Celebrities Who Look Completely Different With Their Natural Hair

Published on August 22, 2018.

As a celebrity, it’s important to be able to change your look to suit a certain role. Whether it be for a red carpet appearance or a new film, celebrities must undergo quite a few style and beauty transitions throughout their careers, which often begins with their hair! You’d be surprised how some of your favorite celebs looked before they were launched into the spotlight, so follow along for 12 celebrities who look completely different with their natural hair:

12. Ariana Grande

You likely recognize Ariana Grande for her signature sleek and shiny ponytail. She’s made this her trademark over the years, but you’ll be surprised to know her natural hair is actually quite curly. In January 2014, the singer revealed that she always wears her hair in a ponytail like this because her natural hair is quite damaged. “I had to bleach my hair and dye it red every other week for the first 4 years of playing Cat…as one would assume, that completely destroyed my hair… My real hair is back to brown and I wear extensions, but I wear it in a ponytail because my actual hair is so broken that it looks absolutely ratchet and absurd when I let it down.”

Source: Instagram | Shutterstock

11. Amy Adams

Many of the redheaded celebs you’ve come to know and love are shockingly not redheads at all! Amy Adams, for example, is a natural blonde and was cast in Vegas, alongside another blonde in which she was required to dye her hair to make the distinction between them more apparent. “She’s tan with these beautiful lioness green eyes and this mane of blonde hair,” Adams explained in 2012. “And I looked at her and me, with my pale freckles, and thought, Gee, I wonder which one of us is going to go red!” She also explained the shift in hair color changed the types of roles she was accepted for and the entire trajectory of her career. “People began to see me in a different way, for different roles,” she shared with People.

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10. Jennifer Aniston

Jennifer Aniston with her California sunkissed hair is shockingly not a natural blonde at all! “I have naturally wavy, frizzy Greek hair, and over the years it’s taken a beating from blow-dryers, flatirons, curlers, and extensions, which I think are the most damaging,” she shared in an interview. Aniston also opened up about how she was a brunette naturally and returned to her roots for a role, “I was born with this color, and after a few years of playing with highlights I lost complete track of my natural hair shade, so it’s nice to be back.”

Source: Google | Shutterstock

9. Kate Hudson

Kate Hudson is another celebrity whose blonde, sun-kissed locks have been envied for years. Recently, she was cast for a role that required her to buzz off all her hair and when her roots began to grow in, many were shocked to see that she wasn’t a natural blonde at all! “You can get caught up in the fact that, ‘Oh no, what happens if the identity that people see me as is, like, gone?’ I just don’t care,” she told ET of her transition in 2017. “I just don’t think about stuff like that so, for me, I was just excited to get rid of all the old hair.”

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8. Mandy Moore

When thinking of Rebecca Pearson from This Is Us, our thoughts immediately float to a glossy chestnut-colored brunette mane. In reality, however, those who have followed Mandy Moore for years prior to this role will know that she is actually a natural blonde. In her early days as a pop singer circa 1999, her blonde locks were on full-display which allegedly makes her “shudder” to think about now. She admitted her signature brunette locks “feels the most like me” and was a change she made when she transitioned from the pop world to that of an actress in A Walk to Remember. “It was transformative because it came at a time in my life when I was only seen from the pop music landscape and through that lens. There was a real significance to coloring my hair,” she told Entertainment Weekly.

Source: Shutterstock

7. Zendaya

Zendaya was launched into the Hollywood scene when she appeared as Rocky Blue on Disney’s Shake it Up. In her role, stylists often straightened her natural curls, which at the time she agreed with. “Growing up, I wasn’t very confident in my curls,” she told People StyleWatch. “It wasn’t like the hair that girls around me had. And nobody really knew what to do with my hair.” Years later, Zendaya dished that she now loves to embrace her natural curls and teach others how to style curly, coarse hair. “When you’ve spent the past however many years growing your damaged hair back, avoiding heat, wearing wigs and trying every natural product in the world and you finally see a little curl pattern comin back,” she wrote on Instagram while sharing a photo of her natural locks.

Source: Instagram | Press Association

6. Leighton Meester

Many will recognize Leighton Meester for her role as the fierce brunette Blair Waldorf in Gossip Girl. Although Blair and Serena are best-known for their blonde and brunette signature friendship dynamic, it’s funny to learn that Meester isn’t a brunette at all, but actually a natural blonde. Allegedly she was blonde throughout the entire casting process of Gossip Girl which series co-creator Josh Schwartz shared about in an interview, “She came in and she was really funny, and really smart and played vulnerable. But there was one problem: she was blonde.”

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5. Olivia Wilde

Olivia Wilde is known for her dark tresses that make her blue eyes pop in contrast, but when she first came onto the Hollywood scene she was actually a blonde. “I spent the first couple years of my career as a very blonde blonde,” she told Into the Gloss in 2013. “And then I went brunette for a role, and suddenly all my offers changed — the types of roles people approached me with totally changed.”

Andres Otero/Everett Collection | Shutterstock

4. Gabrielle Union

If anyone can speak to embracing their natural hair, it’s Gabrielle Union! The star recently launched her own haircare line called Flawless with the goal of helping women with textured hair to embrace their natural curls and “have great hair days.” She opened up to WWD about her own hair journey and decision to go natural, “I went through a phase where I would leave my relaxer on so long, thinking the longer I leave this relaxer on, the straighter it’s going to be,” she said. “Cut to lesions, like open wounds in my scalp, trying to chase something that was unrealistic, and eventually probably in my mid- to late-20s I decided to give up my relaxer, and I went natural.”

3. Nicole Kidman

Nowadays, Nicole Kidman is known for her platinum blonde locks, crystal blue eyes, and porcelain skin, but this wasn’t always the case! Kidman is actually a natural redhead and has a full head of ringlet-style curls. Many will remember this look if they watch her in the 1990 film Days of Thunder, but she’s embraced being blonde for so many years that blonde simply feels like her natural look now. Surprisingly, the Austrailian beauty actually admitted to regretting her decision to change her hair and dished, “I wish I had left my hair alone! Because I kept straightening it I would always be told, ‘Your curls are so beautiful’ and I never believed them.”

Source: Shutterstock | Broadimage/REX/Shutterstock

2. Emma Stone

Emma Stone is one of those stars whose features seem to innately suit being a redhead. Her freckled skin and green eyes would fool many into believing she was born with red hair, but fans will be shocked to learn that she’s actually a natural blonde! Tracey Cunningham, co-owner of the Byron & Tracey Salon in Los Angeles, dished on what it’s like to work on Emma’s hair: “I forget Emma is not a natural red-head — she’s a blonde! She looks like such an authentic red-head with this coloring and her personality!”

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1. Meghan Markle

Many will recognize Meghan Markle for her mane of soft waves while playing Rachel Zane on Suits and during appearances with Prince Harry. The Duchess’ hair naturally, however, is actually quite curly! The star uses relaxers to soften her hair and dished her secrets to sleek texture. “Kerastase (masquintense & the oleo relax line) and Wella, which has a hair oil that I am obsessed with. It smells like vacation and makes your hair slippery and touchable.” As much as we love Meghan’s hair sleek and wavy, we also hope to see her rocking her natural full head of curls one day since it looks so beautiful on her!

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