When it comes to celebrities, hair isn’t usually the first thing most people notice. Despite that, hair is usually what separates the huge Hollywood stars from the bit players. Luxurious locks can help to transform a pretty performer into an absolute icon. But there’s one downside: once everyone associates a star with a certain hair color or style, the actors look downright unrecognizable if they try something different or simply return to their natural hair.
Don’t believe us? Don’t worry…we brought plenty of receipts. Below, you’ll find a breakdown of the biggest Hollywood stars who look downright unrecognizable with their natural hair. Keep reading to discover if your favorite stars made the cut, but just be warned: by the time you get to the end of the article, you might be tempted to call your stylist and change your own look up!
Olivia Wilde supercharged her career with a hair color change
For Hollywood starlets, one of the biggest decisions they can make is what color their hair will be. That’s because audiences associate certain colors with certain personalities. Because of the persistent phrase “blondes have more fun,” many women dye their hair blonde so they can land roles playing leading ladies…or, at least, the ladies who turn the heads of iconic male characters like James Bond.
Ironically enough, Olivia Wilde was born a blonde but decided to become a brunette to change up her career. In an interview with Into the Gloss, she explained her reasoning: “I think the perception of brunettes being more intellectual persists,” she said. “Even though it makes no sense!” Afraid of potentially be seen as a ditzy blonde, Wilde embraced the brunette color as a way of appearing more intellectual to audiences.
Nicole Kidman and the curls
Pop quiz, hot shot: what do you think about when you imagine Nicole Kidman’s hair? Chances are that you are thinking about long, blonde locks. It’s the look that she has rocked in some of her most memorable roles, and it’s the same one she sports in those weirdly hypnotic AMC commercials. But would you believe this is about as far from her natural hair color and style as Kidman can possibly get?
This Hollywood megastar is originally from Australia, and she had a very different look down under. Back home, Kidman was known for not only having very curly hair but having very red hair. To this day, the curls are a very rare sight on the red carpet, and most of Kidman’s biggest fans have no idea what she really looked like before changing her style!
Amy Adams is not actually a redhead
Amy Adams is a bit like Nicole Kidman in that most people associate her with a certain hair color. She has sported red hair in many of her most iconic films, and those movies have generally been major successes at the box office. The result is that just about everyone knows who Amy Adams is and what she looks like. Or, more accurately, what they think she looks like.
Originally, Amy Adams’ hair color was more that of a strawberry blonde. Her choice to go red goes back to her time on the 2004 Rob Lowe television series Dr. Vegas. She needed to dye her hair to distinguish herself from a blonde costar, and the production team went with red hair because she had pale skin and freckles.
She is the first to admit this was a game-changer: as reported by People, she once declared “The minute I went red, it was quirky and fun instead of flirtatious and dumb. People began to see me in a different way, for different roles.” Summing it all up, she said, “I don’t know if I can give credit to just the hair color, but maybe it did help people see me past blonde.”
Emma Stone’s hair color isn’t so natural
Emma Stone has built a major Hollywood career out of being America’s girl next door. And like Amy Adams, she is someone who is predominately associated with her red hair. This is the hair color that she had in some of her biggest roles, including Easy A and Superbad. Obviously, she feels like this hair color is a winner, and she has continued to be America’s cutest little redhead in most of her recent roles.
Despite all of her success with red hair, this isn’t actually Emma Stone’s real hair color. If you go back and watch Zombieland, you might think Stone is a brunette. Or if you rewatch the Amazing Spider-Man films, you might imagine she has vibrant platinum blonde hair. In reality, she just has natural blonde hair that is very different from what she wears in her most famous films. Like Olivia Wilde before her, Stone figured out that going from blonde to red could really supercharge her career!