# Actors who become unrecognizable when old **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 26, 2017, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-become-unrecognizable-when-old/783081 "2017-03-26T17:41:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2017, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-become-unrecognizable-when-old/783081/41 "2017-03-27T15:36:49Z")
I can’t think of any off the top of my head, but there have been times when I’ve looked at an older actor and thought they kinda sorta looked like someone but I wasn’t sure. Between makeup, hairstyles, and weight fluctuations, it seems pretty simple to look very different years on. I was just looking at 2 pictures of me - one taken at 19, one at 50-ish. My head was at the same angle to the camera and my smile was similar, but I don’t know if someone would match the two as both being me. In those days, I had a strong resemblance to my mom, but as I’ve aged, I see more of my paternal grandmother in me. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2017, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-become-unrecognizable-when-old/783081/42 "2017-03-27T15:38:01Z")
Then and now: [Richard Grieco](https://www.flickr.com/photos/vmpyrdavid/5516998103) ---
**Author:** ![Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b487fb/32.png) [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walken_After_Midnight)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2017, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-become-unrecognizable-when-old/783081/43 "2017-03-27T15:40:04Z")
I saw a picture of [Linda Kozlowski](https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/40/ff/62/40ff6202610c10eeba6e0a0b4e938abe.jpg), perhaps most famous for her role in _Crocodile Dundee_, a couple of days ago and thought she was unrecognizable. She still looks great, just [completely different](http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2016/01/04/09/2FC65A2100000578-0-image-a-32_1451899291297.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![Smitty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@Smitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smitty)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2017, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-become-unrecognizable-when-old/783081/44 "2017-03-27T15:40:36Z")
Portia de Rossi. Between season 3 and 4 of Arrested Development, she changed so much I thought they had replaced the actress at first. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2017, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-become-unrecognizable-when-old/783081/45 "2017-03-27T15:46:00Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > Oh my god, people got older. They got wrinkles, their faces sagged, they put on weight, maybe they lost their hair or it turned gray or white. Is everyone posting in this thread under 30? Have you never seen this progress in real life? > > This is such a sad statement on what passes for our culture. Aging happens. Get used to it, with any luck it will happen to you too. It didn’t happen to Elle MacPherson. [1987](http://i.huffpost.com/gadgets/slideshows/343319/slide_343319_3562052_free.jpg) [2017](http://cdn-img.instyle.com/sites/default/files/styles/684xflex/public/images/2016/03/032416-elle-macpherson-lead.jpg?itok=uH56zAB8) ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2017, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-become-unrecognizable-when-old/783081/46 "2017-03-27T15:51:39Z")
At some point [Matthew McConaughey](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/dXh6X_hDlTg/maxresdefault.jpg) morphed into Christian Bale. And not in a good way. A few years ago I saw an excellent little horror flick called _Jug Face._ I made it through the whole movie not realizing I was watching [Sean Young](http://cdn.movieweb.com/img.news.tops/NEFbgJ6Je12XIH_3_a.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2017, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-become-unrecognizable-when-old/783081/47 "2017-03-27T15:57:24Z")
For me, it’s most disturbing when you see actors who have plastic surgery that radically alters how their faces look. Actors (particularly women) face tremendous pressure to maintain their looks as they age, but for so many of them, the surgery changes their looks entirely. ---
**Author:** ![bobtimusprime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/94ad74/32.png) [@bobtimusprime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobtimusprime)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2017, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-become-unrecognizable-when-old/783081/48 "2017-03-27T16:20:18Z")
I’d say Kids in the Hall Mark McKinney and Superstore Mark McKinney are two different people, if I didn’t know the truth. In fact, I didn’t even recognize him at first on Superstore and didn’t realize who it was until I looked him up. Compare that to his other KitH cohorts like Dave Foley or Kevin McDonald who are easily recognizable upon sight. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2017, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-become-unrecognizable-when-old/783081/49 "2017-03-27T17:11:15Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > One that surprised me was Bradley Whitford. He’s 57 years old. I’m assuming his hair has been turning for a while and he’s been dying it. But he looked like [this in 2014](https://s3.amazonaws.com/images.charitybuzz.com/images/107081/original.jpeg_1378929462?1378996227) and [this in 2016](https://m.hrc.onl/cms/original_images/whitford-cover-photo.jpg). The change was so sudden I literally didn’t recognize him until he spoke. Remember him as [Mike Toddwell](http://www.fanpop.com/clubs/bradley-whitford/images/38748512/title/adventures-babysitting-1987-fanart) in _Adventures In Babysitting_? Which, or course, featured a vastly different-looking [Vincent D’Onofrio](http://application.denofgeek.com/pics/film/aib03.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2017, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-become-unrecognizable-when-old/783081/50 "2017-03-27T17:41:38Z")
> [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](#): > > [Teri Garr](http://www.snakkle.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/Teri-Garr-SPLIT.jpg) Terri Garr is 69 years old. It is true that there are some Hollywood actors who don’t seem to show their age. Tom Cruise, Harrison Ford, Paul Newman, Keanu Reeves, and so on. But even among the elite most of them are subjected to the same aging processes as everyone. And some, like Carrie Fisher, have some really hard years of substance abuse and mental illness mixed in, which can age you prematurely. That’s not even getting into botched plastic surgery, or gaining 100 pounds. ---
**Author:** ![Boozahol\_Squid\_P.I](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d9b06d/32.png) [@Boozahol\_Squid\_P.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boozahol_Squid_P.I)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2017, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-become-unrecognizable-when-old/783081/51 "2017-03-27T17:46:36Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > This is such a sad statement on what passes for our culture. Aging happens. Get used to it, with any luck it will happen to you too. Aging happens. But Mickey Rourke doesn’t. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2017, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-become-unrecognizable-when-old/783081/52 "2017-03-27T17:53:03Z")
> [@Boozahol\_Squid\_P.I](#): > > Aging happens. But Mickey Rourke doesn’t. In my mind, Mickey Rourke loks like this now: [![](https://www.bhmpics.com/thumbs/mickey_rourke_in_sin_city_a_dame_to_kill_for_2014-t3.jpg) ](https://www.bhmpics.com/thumbs/mickey_rourke_in_sin_city_a_dame_to_kill_for_2014-t3.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![bobtimusprime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/94ad74/32.png) [@bobtimusprime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobtimusprime)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2017, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-become-unrecognizable-when-old/783081/53 "2017-03-27T17:53:27Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > Terri Garr is 69 years old. > > It is true that there are some Hollywood actors who don’t seem to show their age. Tom Cruise, Harrison Ford, Paul Newman, Keanu Reeves, and so on. > > But even among the elite most of them are subjected to the same aging processes as everyone. And some, like Carrie Fisher, have some really hard years of substance abuse and mental illness mixed in, which can age you prematurely. > > That’s not even getting into botched plastic surgery, or gaining 100 pounds. Doesn’t Garr also have MS and some other issues which add to the changes in her looks? ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2017, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-become-unrecognizable-when-old/783081/54 "2017-03-27T17:59:26Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > Terri Garr is 69 years old. And, she has been dealing with health issues for a long time. She publicly confirmed that she has MS in 2002, but apparently had started noticing symptoms 20 years earlier. She also suffered a brain aneurysm in 2006. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2017, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-become-unrecognizable-when-old/783081/55 "2017-03-27T18:18:32Z")
> [@Lemur866](#): > > Terri Garr is 69 years old. > > It is true that there are some Hollywood actors who don’t seem to show their age. Tom Cruise, Harrison Ford, Paul Newman, Keanu Reeves, and so on. > > But even among the elite most of them are subjected to the same aging processes as everyone. And some, like Carrie Fisher, have some really hard years of substance abuse and mental illness mixed in, which can age you prematurely. > > That’s not even getting into botched plastic surgery, or gaining 100 pounds. Harrison Ford looks his age. But he’s still recognizable because he’s remained active in the movies. In fact, he reprised his role as Han Solo in 2015’s _The Force Awakens_ and is set to shoot _Indiana Jones 5_. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2017, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-become-unrecognizable-when-old/783081/56 "2017-03-27T18:28:42Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > Tom Cruise; in [Top Gun](http://screencrush.com/442/files/2015/12/1401x788-Top-Gun-3.jpg). > Tom Cruise;from [a couple of years ago](http://media.vanityfair.com/photos/5385f8edf66e8d8371000216/master/pass/tom-cruise-emily-blunt.jpg). > Antony Edwards [as Goose](https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/fa/4f/1f/fa4f1f63f1ffcf9389050e4a36357d83.jpg): > Antony Edwards (on the left)[from last year:](https://pixel.nymag.com/imgs/daily/vulture/2016/03/25/recaps/25-billions-02.w710.h473.jpg) The only reason Edwards looks more different is he’s bald. If he still had his hair he wouldn’t look any more aged than Cruise does. The thing is, Anthony Edwards started losing his hair a long time ago. When he was on “ER” he was balding. So this isn’t a recent change for him - it happened twenty years ago. ---
**Author:** ![bobtimusprime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/94ad74/32.png) [@bobtimusprime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobtimusprime)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2017, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-become-unrecognizable-when-old/783081/57 "2017-03-27T18:33:59Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > The only reason Edwards looks more different is he’s bald. If he still had his hair he wouldn’t look any more aged than Cruise does. > > The thing is, Anthony Edwards started losing his hair a long time ago. When he was on “ER” he was balding. So this isn’t a recent change for him - it happened twenty years ago. I don’t know about that. He also looks older than Cruise in the face. Not to the point that he could play Cruise’s dad, but he definitely looks his senior, even ignoring the hair. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2017, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-become-unrecognizable-when-old/783081/58 "2017-03-27T18:37:44Z")
> [@bobtimusprime](#): > > I don’t know about that. He also looks older than Cruise in the face. Not to the point that he could play Cruise’s dad, but he definitely looks his senior, even ignoring the hair. I think it’s mostly the old man eyebrows. ---
**Author:** ![bobtimusprime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/94ad74/32.png) [@bobtimusprime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobtimusprime)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2017, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-become-unrecognizable-when-old/783081/59 "2017-03-27T18:41:37Z")
Maybe. He looks like he’s doing a JK Simmons impersonation there. Simmons is 10 years older yet they look about the same age. ---
**Author:** ![Kimballkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b5a626/32.png) [@Kimballkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimballkid)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2017, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-become-unrecognizable-when-old/783081/60 "2017-03-27T18:52:42Z")
Since stand up comedians have been mentioned, how about [Carrot Top](http://www.strengthfighter.com/2012/12/carrot-top-synthol.html) (scroll down a bit). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-become-unrecognizable-when-old/783081.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-become-unrecognizable-when-old/783081.md?page=4)