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SheKnows

Celebrity Women Who Shaved Their Heads

Giovana Gelhoren
9 min read
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While celebrities often surprise us with hair makeovers every once in a while, like Jessica Chastain’s platinum blonde hair at the Met Gala or Megan Fox’s ever-changing hair color, it’s not as common that celebrities embraced a fully shaved head. Through the years, however, many female celebrities have hopped on the trend, and looked fierce while doing it!

While some celebrities adopted the drastic hairdo for a role, including Natalie Portman, Charlize Theron and Millie Bobby Brown, many just took the leap on their own. “I’ve wanted to do this for a long time for novelty’s sake,” Kristen Stewart told the Today Show about her shaved head in 2017, per Harper’s Bazaar. “It feels amazing.”

To check out all the stars who’ve totally rocked the buzzed hair look in the past, scroll below!

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Natalie Portman

Natalie Portman
Natalie Portman

While Natalie Portman’s buzzcut was because of her 2005 movie V for Vendetta, she absolutely rocked the look on red carpets. “For me, personally, I was excited to have the opportunity to throw vanity away for a little and go around with no hair,” she once told Pop Entertainment. “But obviously, I was in character at the moment it happened, so for her it is a very traumatic experience.”

If you ask us, the haircut allowed for her bone structure and mesmerizing eyes shine through.

Florence Pugh

Florence Pugh
Florence Pugh

At the 2023 Met Gala, Florence Pugh surprised everyone as she showed up with a totally shaved head.

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“Vanity is gone,” she told Radio Times of the decision, per Vanity Fair. “The only thing that people can look at then is your raw face. Even at the beginning of my career, I was always fighting to control my image. … It helps me when I’m wearing less makeup because then I’m less of a sparkly thing on screen. I feel like I’m allowed to do ugly faces, like it’s more acceptable.”

Keke Palmer

Keke Palmer
Keke Palmer

Actress and TV presenter Keke Palmer has shaved her head a few times over the years. “I loved the pixie, but I wanted to go one step further with the freedom I felt from cutting off my hair,” she once told Essence. “Being an entertainer we’re forced to [wear our hair in different ways] I just felt so relieved to make a choice to do something that I wanted to do on my own.”

Charlize Theron

Charlize Theron
Charlize Theron

In another buzzcut for a movie, Charlize Theron said goodbye to her hair before filming Mad Max: Fury Road in 2015. And though she didn’t keep the new ‘do for long, the final effect in the movie was totally worth it.

“It was unbelievable, like how much time we spend on our hair,” Theron told Entertainment Weekly about the decision. “And then also, I think I emptied two garbage bags full of hair products and brushes. There’s something very freeing in that, for sure, definitely. And there’s always something nice when you kind of take that importance of your femininity and make it about something more than just your hair.”

Demi Moore

Demi Moore
Demi Moore

Back in 1996, Demi Moore shaved it all off for her role in G.I. Jane. And while we think it made her look cool and fierce, she admitted she’d never do such a big drastic change ever again.

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“I think now that I’m older, I also know, I don’t have anything to prove,” Moore told People last year. “So if they really need my hair different, they can give me a wig.” Fair enough!

Jada Pinkett Smith

Jada Pinkett Smith
Jada Pinkett Smith

In her new memoir Worthy, Jada Pinkett Smith opened up about taking control of her journey with alopecia when she decided to buzz off her hair.

“I carried so much shame for so long about so many different experiences in my life,” Pinkett Smith told SheKnows. “And I know that a lot of people who suffer from alopecia have shame about their condition. And one of the things about this book that I’m hoping, you know, people will embrace and receive is that there’s no need to have shame about any of it.”

Willow Smith

Willow Smith
Willow Smith

Much like her mother, Willow Smith has also rocked a buzzcut. “I like to see a glare on my scalp, a bounce of light,” the singer told Glamour UK of the look. “Shaving my head is maybe the most radical thing I’ve done in the name of beauty.”

Dixie D’Amelio

Dixie D’Amelio
Dixie D’Amelio

In 2022, internet personality Dixie D’Amelio made her dreams come true when she shaved off her head. “I’ve wanted to do this since sixth grade,” the “Be Happy” singer revealed in a YouTube video, per E! News.

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“I just want like, to restart,” she added. “We’re gonna make it a moment.”

“Everyone who I’ve told is like, ‘Oh, that’s going to be dope,'” she continued. “And if someone doesn’t like it, then who cares. I just want to be a cool girl.”

Jessie J

Jessie J
Jessie J

Back in 2013, Jessie J bravely shaved her head to raise money for Comic Relief charities on Red Nose Day. Learning how good she looked after, she kept the style for a few months and has even revisited the look since then.

“I wanted to make a statement,” the “Price Tag” singer told Glamour UK. “I feel like there’s no point in shaving your head for charity if you’re then going to just grow it back the next day.”

Kristen Stewart

Kristen Stewart
Kristen Stewart

In another platinum buzzcut, Kristen Stewart debuted her own buzzed look in 2017.

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“I’ve wanted to do this for a long time for novelty’s sake, just because at some point in your life you want to be able to do that,” the actress told the Today Show, per Harper’s Bazaar. “It feels amazing – I just want to headbang all day!”

Cara Delevingne

Cara Delevingne
Cara Delevingne

Speaking of Stewart, her ex Cara Delevingne also once rocked a similar hairstyle in the same year. In 2017, the model shaved her head for her role in Life in a Year where she plays a cancer patient.

“Before I even got the project, I said to the director, ‘I want to shave my head for it,'” she told Elle. “My agents and managers were like, ‘Please don’t! Why would you do that?'”

“When it’s a part like that, especially when it’s about cancer, I needed to feel what it would be like to have no hair,” she explained. “The way you look, I think, it’s so important to feel beautiful, no matter if you have hair. It doesn’t matter at all.” Delevingne then admitted her new look was “one of the most liberating things I’ve ever done.”

Danai Gurira

Danai Gurira
Danai Gurira

In preparation for Black Panther, Danai Gurira also shaved her head. “I was the first one to get my head shaved and in theory, it sounded amazing,” Gurira said of the process, per BET. “Then the day came and we’re doing it today and I was like, ‘Today?’ Then it happened.”

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After the rest of her cast joined in on the look, Gurira started to feel comfortable. “So that took a few days, and then all the girls started coming in. We’d all been bald’ed, one by one,” she said. “Everybody had their caps on. Then the pride started to grow.”

Lupita Nyong’o

Lupita Nyong’o
Lupita Nyong’o

Fellow Marvel star Lupita Nyong’o has also rocked a fully shaven look. “Happy without hair!” the actress wrote on Instagram showing off the new hairstyle in May.

Karen Gillan

Karen Gillan
Karen Gillan

In another Marvel makeover, Karen Gillan shocked fans in 2013 when she unveiled her bald head during a Guardians Of The Galaxy panel at Comic-Con International. “It was really liberating,” she told Yahoo UK.

Amber Rose

Amber Rose
Amber Rose

While many of the celebrities in this gallery rock shaved hair on a temporary basis, Amber Rose has made it her signature look over the years.

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“My friends said, ‘Please don’t do it, Amber, you’re gonna look crazy.’ And, of course, me being me, I rebelled against everyone and went straight down the middle at a barber shop,” she once told Refinery 29. “Fourteen years later, I still have it.”

Amandla Stenberg

Amandla Stenberg
Amandla Stenberg

Amandla Stenberg is another star who’s shaven their head for a role. In 2017, Stenberg took the leap while preparing for the movie Where Hands Touch. “Feels really good. I feel so aerodynamic now. I’ve achieved ultimate speed,” she joked to Essence.

Millie Bobby Brown

Millie Bobby Brown
Millie Bobby Brown

Speaking of shaving for a role, Millie Bobby Brown became famous for her shaved head as Eleven in Stranger Things. In 2018, the actress even shared a since-deleted video of when she shaved her head for the first time.

“The day I shaved my head was the most empowering moment of my whole life. The last strand of hair cut off was the moment my whole face was on show and I couldn’t hide behind my hair like I used to,” the wrote, per W. “The only image I had in my head about what I could possibly look like is Charlize Theron in Madmax [sic].”

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“As I looked at myself and couldn’t see my old self, I realized that now; I have a job to do and that is to inspire other girls that your image or exterior part is not what I think is important,” she reflected. “What I find important is caring, loving and inspiring other girls. Thought to share my thoughts during this life-changing moment.”

Joey King

Joey King
Joey King

Joey King also took the leap for her role as Gypsy Rose Blanchard in The Act. “And I would absolutely do it again,” King told Allure last year. “I think every woman should [shave their head] at least once in their life. I’ve never felt more free or more in tune with my beauty. I couldn’t hide behind my hair.”

The decision, however, didn’t come without its downsides. “A lot of people made fun of me when I had my head shaved. A lot of people said really mean things. But when I had short hair, I actually felt more confident; I felt very powerful,” she said. “[Their words] slid off my back. People like to insert themselves in other people’s business when it doesn’t actually matter. Me having a shaved head for a project really upsets you that much? I’m doing fine.”

Kate Hudson

Kate Hudson
Kate Hudson

Lastly, Kate Hudson also wore a bald head in the 2021 movie Music. “The shaved head was awesome,” the actress told Harper’s Bazaar UK. “I didn’t think I’d love it so much. The connection to [my hair] was powerful and I wasn’t prepared for that. It’s so liberating.”

“If you’ve got the guts to do it, do it,” she recommended.

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