Romijn and Sharon Osbourne.

CBS Local's Matt Weiss spoke with O'Connell about the upcoming special and his half Zac Efron/half Albert Einstein hair.

MW: Hey Jerry nice to see you today, I see you're outdoors, but where exactly have you been riding out quarantine?

JO: This is actually this is a little like abandoned road near my house. I'm right under a cell tower. I can't do this at my house because my kids eat up all my Wi-Fi with their TikTok. This gets me away from my kids driving me crazy. [laughs] We're all stuck at home man! It's just nuts. Any excuse to get out. Hence why I did Haircut Night In America. 

MW: Are there any TikToks in particular that they're big fans of? 

JO: I watch TikTok over my kids' shoulders. I don't know if those who may or may not be familiar, it's sort of the new social media platform, TikTok. It just seems to be people lip syncing all the time. It's just like provocative dancing and mouthing the words to songs. I don't get it but then again, I'm old, so what the heck do I know? 

MW: Well, my next question was going to be if you picked up any new hobbies during quarantine. It sounds like TikTok has not been one of them for you are. 

JO: TikTok has not been one. My kids are always asking me, 'Hey do you want to do a TikTok? Do you want to do a TikTok?' And I don't because you know I'm a grown man.  

MW: Fair enough [laughs]. So Haircut Night In America airs this Friday, what was your initial reaction to doing the special? Any hesitation putting your hair on the line like that?

JO: No, I thought it was a really fun idea. Haircut Night In America, it just made us laugh. I'm sorry I didn't brush my hair for this or anything, we don't have like hair and makeup teams anymore. I personally rely on my hair and makeup heavily. Up top I'm sort of Zac Efron but on the sides I'm a little Albert Einstein. My wife did a pretty good job coloring hair in there. 

MW: Oh wow, she did the color too. 

JO: Yeah! It was really fun. It was a bonding experience for my wife and I.  I do have to say when I colored my wife there that's about the biggest test we've had as a couple. It's really fun. I think people are going to really laugh.  

MW: I don't want to give too much away, but what was your favorite moment?

JO: It's really fun to see the celebrities with their personal celebrity stylist. We have Kelly Osbourne on there. Kelly is known for her crazy hair. Kelly worked with her super hip stylist, her colorist. I think talking to celebrities while they're doing their hair people are more relaxed. People are ready to gossip when they're doing their hair. It's like maybe it's a salon sort of, barbershop sort of vibe. It's a really relaxed show. It's fun and I think also people have been cooped up, so it's fun to start talking to other people. It's just fun to get out of the house. 

MW: You mentioned that coloring your wife's hair was maybe the biggest test of your marriage. My next question is would you actually recommend for people to go out there and try this? 

JO: Look, I would not recommend people do their own hair or their spouse or their partner's here at home. If you are going to do that, listen, try and wait until everything opens up again. It's looking like things are going to open up again soon. If you can't wait, try and Zoom in, or Skype in, or FaceTime in your hair professional, your stylist, your barber. Try and Skype them in, so they can help to do it. Which is what we did on Haircut Night In America.  

MW: Last question before I let you go here. Touched on it a little bit earlier but with so much going on right now people missing human interaction and just having a lot weighing them down. This sounds like a really fun special, a chance for people to disconnect for a little bit. What does it mean to be able to bring people that entertainment and that disconnection from everything going on in the world? 

JO: It was really fun. I miss people. I miss going out and doing things. Right now, obviously we can't go out and do all those things. I guess having a big Zoom party and putting it on CBS is the next best thing!

MW: Absolutely. Can't wait to see it. Thank you so much Jerry. Awesome talking to you and all the best. Stay safe. 

JO: Thanks man!

Haircut Night In America airs Friday, May 29th at 8:00PM ET/PT, only on CBS and streaming on CBS All Access. Check your local listings for more information.