Bald transformations! Kate Hudson, Demi Moore & other actors who shaved their heads for a role

Actress Kate Hudson said goodbye to her Rapunzel-esque tresses to transform into her role for the musical, Sister. It was Kate's son Bingham and director Sia who encouraged her to take the plunge.

"My little one and Sia took clippers to it. It’s funny because when you’re doing it for a role you don’t really think about it because you're just ready for it. You're like, 'Let's do this.'

"But when it was done, it was like: 'Oh, my head’s shaved,'" Kate shared. "I really loved it, I actually miss it. My boyfriend [Danny Fujikawa] used to rub my head and it would put me right to sleep. I'll never forget that sensation of just falling asleep to him rubbing my head. I'd never felt anything like that before."  

In 1996, Demi Moore shaved off all of her hair for her role in G.I. Jane. While she absolutely pulled off the bold look, she later admitted that she'd never undertake such a drastic transformation ever again. 

"I think now that I'm older, I also know, I don't have anything to prove," Demi told People magazine. "So if they really need my hair different, they can give me a wig."

Joey King completely shaved her head to play Gypsy Rose Blanchard in The Act. Chatting to Allure, she shared: "My hair has been through so much over the years that when I shaved it for The Act, it was a nice reset for it to grow back and not have any colour or breakage."

Actor and rapper Riz Ahmed shaved his head in one take while filming for The Night Of. It was a look that he reprised in his personal life, with the actor experimenting with a buzz cut during lockdown in 2020.

Natalie Dormer was made to shave half her head for her role as Cressida in The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - the final instalment in the trilogy. 

"It's fascinating how much of our sense of attractiveness and feminine identity is bound up in our hair," Natalie told Glamour. "But in the Mockingjay novel, Cressida is described as having a shaved head with a vine tattoo, and I wanted to do right by the book."

For his role as gangster Al Capone in the biopic Fonzo, actor Tom Hardy went completely bald. He also sported a very clean-shaven head amid filming for The Dark Knight Rises in which he portrayed the villain, Bane.

Actress Natalie Portman did away with her tumbling tresses in 2005 when she starred in V for Vendetta. In her role as Evey, Natalie had to shear off her brunette curls while filming. 

Speaking to USA Today, she explained: "It was a one-shot deal, and that was the most stressful thing about the experience."

For Reign of Fire, Matthew McConaughey shaved off his blonde locks. It's not the first time he's seemingly braved the buzzcut - Matthew has previously shaven his own locks in a bid to promote hair growth. 

Writing in his 2020 book, Greenlights, Matthew said that when his hair loss became more noticeable, he opted to shave his head in 2000. 

Chatting to LADBible, he explained: "I had a silver dollar back here. So I shaved it off because I'd read, you know, hey, get a fresh start, shave it off." In a bid to stimulate hair growth, he later resorted to a topical ointment which he applied to his scalp "once a day for ten minutes." 

South African actress Charlize Theron shaved her own head for her role as Furiosa in the 2015 film, Mad Max: Fury Road. Ahead of the film's release, she told ET: "I just had this moment where I was like, 'I need to shave my head! 

"I can't think about what I'm going to do with my hair in this movie. I'm going to be in the desert. I'm a new mother. Let's just shave it.' The next day we did it. I can't even imagine doing it any other way."

Actor Jake Gyllenhaal enjoyed a buzzcut phase back in 2005 while filming for Jarhead. "More women flirted with me when I shaved my head as a marine in Jarhead than when I got big muscles and had long hair in Prince of Persia," Jake told The Independent.

Actress Millie Bobby Brown went all out for her role as Eleven in Stranger Things. For the show's first series, Millie had her hair shaved off in a buzz cut - a key moment in her career which she described as "empowering". 

At the time, she told her social media followers: "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.

"As I looked at myself and couldn't see my old self, I realised 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."

For his role as Blackbeard in Pan, Hugh Jackman rocked a shaved head and a perfectly groomed goatee. His transformation appeared to go down a treat with his then-wife Deborra-Lee Furness.

 Appearing on Today, Hugh revealed: "She kind of dug it. Remember when David Beckham was wearing saris and skirts? She was like, 'Hugh, that looks so good.' I'm like, 'No, not for me!'"

In her role as grisette Fantine in the 2012 musical movie 'Les Miserables', Anne Hathaway has to sell her hair to make ends meet. Known for her long, luscious locks, Anne's bold new look subsequently prompted her to burst into tears. 

"I called my husband and was on the phone to him. I looked in the mirror and said 'I look like my gay brother. I'm just Man Hathaway'.

"I realised I couldn't take it back," she added. "It had the effect of changing my identity… I was inconsolable." 

Actor Tom Cruise ditched his sweeping mop of hair in the early 2000s for his role in Minority Report. He appeared almost unrecognisable sporting a freshly-shaved head - a bold look he's yet to recreate!

Actress Kristen Stewart lopped her locks for her role in the sci-fi film, Underwater. Unlike Anne, Kristen relished the opportunity to drastically switch up her look. 

Appearing on The Today Show in 2017, she said: "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… It feels amazing – I just want to headbang all day!"