More than likely, it has often crossed any woman’s mind that life would be much easier if she were bald. For most, dealing with long, luscious locks of hair can be worth it in the end, but it is also a heck of a lot of work. Straight or curly, long or short, we would be willing to bet that there has been more than one sigh of exasperation when a woman’s hair just won’t do what she wants it to, and those random thoughts of “I should just shave it all off!”
Just thinking of how much time we could save not having to wash, dry and style that mane—and not to mention all the money we would have free to spend on things other than hair products—could be enough to sway anyone into trying to pull off the bald look, even just once.
The bad news is, not everyone has a face or head shape that can pull of the bald look. Some women may not even care about those little things, and more power to them! However, some definitely do. Regardless, some celebrities may not even have a choice in the matter, if they are cast in a movie or even television show which requires them to go bald for the part.
15 Pulled It Off: Not Just About The Eyebrows Anymore
Some may just think about thick eyebrows when thinking of Cara Delevingne, but these days the buzz is all about the newly shorn locks on her head. Despite desperate pleadings from her managers and agents to not do it, Delevingne stood her ground and decided to do it anyway. She was playing the part of a cancer patient in a new movie, and decided that she wanted to experience how it truly felt to not have hair, instead of using special effects or a “bald” wig.
According to Elle magazine, Delevingne stated that the experience was one of the most liberating things she has ever done. She also says that feeling beautiful is important whether you have hair or not, which is a powerful statement we tend to agree with. We also think that Cara can certainly pull of her new “bald is beautiful” look.
14 Needs Her Hair Back: Katy Perry Bares All
Pop star Katy Perry is no stranger to an eclectic personal style, as anyone who has ever seen her television or even live performances can attest to. However, following a breakup with actor Orlando Bloom in early 2017, Perry decided to go from a short pixie haircut to an even shorter buzz cut—not to mention also dying it a bright platinum blonde! She became nearly unrecognizable from the way she used to look with her trademark long, straight dark mane of hair.
We understand breakups can sometimes make a person do crazy things, but we think this is one thing someone on her side should’ve talked her out of. After all, usually you want to make your man wish he had you back, not feel glad he got out when he did. At least the length of her hair doesn’t seem to cause any problems with her singing voice.
13 Pulled It Off: Natalie Portman’s Shaved Dome
Funnily enough, this band name rang true. While preparing for V for Vendetta, Natalie Portman had to shave her head for her first lead role in a movie. While some may have preferred a choice in the matter as to whether or not they had to go through with such a drastic physical change, Portman herself didn’t get to make such a decision.
Still, it did make her feel as though she couldn’t blend in with the crowd like she could with longer hair. She stated, “As a female with a shaved head, people tend to stare just naturally”—it was not a traumatic experience for her, as she seems to be an actress that is completely dedicated to her films.
Regardless, as Portman said, shaved heads on women will almost always turn heads. However, Natalie must prefer her long locks instead, because the bald look is now long gone.
12 Needs Her Hair Back: G.I. Moore
We all remember Demi Moore going the extra mile for her role in the movie G.I. Jane back in 1997 by shaving her head bald. There is definitely something to be said for such dedication to one’s career to go as far as changing their personal appearance in such a drastic way. Moore had commented on the fact that all of a sudden, so many people (including her own three children) constantly wanted to touch her “fuzzy” head.
Despite the fact that this act was more or less a job requirement for Moore, she may have been better off if they could’ve attempted some special effects to make it look as though she had a shaved head, instead of deciding to bald the poor woman. Either way, thankfully for Moore, hair eventually grows back, and once again she had the long, dark hair we all remember her for instead.
11 Pulled It Off: Inspired By Sinead
Most women change their hairstyle at some point in their lives—maybe often, maybe not so often. But its safe to say that most women do not keep their same hairstyle for over 14 years. Enter Amber Rose: typical teenage angst, being inspired by other bald celebrity women, wanting to rebel against the masses—and maybe even her parents—Amber decided one day to head down to the barber shop and buzz her hair right off.
She hasn’t looked back since. Rose does like to keep her fans guessing, however, and has been known to sport wigs for fun here and there. She also claims that her hair still does require quite the upkeep, contrary to popular belief.
According to Oxygen, Rose stated, “You have a good three days of waking up and your hair literally being done. But every three days, you have to cut it and bleach it, which becomes a process.” Therefore, while some of us may think that going short is the answer to all of our hair woes, that may not necessarily be the case.
10 Needs Her Hair Back: Anne Hathaway Is Just Miserable
In order to play the character Fantine in the movie Les Misérables, actress Anne Hathaway was required to lose about 25 pounds in addition to shaving her head for the role. Hathaway herself was shocked by her new appearance when she finally gathered enough courage to check out her reflection in the mirror again after her new haircut was complete. She thought she looked like her gay older brother, Michael.
Some women have the facial features—and even head shape—to pull off a permanent closely shorn hairstyle and still maintain a feminine look, but we would agree with Hathaway.
Again, that sort of dedication to a movie role is commendable. Regardless, we were all glad to see Hathaway grow back her long locks again as soon as the movie wrapped up with filming. Beauty isn’t defined by any one thing, but for some, the length of hair definitely can help (or hurt) one’s case.
9 Pulled It Off: Mad Charlize
Getting the stamp of approval from the director for her buzz cut was one of the most important things for Charlize Theron when she decided to take a razor to her head for her role in Mad Max: Fury Road. But she also wanted to know the love of her life would be into her new look too—which he was.
While she thought her character in the movie would be best bald, she also stated that her hair was destroyed from heat damage (she was a new mom as well),so she was happy to get rid of it all, and was excited to have such a low-maintenance do at the time, according to People magazine. And—as always—even if she didn’t like it, it was temporary. We all know it’s just hair, and it will almost always grow back.
8 Needs Her Hair Back: Kristen Stewart Has No Time For Touch-ups
While most actresses prove their dedication to their career by doing anything necessary to secure a role, sometimes one comes along that just takes matters into her own hands and does what she wants.
That is just what Kristen Stewart did on the set of her new movie, Underwater. She was not required to shave her head for the role, but she played a mechanical engineer working below the surface of the ocean on an oil rig and would be wearing a hard hat for the majority of her screen time. Because of that, she didn’t think it would be very easy to get her hair touched up constantly. So, off it went.
In the past, Stewart had remarked that she planned to shave her head one day, and while her hair was buzzed, she wanted to get a tattoo on her skull as well. No word yet if the latter has happened, but lets hope that she will let her hair grow back in as soon as possible either way.
7 Pulled It Off: Not Just Comic Relief
Not only does singer Jessie J look completely gorgeous with her buzzed do, it was for a good cause, too! In 2013, Jessie raised over $500,000 for Comic Relief on Red Nose Day. In addition to shaving her head, she had the guts to do it live on television. She even challenged other stars to do the same.
As others have said, Jessie stated afterwards that she felt very exhilarated to have taken such a drastic step, but felt great about it helping to raise awareness to aid young people living with HIV.
Not only that, but in 2015, Jessie revealed on Instagram that she had again shaved her head! This time it was following a breakup, which sometimes can put woman in the mood to change their appearance in a big way. Jessie sure managed to do that, as well as look gorgeous while doing it.
6 Needs Her Hair Back: If Britney Can Make It Through 2007, You Can Make It Through Today
Poor Britney Spears—2007 was just not a good year for her. Mental health is no joke, and Spears proved it when she went a little crazy one night and decided to shave her own head, seemingly out of the blue. While some will make such a drastic change to their appearance for professional reasons, or for personal reasons—such as a breakup—it appeared neither of those were Spears’ reasons.
Some claimed it was so she could avoid being drug-tested by the follicles of her hair, but Spears later stated this was not it. She had a lot going on in her personal life at the time—her husband had just left her and their two young children.
Spears wanted to take control over something in her life, and changing her hairstyle at the time was just what she may have needed. Regardless, we are glad to see that 10 years later, Britney is much healthier and happier—and sporting a full head of long, blonde hair again.
5 Pulled It Off: Kellie Pickler's Cranial Compassion
Another lady going bald for a good cause was Kellie Pickler. In 2012, Pickler’s close childhood friend—Summer Holt Miller—was diagnosed with breast cancer at just 36 years old. Because Holt Miller’s chemotherapy treatment would eventually cause her to lose all of her hair, she decided she would shave her head before that could happen.
Pickler decided that she would shave her head right alongside her as a sign of solidarity for her best friend. In addition to an incredible show of support for her friend, both Pickler and Holt Miller have stressed that early detection of breast cancer is key in successful treatment.
Holt Miller has also stated that she hopes this will encourage other women to be on alert for early signs of this disease, and possibly even get in for early mammograms instead of waiting until the recommended age of 40. We can’t think of a better reason for deciding to shave off one’s lovely locks.
4 Needs Her Hair Back: No Wigs For This One
Cate Blanchett has been rumored to hate wearing wigs on movie sets, preferring instead to style her own hair for whatever she needs it to look like in any certain movie role. She has shaved her hairline, let her roots grow out—and like everyone else in this list—gone ahead and shaved her head completely bald.
While she certainly has the pretty face to be able to make a bald look work, she definitely needs longer locks to keep up with her feminine charms. However, Blanchett used to prefer to keep her hair long even back in her school days, saying it was just so much easier to care for—not many can argue with that.
She did run into trouble once around 1997, when Demi Moore was sporting her famous buzz cut. Blanchett was at an awards show for Moore’s husband, Bruce Willis. She did not want to appear as though she were making fun of or trying to ride on the coattails of Moore’s famous do, so she went out and got a short-styled wig to wear to the event instead. However, if she had just left her hair alone, she wouldn’t have had any issue.
3 Pulled It Off: Real-Life Gia
Actress Angelina Jolie is no stranger to having to change up her look for different movie roles. For the 1998 HBO movie Gia, Jolie had to shave her head to portray 1970’s model Gia Marie Carangi. The movie was a biopic of Carangi’s life, showing her drug use and hard-partying ways, before eventually becoming ill and succumbing to an AIDS-related illness and passing away at just age 26.
Since Jolie shaved her head for the end of the movie, during the rest of the filming she ended up needing to wear a wig at various times when the character still had hair to style. Jolie has a gorgeous face, with striking eyes and her trademark pouty, full lips. Because of her strong facial features, we feel Angelina can definitely pull off many hairstyles, and even no hair at all.
2 Needs Her Hair Back: Boys Would Cry
Hilary Swank’s portrayal of Brandon Teena in the heartbreaking movie Boys Don’t Cry was nothing short of amazing—and it is not surprising that she won a Best Actress Oscar award for her job in the film.
The fact that she was playing a male character in the first place obviously means she would have had to change her hair quite drastically, and it was probably easiest to just buzz her hair right off. She was even dedicated enough to tape down her breasts, stuff the crotch of her pants, and even live and dress as a man during the entirety of the moving filming.
And while we can’t fault her for it in this case, she definitely has a face that can benefit from longer locks versus short. As is the common line, it is only hair, and it will grow back. Thank goodness hers did.
1 Pulled It Off: The Truth Behind Sinead's Shaved Head
Sinead O’Connor may have one of the most famous female bald heads out there. We don’t know if we are just so used to it that it seems like she can pull it off, or if she just really can. Either way, seeing O’Connor with a full head of hair could possibly be more of a shock than it would to see someone else appear with a shaved head.
Unfortunately, O’Connor told famed television psychologist Dr. Phil McGraw the reason she had always kept her hair so short. “I didn’t want to be raped or molested,” she told the doctor, also claiming, “It was dangerous to be pretty.”
She also said that the record industry was a strong influence on keeping up with her androgynous hairstyle. She didn’t want to grow her hair long and wear short skirts, and have her music be bought based on sexuality. She wanted to sell music based on her talent instead.
Sources: Elle, SheKnows, Allure, Huffington Post, US Magazine, Daily Mail. The Telegraph, Variety, Hollywood Life, People, Metro, Daily Mail, Look To The Stars, Movie Web, Oxygen
