# Actors/Actresses whose looks changed drastically **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 12, 2020, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-actresses-whose-looks-changed-drastically/922813 "2020-10-12T17:05:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2020, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-actresses-whose-looks-changed-drastically/922813/61 "2020-10-13T00:48:41Z")
Here’s video of Daniel Whitney doing stand up before he took on the persona of Larry the Cable Guy: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/Nqm-vKWEkoU/hqdefault.jpg "The Cable Guy is a Fraud") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nqm-vKWEkoU) ---
**Author:** ![CaptMurdock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/captmurdock/32/11736_2.png) [@CaptMurdock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaptMurdock)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2020, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-actresses-whose-looks-changed-drastically/922813/62 "2020-10-13T01:30:49Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > James Doohan is a great example. He seems to have visually aged a ton between ST:TOS and the movies but no one else in the cast did. I’m too lazy to look it up on Wikipedia or IMDB, but wasn’t Doohan at least ten years older than the rest of the cast (except maybe for Dee Kelly, who was maybe five years younger than him)? Doohan was a Canadian solder in WW2 – lost a finger on Omaha Beach, IIRC. Shatner, FTR, only looked as good as he did because 1) his hair transplant that he’d had in the interim went really well 2) he had been on a crash diet for months. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2020, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-actresses-whose-looks-changed-drastically/922813/63 "2020-10-13T02:38:02Z")
Yeah Doohan was born in 1920. Surely older than the rest (Nimoy 1931). Nothing wrong with getting old and being older than the others. Just interesting to see how drastically his looks changed while being the same character with the same cast in the same series. Leonard Nimoy preeeeety much always looked the same from ST:TOS to his last appearance as Spock in 2013. I agree with the poster who said it is Also interesting to think about the actors who have stayed looking essentially the same their whole careers. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2020, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-actresses-whose-looks-changed-drastically/922813/64 "2020-10-13T02:47:57Z")
> [@Lamoral](#): > > 99% of people, even British people, would not have a shot in hell of recognizing that younger picture as Ricky Gervais, if shown it without any context. You are totally right, I think Ricky Gervais is the standout winner of this thread topic so far. Well, okay, he wasn’t an actor in his youth. But here’s the bizarrely unexpected full story of his early career as a slim and _pretty_ Bowie-esque 80s pop star who hit the big time in the Philippines! > **[Before He Was Roasting Celebrities at the Golden Globes, Ricky Gervais Was an...](https://www.esquiremag.ph/long-reads/features/ricky-gervais-pop-star-a00304-20200220)** > > Who remembers 'More to Lose?' ---
**Author:** ![Didi44](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47c2d/32.png) [@Didi44](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Didi44)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2020, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-actresses-whose-looks-changed-drastically/922813/65 "2020-10-13T03:24:36Z")
Korean actress Kang Hye Jun - Mi Do in _Oldboy_ [![](https://i.ibb.co/MhgJh56/old-boy-014.jpg) ](https://i.ibb.co/MhgJh56/old-boy-014.jpg) [![](https://i.ibb.co/VvjpHFL/myhouse-2.jpg) ](https://i.ibb.co/VvjpHFL/myhouse-2.jpg) It’s not as noticeable in the still pics, but after she had her wisdom teeth removed in 2009, her face changed so drastically, people where saying she had plastic surgery. I’m a big fan of Asian movies and it took me a good while to realize it was her in 2009’s _Why Did You Come to My House?_ ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2020, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-actresses-whose-looks-changed-drastically/922813/66 "2020-10-13T04:05:11Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > Yeah Doohan was born in 1920. Surely older than the rest (Nimoy 1931). Nothing wrong with getting old and being older than the others. Just interesting to see how drastically his looks changed while being the same character with the same cast in the same series. Leonard Nimoy preeeeety much always looked the same from ST:TOS to his last appearance as Spock in 2013. And he’s the same age as DeForest Kelley. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2020, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-actresses-whose-looks-changed-drastically/922813/67 "2020-10-13T04:10:33Z")
> [@Didi44](#): > > It’s not as noticeable in the still pics, but after she had her wisdom teeth removed in 2009, her face changed so drastically, people where saying she had plastic surgery. Why on earth would you believe her? Your own eyes are telling you different. More likely, she _did_ have plastic surgery and said the change in appearance was from having her wisdom teeth pulled. She may well have also had them pulled, but her lower jaw looks to be in a different position altogether. Actresses _always_ say they didn’t have plastic surgery, they just had some other medically necessary surgery which caused the change. I can’t think of any actress other than Carol Burnett who has admitted to having more than a face lift. ---
**Author:** ![Didi44](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47c2d/32.png) [@Didi44](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Didi44)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2020, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-actresses-whose-looks-changed-drastically/922813/68 "2020-10-13T04:32:47Z")
Because she was known for her unique look and the change wouldn’t make sense in helping her career. In fact, it hurt her career for a bit after she returned in 20009 because people wanted her old look. She said that she had her teeth pulled because it was causing her issues. Unlike in the U.S., there’s a good number of actresses and singers who aren’t conventionally attractive that are also high demand models. Kaho comes to mind as Japan’s Kang Hye Jung. [![](https://i.ibb.co/XCZSDXt/Kaho-Cannes-2015.jpg) ](https://i.ibb.co/XCZSDXt/Kaho-Cannes-2015.jpg) She’s not conventionally pretty, but she’s in demand as a model and is an outstanding actress. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2020, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-actresses-whose-looks-changed-drastically/922813/69 "2020-10-13T04:56:14Z")
> [@Didi44](#): > > Because she was known for her unique look and the change wouldn’t make sense in helping her career. In fact, it hurt her career for a bit after she returned in 20009 because people wanted her old look. She couldn’t have known how it would turn out beforehand or how people would react. Nearly _every_ actress who’s had plastic surgery denies it. I wouldn’t go by her denial as meaning anything. Something like 85% of people have their wisdom teeth pulled, with no obvious visible change. ---
**Author:** ![Omniscient](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omniscient/32/3290_2.png) [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2020, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-actresses-whose-looks-changed-drastically/922813/70 "2020-10-13T06:59:47Z")
Count me in with the wet blankets who say that 90% of the posts here are just showing people who look exactly the same as you’d expect after 40-50 years of age coupled with the change in clothes, hair and makeup one would expect of two wildly different roles. The many black and white pictures here are I think the biggest offenders. There are probably two big categories that are the winners for me. Child/Teen actors who did not age gracefully, like Haley Joel Osment and Jonathan Lipnicki. But that’s sort of a cheat. Then it’s the totally unnecessary and mostly catastrophic plastic surgery, with Mickey Rourke and Renee Zellweger being the banner examples. The Ricky Gervais one however was a new one on me, that gonna be tough to beat. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2020, 9:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-actresses-whose-looks-changed-drastically/922813/71 "2020-10-13T09:29:33Z")
I was going to mention Zellweger, although how much of the change in looks is down to surgery versus dramatic weight loss from her _Bridget Jones_ days is hard to tell. However, remember chubby little Neville Longbottom in the Harry Potter films? [Have you seen what actor Matthew Lewis looks like these days?](https://www.digitalspy.com/showbiz/a648569/harry-potter-star-matthew-lewis-is-impressively-modest-about-his-ripped-new-physique/) I’d also mention Lawrence Fishburne but that’s more just about getting older, from scrawny kid in _Apocalypse Now_ to stocky older guy several decades later. ---
**Author:** ![Author\_Balk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Author\_Balk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Author_Balk)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2020, 11:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-actresses-whose-looks-changed-drastically/922813/72 "2020-10-13T11:15:52Z")
Bruce Jenner. ---
**Author:** ![Smid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/838e76/32.png) [@Smid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smid)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2020, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-actresses-whose-looks-changed-drastically/922813/73 "2020-10-13T11:37:27Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > I was going to mention Zellweger, although how much of the change in looks is down to surgery versus dramatic weight loss from her _Bridget Jones_ days is hard to tell. I still expect to be proven right over the years when they finally admit there are the identical twin Zellweger sisters. There are roles in the late 90s and 00s where she went so savagely one way in weight gain, the type which can’t swing back to the type of weight loss the other way. [Brigette Jones diary](https://www.glamour.com/story/renee-zellweger-open-reprising-bridget-jones) vs [Down with love](https://www.popsugar.co.uk/celebrity/photo-gallery/37567067/image/46334369/Renee-Zellweger-Down-Love) and [Chicago](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0299658/mediaviewer/rm3635523584) Those photographs do not do justice to quite how thin she is in those movies. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2020, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-actresses-whose-looks-changed-drastically/922813/74 "2020-10-13T11:56:19Z")
Russell Crowe has my vote for the most drastic change that is not naturally age related. He was so ruggedly handsome like in the movie, “Gladiator”. He’s let himself go very badly. He’s only 56, which is not old for a man by any means. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/22080_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2020, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-actresses-whose-looks-changed-drastically/922813/75 "2020-10-13T12:03:36Z")
My first thought was Robert Redford. I have to look really hard at his [older self](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Redford#/media/File:Robert_Redford_(cropped).jpg) to see his [younger self](https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/622408/robert-redford-actor-facts). But maybe it’s just me - I’m not good with faces in general. ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2020, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-actresses-whose-looks-changed-drastically/922813/76 "2020-10-13T12:12:19Z")
[Grace Slick](https://townsquare.media/site/295/files/2019/12/Slick.jpg). [Shelley Duvall](https://static.hollywoodreporter.com/sites/default/files/2016/11/shelley_duvall_screen_shot-h2016-928x523.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2020, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-actresses-whose-looks-changed-drastically/922813/77 "2020-10-13T12:15:52Z")
> [@Author\_Balk](#): > > Bruce Jenner. You totally win the thread!! ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2020, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-actresses-whose-looks-changed-drastically/922813/78 "2020-10-13T12:17:01Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > You thought Carrie Fisher was clearly the same person in her later appearances? In the last three _Star Wars_ movies, I genuinely could not recognize her. > > I know Ms. Fisher had some hard years. There are other cases where I’ve seen actor in roles that are decades apart, and there’s always something familiar; a laugh, an expression, or some mannerism in their speech. She’s the only actor I’ve ever seen without some moment of recognition from her early years. Could well be. I only ever saw the first 3 movies. ---
**Author:** ![GMANCANADA](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gmancanada/32/2837_2.png) [@GMANCANADA](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GMANCANADA)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2020, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-actresses-whose-looks-changed-drastically/922813/79 "2020-10-13T12:32:11Z")
I can’t believe no one’s said Madonna yet. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/SoQQMfURcKs/maxresdefault.jpg "Watch Madonna’s BIZARRE Quarantine Bathtub Talk") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SoQQMfURcKs) When her bathtub video came out earlier this year, I showed my wife the story and we started laughing because we thought CNN had mistakenly linked a video of some random asian woman. ---
**Author:** ![TRC4941](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trc4941/32/6792_2.png) [@TRC4941](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TRC4941)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2020, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-actresses-whose-looks-changed-drastically/922813/80 "2020-10-13T13:43:36Z")
Agree! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-actresses-whose-looks-changed-drastically/922813.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-actresses-whose-looks-changed-drastically/922813.md?page=5)