# Helen Hunt's face - wtf? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 23, 2013, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/helen-hunts-face-wtf/653766 "2013-03-23T20:45:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![CC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@CC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CC)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2013, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/helen-hunts-face-wtf/653766/1 "2013-03-23T20:45:24Z")
Mrs. CC and I have noticed recently - particularly at the Academy Awards and in the movie, _The Sessions_, that Helen Hunt looks totally weird. Her face looks sort of like those dessicated mummies. Skin tight, angular cheekbones, teeth protruding, extremely unattractive. She was never a beauty, but she looks scary now. (Except she does have a terrific figure) Did something happen to her? Is she very ill? Does anyone in this forum have the Straight Dope? ---
**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:** [March 23, 2013, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/helen-hunts-face-wtf/653766/2 "2013-03-23T21:16:54Z")
I just did a google image search on “helen hunt academy award” She looks fine, for a skinny actress. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2013, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/helen-hunts-face-wtf/653766/3 "2013-03-23T21:18:02Z")
Looks like she has some “smoker’s face” going on. Those things age you. ---
**Author:** ![Alice\_The\_Goon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Alice\_The\_Goon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alice_The_Goon)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2013, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/helen-hunts-face-wtf/653766/4 "2013-03-23T21:26:35Z")
Once in a while, this same kind of thread pops up about an older actress- “Oh my god, what happened to \_\_\_\_\_\_??!” The answer is “people age”. You may be so used to actresses either disappearing altogether when they get “old” (by Hollywood standards) or seeing them with fillers, Botox, and plastic surgery, that you’re no longer used to seeing natural aging and so it surprises you. Helen Hunt is “old”, plus she is also quite thin, and so doesn’t have a lot of fat underneath the skin to plump it up and fill out her wrinkles and so maybe looks a bit more haggard because of that. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2013, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/helen-hunts-face-wtf/653766/5 "2013-03-23T21:30:53Z")
Plus she has smoker’s face. ---
**Author:** ![dexter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dc4da7/32.png) [@dexter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dexter)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2013, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/helen-hunts-face-wtf/653766/6 "2013-03-23T22:00:25Z")
I think it may be all those years of being in charge of my pay raises. Every time I asked boss about one, he would tell me to go to Helen Hunt for it. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2013, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/helen-hunts-face-wtf/653766/7 "2013-03-23T22:10:56Z")
Trying to maintain the body of an 18-year-old also ages a person. Kathleen Turner once said “After 40, you can either keep your face or your body.” Helen Hunt recently did _The Sessions_, where she spend a lot of time naked, and I’m sure she dieted and exercised like a mad woman, and the strain shows. And yeah, that smoking thing. ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2013, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/helen-hunts-face-wtf/653766/8 "2013-03-24T00:32:57Z")
> [@CC](#): > > She was never a beauty, but she looks scary now. (Except she does have a terrific figure) Did something happen to her? Is she very ill? Does anyone in this forum have the Straight Dope? I’ve thought she was a fox since _St. Elsewhere_! I just saw her in that recent film where she has sex with a disabled guy, several times. And appears full-frontal butt-nekid several times! Nothing wrong with how she looks (including the face!) 😃 ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2013, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/helen-hunts-face-wtf/653766/9 "2013-03-24T00:38:58Z")
She looks like a very attractive 49 year old woman. ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2013, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/helen-hunts-face-wtf/653766/10 "2013-03-24T01:02:09Z")
> [@GuanoLad](#): > > She looks like a very attractive 49 year old woman. This. I did the search and found a couple shots where you can see some small lines around her mouth and eyes, big whoop. She _is_ 49 after all. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2013, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/helen-hunts-face-wtf/653766/11 "2013-03-24T01:06:16Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > Trying to maintain the body of an 18-year-old also ages a person. Kathleen Turner once said “After 40, you can either keep your face or your body.” Helen Hunt recently did _The Sessions_, where she spend a lot of time naked, and I’m sure she dieted and exercised like a mad woman, and the strain shows. Bingo! She’s got the “Madonnaface”. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2013, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/helen-hunts-face-wtf/653766/12 "2013-03-24T01:09:45Z")
I assume [this](http://www.gotceleb.com/wp-content/uploads/celebrities/helen-hunt/85th-annual-academy-awards/Helen-Hunt---Oscars-2013--02-560x787.jpg) is what the OP is talking about. I understand the mummy comment. I googled (like the other poster) Helen Hunt Academy Awards and it was pretty clear what the OP meant. To me, it just looks like a bad makeup job. At the very least, the skin toned lipstick is throwing her whole face off. ---
**Author:** ![campp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@campp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/campp)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2013, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/helen-hunts-face-wtf/653766/13 "2013-03-24T01:28:37Z")
She looks great to me. ---
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2013, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/helen-hunts-face-wtf/653766/14 "2013-03-24T01:54:31Z")
How old are you, **CC**? This may just be a question of perspective. I’m a few years older than Helen Hunt, and I think she looks great. Maybe a bit thin. I’ve always thought she was one of those lucky women who went from being a pretty young woman/girl to being a beautiful grown woman. She’s gotten better-looking as she got older. ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2013, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/helen-hunts-face-wtf/653766/15 "2013-03-24T01:57:39Z")
Jesus you all are harsh. I’m 49 and wish I looked that good. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2013, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/helen-hunts-face-wtf/653766/16 "2013-03-24T03:28:47Z")
> [@dexter](#): > > I think it may be all those years of being in charge of my pay raises. Every time I asked boss about one, he would tell me to go to Helen Hunt for it. ☹ You win this thread. ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2013, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/helen-hunts-face-wtf/653766/17 "2013-03-24T03:42:28Z")
> [@CC](#): > > She was never a beauty I’m sorry. You’ve lost all credibility on this issue. Where were you in the Mad About You years? Anyway, I agree that she looks like a gorgeous 49-year-old who had an unflattering photo taken. She could have picked a better lipstick color. And a few pounds probably wouldn’t hurt her looks any. But, still lovely. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2013, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/helen-hunts-face-wtf/653766/18 "2013-03-24T07:41:20Z")
> [@Bayard](#): > > I’m sorry. You’ve lost all credibility on this issue. Where were you in the Mad About You years? She looked like she was like 35 on that show. ---
**Author:** ![Defensive\_Indifference](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/defensive_indifference/32/6502_2.png) [@Defensive\_Indifference](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Defensive_Indifference)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2013, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/helen-hunts-face-wtf/653766/19 "2013-03-24T14:06:10Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > She looked like she was like 35 on that show. That’s probably because she was 35 on that show. Well for one season anyway. I think she was 29 or 30 in season one. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2013, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/helen-hunts-face-wtf/653766/20 "2013-03-24T14:52:39Z")
This may be what the OP is talkng about: [Helen Hunt](http://www.trbimg.com/img-512ac0ea/turbine/la-et-mg-oscars-2013-helen-hunt-red-carpet-201-001/600) What I see here is that she is thrusting her chin forward for the camera, and pulling her upper lip up a bit in the smile, so it’s almost a grimace. These are both common techniques for avoiding wattle and smile creases when being photographed. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/helen-hunts-face-wtf/653766.md?page=2)