The Evolution of the ‘Most Beautiful Woman’ — from Julia Roberts to Jennifer Aniston
Jennifer Aniston, 2016
Chosen for the second time to grace the cover of People magazine’s annual issue, the actress was “very flattered” upon hearing the news. “There was this sort of very excited, teenager-y kind of moment.” Not much has changed since 2004 (appearance-wise, that is — she did divorce, get remarried, and transition from TV darling to movie star). So how has she maintained her fresh look? “It’s funny — it’s a really quick transition from not a care and now, all of a sudden, we’ve got to really be mindful of what we put inside our bodies,” she said, “and how we sleep and take care of ourselves. You can get away with a lot in your 20s.”
Sandra Bullock, 2015
At 50, Sandra Bullock was the oldest woman to receive the honor. The title was bestowed on her during a time when she wasn’t promoting a thing, just spending quality time with her son. “Real beauty is quiet. Especially in this town, it’s just so hard not to say, ‘Oh, I need to look like that,’” she explained of what the distinction means to her. “No, be a good person, be a good mom, do a good job with the lunch, let someone cut in front of you who looks like they’re in a bigger hurry. The people I find most beautiful are the ones who aren’t trying.”
Lupita Nyong’o, 2014
In 2014, Lupita Nyong’o was just the third black woman to be featured on the cover and the first with a distinctly African look. “I was happy for all the girls who would see me on [it] and feel a little more seen,” the Kenyan-Mexican actress said. “Light skin and long, flowing, straight hair. Subconsciously you start to appreciate those things more than what you possess,” she said, adding that her mother “always said I was beautiful, and I finally believed her at some point.”
Gwyneth Paltrow, 2013
The Goop maverick has always said the darnedest things. When asked why she thinks women might be intimidated by her, she told the magazine in her cover interview, “You know, it’s funny. I mean, we all have our own self-esteem issues. I have to work out Monday through Friday for almost two hours every day, and it’s a nightmare. Sometimes I cry, like, ‘I can’t do this anymore! I’m so sick of it!’”
Beyoncé, 2012
Just months after welcoming daughter Blue Ivy, Beyoncé, who was still speaking to the press in 2012, reflected on how becoming a mother makes a woman feel different. “I feel more beautiful than I’ve ever felt, because I’ve given birth,” she said. “I have never felt so connected, never felt like I had such a purpose on this earth.”
Jennifer Lopez, 2011
Lopez was crowned at 41 and gave a shout-out to her Hollywood peers. “I think with people like me and Jennifer Aniston, Halle Berry, and Julia Roberts, this generation is redefining what it is to be a woman who is not in her 20s anymore but is still very viable, sexy and important,” she said, reflecting on aging and looking good in a vain industry past a certain age. “We have a lot to offer. And people are starting to realize the beauty in that.”
Christina Applegate, 2009
After a breast cancer diagnosis, a double mastectomy, and reconstructive breast surgery, Christina Applegate received the “World’s Most Beautiful” distinction just months after being declared in remission. “You’ve got to kind of go for joy and happiness as if your life depended on it and flush away anything that doesn’t fit within that,” she said. “That’s not just for people who are cancer survivors. That should be for everybody.”
Kate Hudson, 2008
Fun fact about Kate Hudson: her favorite body part is her feet, because she’s never been self-conscious about them. But that doesn’t necessarily mean there’s nothing she would change. If she could look like Brigitte Bardot for a week, she’d totally do it. “It’s so easy to change things these days. If I think, ‘I wish I had bigger lips,’ I’m like, ‘Wait, I could have bigger lips if I wanted them.’ But your face is what your face is, and it always looks weird when you start changing things.’”
Drew Barrymore, 2007
Drew Barrymore, beautiful on the outside, believes “happiness is what makes you pretty. Period.” She added: “Happy people are beautiful. They become like a mirror and they reflect that happiness. If somebody walks in the room and they’re drop-dead gorgeous and sexy, it’s really fun to look at. But if someone is giving of their spirit and they make you laugh and feel good, that’s a whole other level of beauty.”
Angelina Jolie, 2006
The headline declared the actress “Saint Angelina” because of her humanitarian work. The cover was a stock image, and she didn’t speak to the magazine for the feature story.
Julia Roberts, 2005
Before playing Liz Gilbert in Eat, Pray, Love in 2010, Julia Roberts underwent her own transformation. After giving birth to twins Phinnaeus and Hazel and moving to Malibu, the red carpet queen became more down-to-earth. “She likes to dress like a normal housewife or mother,” her makeup artist, Genevieve Herr, said. “She doesn’t care at all.”
Jennifer Aniston, 2004
At the end of Friends and before becoming tabloid fodder, Jennifer Aniston landed the coveted cover of People (although it should be noted that her co-star Courteney Cox was selected to grace the front page in 1995). The designation at the time acted as something of a validation of her beauty following a childhood spent with a mother who criticized her looks. “It was her own lack of self-esteem,” she said. “We pass on diseases that we don’t necessarily mean to.” The interview revealed that, at the time, Aniston was prepping to have a baby, taking folic acid and even setting aside a room in a new house with husband Brad Pitt for a nursery. “We’re human, and like all other couples, we go through good times and challenging times,” she presciently noted. “And there’s always going to be that.”
Halle Berry, 2003
Married to Eric Benét and fresh off winning an Oscar for Monster’s Ball, Halle Berry became the first black woman to be chosen by the publication for its annual list. “I feel like right now, I sort of have what ‘having it all’ really is, and that’s a career I feel satisfied with, a marriage, a family that is ever-growing, my health and hope for the future,” she said. “It’s not perfection, it’s not a fairy tale … it’s real.”
Nicole Kidman, 2002
When she was selected in 2002, it was a big year for Nicole Kidman: She was chosen as People’s “Most Beautiful,” starred in two blockbuster hits, and escaped the shadow of Scientology and her husband, Tom Cruise. She also stopped straightening her hair, thanks to advice from a special co-star. “The thing you hate about yourself tends to be the thing that everyone likes about you,” she said. “Russell [Crowe] always says, ‘Nic, just wear your hair curly and leave your glasses on. That’s how you look best.’” She added, “There’s something you hate about looking different, and then there’s something that it gives you. It makes you develop your personality. Because you don’t conform, you have to find different ways of expressing yourself.”
Catherine Zeta-Jones, 2001
“Well, I may be the first actress to admit that beauty doesn’t hold you back,” Catherine Zeta-Jones said in 2001. “I think beauty is a gift that you have to make the most of. I’ve worked hard at trying to look my best.”
Julia Roberts, 2000
Described as a southern belle with a megawatt smile who wows fans with her warm, winsome beauty, Julia Roberts landed her first “Most Beautiful” cover after starring in Notting Hill and Runaway Bride and before her Oscar-winning turn in Erin Brockovich.
Since 1993, People has searched far and wide for the “Most Beautiful Woman” in the world (in reality, the magazine doesn’t venture outside of Hollywood). The title, although arbitrary and subjective, holds weight in certain circles — and, let’s be honest, who wouldn’t want to grace the cover of a magazine with such a flattering and transcendent tagline.
This year, Jennifer Aniston received the honor and defines beauty as “inner confidence. Peace. Kindness. Honesty. A life well-lived. … Taking on challenges and not feeling shame for things that haven’t gone the way you felt they should have. And not feeling like a failure or allowing people to critique your life and make you feel like you’ve failed at something. That’s just toxic noise.” The 47-year-old was actually first named “Most Beautiful” — once beautiful, always beautiful — in 2004, just weeks ahead of announcing her divorce from Brad Pitt. Yet Aniston, who gushes about Justin Theroux in the May 2016 issue, isn’t the only one to win twice.
In fact, Julia Roberts was People’s “Most Beautiful Person” (men and women weren’t segregated into two separate issues until 2013) in 1993, 2000, and 2005. Not much has changed throughout the contest’s history, considering that the same women are continuously being selected, but one thing to note is the evolution of retouching. If Catherine Zeta-Jones’s cover hit the Internet today, social media would erupt in outrage.
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It’s also interesting to note that the feature stories have gotten fluffier and more diplomatic, with less hard-hitting questions. At the time of Aniston’s first interview, she opened up about taking folic acids to prepare for a family with Pitt. Kate Hudson pondered plastic surgery, and Drew Barrymore talked about zits.
Looking through the archive, it’s evident that there are a few shared characteristics among the winners — the most obvious being that they’re mostly white. Halle Berry was the first black individual selected, in 2003; Beyoncé followed in 2012; and Lupita Nyong’o, the 2014 selection, was the only one to flaunt distinctive African features, including her natural hair.
Yet being selected as “Most Beautiful” doesn’t necessarily make a woman that — it could just indicate that the actress is, at press time, trendy or promoting a film. Aniston is pushing Mother’s Day, Paltrow was promoting Iron Man 3, and Kate Hudson was plugging WildAid, an eco-friendly hair-care line. Angelina Jolie was so buzzy in 2006 that the magazine ran a stock image with a story in which “Saint Angelina,” as she was called in the piece, wasn’t even quoted. Some appearances coincided with momentous life events. When Christina Applegate was honored as “Most Beautiful,” she gave the tabloid her first interview after battling breast cancer. Queen Bey also opened up publicly to People after giving birth to her daughter, Blue Ivy, and Nicole Kidman did so when she was fresh off breaking free from Tom Cruise and Scientology’s shadow.
The list of actresses who have been passed over, not because of their looks but politics, is striking: Cate Blanchett, Jessica Chastain, Penelope Cruz, Viola Davis, Jennifer Lawrence, Blake Lively, Rachel McAdams, Meryl Streep, Charlize Theron, Gabrielle Union, Kerry Washington, and Olivia Wilde, to name a few. And this is only actresses! Include musicians, influencers, models, and regular people, and the list of overlooked women gets longer and longer. Until next year …
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