# Actresses who look way hotter when out of character **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 12, 2006, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actresses-who-look-way-hotter-when-out-of-character/356547 "2006-05-12T18:26:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2006, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actresses-who-look-way-hotter-when-out-of-character/356547/1 "2006-05-12T18:26:59Z")
Over the years I’ve come to not really lust after various TV actresses. There was just something about them that was unappealing. Then I would see them out of character, with their own hair and makeup, and wowee, schwing! Last night I saw Debra Jo Rupp with her real hair, and man, she was smokin’. I’ve noticed the same thing with Lucy Lawless, Marina Sirtis, Katey Sagal, and Jane Kaczmarek. What other actresses are like this? ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2006, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actresses-who-look-way-hotter-when-out-of-character/356547/2 "2006-05-12T18:41:09Z")
Good question; let me think about it for a bit. The opposite would be Gwyneth Paltrow. She can be a babe in character, but when she dresses herself she looks like something the cat dragged in. ---
**Author:** ![corkboard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@corkboard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/corkboard)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2006, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actresses-who-look-way-hotter-when-out-of-character/356547/3 "2006-05-12T18:51:35Z")
OK, this might be an unpopular position, but for me Pam Anderson falls into this category. I hate the way she looks when she’s made up and coiffed and spilling out of whatever slutty outfit she’s poured into. But I’ve seen pictures of her floating around the internet taken when she’s walking around town, out with her kids, etc and she’s much more appealing to me. I’ll take the average-day-Pam in a heartbeat over the Comedy Central Roast-Pam. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2006, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actresses-who-look-way-hotter-when-out-of-character/356547/4 "2006-05-12T18:59:02Z")
[Chiana](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0249319/) from Farscape, anyone? ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2006, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actresses-who-look-way-hotter-when-out-of-character/356547/5 "2006-05-12T19:08:38Z")
Gillian Anderson fits this list for me, personally. ---
**Author:** ![ShelliBean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f9ae1b/32.png) [@ShelliBean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShelliBean)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2006, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actresses-who-look-way-hotter-when-out-of-character/356547/6 "2006-05-12T19:09:22Z")
Wow - I had no idea Chiana looked like that IRL. I say Jenna Jameson. Same reasoning as \*\*McNew \*\* for Pamela Anderson. I saw a magazine where they did “make-unders” one time and Jenna was very pretty. Freckles, even. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2006, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actresses-who-look-way-hotter-when-out-of-character/356547/7 "2006-05-12T19:15:54Z")
Amy Acker as “Fred” on _Angel._ Completely unappealing. When she drops the nasal hick accent, she has the power to cloud my mind… yes, I know I should be watching _Alias._ Shut up. ---
**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:** [May 12, 2006, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actresses-who-look-way-hotter-when-out-of-character/356547/8 "2006-05-12T19:18:15Z")
Well I wouldn’t classify her as \*hot \* under any circumstances , but Jennifer Love Hewitt is sorta cute when you see her on talk shows, as opposed to the fake eyelash , ridiculous hair extension wearing ferret face she is on Ghost Whisperer. I also agree about Pamela Anderson. I’ve always thought she was perty without all the gunk. Nothing can excuse those jugs, though. ---
**Author:** ![pinkfreud](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pinkfreud/32/17603_2.png) [@pinkfreud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pinkfreud)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2006, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actresses-who-look-way-hotter-when-out-of-character/356547/9 "2006-05-12T19:32:15Z")
It’s hard to believe that the ridiculously campy [Elvira](http://www.elvira.com/career/cgfx/vprice.gif) cleans up into the elegant [Cassandra Peterson](http://www.elvira.com/photos/CP_2005.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![lobstermobster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobstermobster/32/10033_2.png) [@lobstermobster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobstermobster)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2006, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actresses-who-look-way-hotter-when-out-of-character/356547/10 "2006-05-12T19:41:06Z")
Amy Sedaris when she isn’t playing Jerri Blank is adorable ---
**Author:** ![Zahava424](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/76d3ee/32.png) [@Zahava424](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zahava424)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2006, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actresses-who-look-way-hotter-when-out-of-character/356547/11 "2006-05-12T20:02:26Z")
Cate Blanchett is always an otherworldly sort of beautiful in real life, but when she disappears into her roles she can be anything from ugly to pretty to bizarre. [real life](http://www.bbc.co.uk/northernireland/patrickkielty/images/cate_blanchett2.jpg) [in makeup for _Bandits_](http://www.christiananswers.net/spotlight/movies/2001/bandits2.jpg) [normal vs. as Galadriel](http://www.geocities.com/nz_forfilminfo/CateBlanchett_Galadriel.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2006, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actresses-who-look-way-hotter-when-out-of-character/356547/12 "2006-05-12T21:06:36Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > Over the years I’ve come to not really lust after various TV actresses. There was just something about them that was unappealing. Then I would see them out of character, with their own hair and makeup, and wowee, schwing! Last night I saw Debra Jo Rupp with her real hair, and man, she was smokin’. I always thought that Rupp was adorable - which is really weird when you consider that she’s…23 years older than me. -Joe ---
**Author:** ![ddgryphon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8c91f0/32.png) [@ddgryphon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ddgryphon)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2006, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actresses-who-look-way-hotter-when-out-of-character/356547/13 "2006-05-12T21:09:39Z")
> [@Dooku](#): > > [Chiana](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0249319/) from Farscape, anyone? Hell yeah! She looks so much better than the character she played. ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2006, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actresses-who-look-way-hotter-when-out-of-character/356547/14 "2006-05-13T01:56:16Z")
Julia Louis-Dreyfus is pretty bleh on seinfeld, but I saw her for the reunion show a year or two back and on arrested development and she looks really good without the ugly hair. ---
**Author:** ![sjc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e5b9ba/32.png) [@sjc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sjc)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2006, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actresses-who-look-way-hotter-when-out-of-character/356547/15 "2006-05-13T02:03:32Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > Amy Acker as “Fred” on _Angel._ Completely unappealing. When she drops the nasal hick accent, she has the power to cloud my mind… yes, I know I should be watching _Alias._ Shut up. I guess I haven’t seen Amy Acker in real life, but I thought she was cute the few times I’ve seen her on Angel (occasionally hot). And those comparison pictures Zahava424 posted? I thought they were all equally appealling, more or less. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2006, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actresses-who-look-way-hotter-when-out-of-character/356547/16 "2006-05-13T02:34:11Z")
The famous example of this is Audrey Meadows, who Jackie Gleason thought was far too attractive to be married to Ralph Kramden. Meadows hired a photographer to roust her out of bed early one morning and photograph her immediately after she woke up. And when she wasn’t playing Ma Walton, Michael Learned was gorgeous. ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2006, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actresses-who-look-way-hotter-when-out-of-character/356547/17 "2006-05-13T03:01:33Z")
Mary Lynn Rajskub! ---
**Author:** ![Operation\_Ripper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/34f0e0/32.png) [@Operation\_Ripper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Operation_Ripper)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2006, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actresses-who-look-way-hotter-when-out-of-character/356547/18 "2006-05-13T03:18:42Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > Well I wouldn’t classify her as \*hot \* under any circumstances , but Jennifer Love Hewitt … Guy, forget about her work for a sec, she is _totally_ hot, check those boobs! ---
**Author:** ![Operation\_Ripper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/34f0e0/32.png) [@Operation\_Ripper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Operation_Ripper)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2006, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actresses-who-look-way-hotter-when-out-of-character/356547/19 "2006-05-13T03:20:07Z")
> [@pinkfreud](#): > > [Cassandra Peterson](http://www.elvira.com/photos/CP_2005.jpg). Whoops, that was a surprise, much, much “hotter,” good grief. ---
**Author:** ![Phantom\_Dennis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/51bf81/32.png) [@Phantom\_Dennis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phantom_Dennis)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2006, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actresses-who-look-way-hotter-when-out-of-character/356547/20 "2006-05-13T03:32:51Z")
> [@Ethilrist](#): > > Amy Acker as “Fred” on _Angel._ Completely unappealing. When she drops the nasal hick accent, she has the power to cloud my mind… yes, I know I should be watching _Alias._ Shut up. Yeah, it’s the voice. Fred had a voice like nails on a chalkboard. Acker is awesome in any other role (mmm… Illyria), but Fred got on my nerves. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actresses-who-look-way-hotter-when-out-of-character/356547.md?page=2)