• Natalie Portman shaved her head on-camera for the film 'V For Vendetta'. Getty Images
    Natalie Portman shaved her head on-camera for the film 'V For Vendetta'. Getty Images
  • Charlize Theron as Furiosa in 'Mad Max: Fury Road'. Photo: Warner Bros
    Charlize Theron as Furiosa in 'Mad Max: Fury Road'. Photo: Warner Bros
  • Kristen Stewart shaved her head for the film 'Underwater'. AFP
    Kristen Stewart shaved her head for the film 'Underwater'. AFP
  • Joey King shaved her head three times for roles, most recently for 'The Act'. Photo: Hulu
    Joey King shaved her head three times for roles, most recently for 'The Act'. Photo: Hulu
  • Amandla Stenberg shaved off her hair for a role in 'When Hands Touch'. AFP
    Amandla Stenberg shaved off her hair for a role in 'When Hands Touch'. AFP
  • Olivia Cooke shaved her head to portray a leukaemia patient in 'Me and Earl and the Dying Girl'. AFP
    Olivia Cooke shaved her head to portray a leukaemia patient in 'Me and Earl and the Dying Girl'. AFP
  • Cate Blanchett went super-short for her role in 'Heaven'. Photo: Miramax
    Cate Blanchett went super-short for her role in 'Heaven'. Photo: Miramax
  • Sigourney Weaver shaved her head to play Ellen Ripley in 'Alien 3'. Photo: 20th Century Fox
    Sigourney Weaver shaved her head to play Ellen Ripley in 'Alien 3'. Photo: 20th Century Fox
  • Scottish actress Karen Gillan shaved off to play Nebula in 'Guardians of the Galaxy'. Photo: Marvel Studios
    Scottish actress Karen Gillan shaved off to play Nebula in 'Guardians of the Galaxy'. Photo: Marvel Studios
  • Demi Moore shaved her head on film in 'GI Jane'. Getty Images
    Demi Moore shaved her head on film in 'GI Jane'. Getty Images
  • Kate Hudson's young son shaved her hair off for her role in 'Music'. Photo: HanWay films
    Kate Hudson's young son shaved her hair off for her role in 'Music'. Photo: HanWay films
  • Tilda Swinton went completely bald to play the Ancient One in 'Dr Strange'. Photo: Marvel Studios
    Tilda Swinton went completely bald to play the Ancient One in 'Dr Strange'. Photo: Marvel Studios
  • Cara Delevingne shaved her head for the film 'Life in a Year'. AFP
    Cara Delevingne shaved her head for the film 'Life in a Year'. AFP
  • Millie Bobby Brown was 12 when she shaved her head to play Eleven in 'Stranger Things'. Photo: Netflix
    Millie Bobby Brown was 12 when she shaved her head to play Eleven in 'Stranger Things'. Photo: Netflix
  • Persis Khambatta shaved her head for 'Star Trek: The Motion Picture'. Photo: 20th Century Fox
    Persis Khambatta shaved her head for 'Star Trek: The Motion Picture'. Photo: 20th Century Fox

15 actresses who shaved their heads for a role: Cate Blanchett, Kristen Stewart and more


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To immerse themselves in their roles, many stars set about drastically changing their appearance, with losing or gaining weight becoming a rite of passage for actors looking to go deeper into a character.

While men and women change their body shapes for parts, when it comes to shaving their heads for a role, it remains more surprising when an actress chooses to lop off her locks.

The latest star wishing to go super-short is Anya Taylor-Joy. The actress, who recently won the role of Furiosa in a prequel about the freedom fighter made famous by Charlize Theron in Mad Max: Fury Road, is said to want to shave her head as Theron did for the role.

“She wants to, but [director] George [Miller] doesn’t want her to,” Jenny Beavan, the costume designer for Furiosa, revealed. “So, I don’t know whether she will or not.”

With Taylor-Joy chomping at the clippers to ditch her trademark long blonde hair, here are 15 actresses who shaved their heads for their roles …

Tilda Swinton

Tilda Swinton as the Ancient One in 'Dr Strange'. Photo: Marvel Studios
Tilda Swinton as the Ancient One in 'Dr Strange'. Photo: Marvel Studios

That wasn’t a bald wig Tilda Swinton was wearing to play the Ancient One in 2016’s Doctor Strange, the British actress really did shave all her hair off to inhabit the role.

Opting to keep her bald head a secret until the film’s trailer was released, the Oscar winner said she thought “it would be such fun if people don’t know anything”.

Cara Delevingne

The model-turned-actress shaved her hair off for her role in the film, Life in a Year.

Playing a woman with cancer who is given one year to live, Delevingne told Elle: “Before I even got the project, I said to the director, 'I want to shave my head for it.' My agents and managers were like, 'Please don't! Why would you do that?’”

Cate Blanchett

Actress Cate Blanchett and her co-star Giovanni Ribisi shaved their heads for the film 'Heaven'. Photo: Miramax
Actress Cate Blanchett and her co-star Giovanni Ribisi shaved their heads for the film 'Heaven'. Photo: Miramax

The Australian actress dug out the clippers for her role in the 2002 film, Heaven.

“Shaving off my hair is so liberating,” she told The Daily Telegraph. “I had to do it once for a film role, but I’ve done it periodically too.”

Joey King

The actress has shaved not once but three times for different roles. Most recently, she received a Golden Globe and Emmy nomination for her role as Gypsy Blanchard in the biopic, The Act.

Shaving her head to play the troubled teen, King told Allure: "I've never really had an attachment to my hair. I couldn't care less what happens to it. So many people would ask me, 'Are you really scared?' or 'Are you nervous?' or say, 'You're so brave.' And I'd go, 'I'm not brave. I'm just cutting my hair off.'"

Demi Moore

One of the most famous head-shavings in cinema was carried out on-camera by Demi Moore in the 1997 action film, GI Jane.

The film is about a woman who joins the male-only US Navy Seal training programme. The actress took a set of clippers to her hair as director Ridley Scott filmed.

Karen Gillan

The Scottish actress agreed to shave for her role as Nebula in Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy.

“I was told even before I auditioned that the actress who got this would have to shave her head, and I didn’t think I was going to get it. So I was like, ‘Absolutely, I will shave my head! Sure,’” she said. “Then three screen tests later, it was ‘Oh God, this might actually happen.’”

Olivia Cooke

The actress ditched her mane to portray a leukaemia patient for the indie film Me and Earl and the Dying Girl.

Cooke credited having her head shaved with helping her be more authentic. “It was the best thing I did to get into character and to feel all of the emotions I was supposed to be feeling at the time.”

Sigourney Weaver

Sigourney Weaver as Ellen Ripley in 'Alien 3'. Photo: 20th century fox
Sigourney Weaver as Ellen Ripley in 'Alien 3'. Photo: 20th century fox

Another famous cinematic head-shaving came courtesy of Sigourney Weaver’s famous character, Ellen Ripley, in Alien 3.

The alien-fighting warrant officer revealed her shaved head in the third instalment of the successful franchise, which had her stranded on a prison spaceship.

“I think it brings out the faces and the vulnerability of these actors very much,” she said of her and her fellow cast mate’s shorn locks.

Charlize Theron

The South African actress has sported a pixie crop during her career, but she went full-on shaven-headed for her role as Furiosa in Mad Max: Fury Road.

Playing the fearless heroine in the film, which also starred Tom Hardy, Theron said of lopping off her locks: “I highly recommend it. I think every woman should do it.”

Persis Khambatta

The former Miss India-turned-actress paved the way for going above and beyond for a role, and was among the first women in modern cinema to shave their heads for a part.

Khambatta went fully bald for her role as Ilia in 1979’s Star Trek: The Motion Picture.

Kristen Stewart

Kristen Stewart shaved her head for the indie film 'Underwater'. AFP
Kristen Stewart shaved her head for the indie film 'Underwater'. AFP

The Oscar-nominated actress shaved her head for her part in indie film, Underwater.

She later revealed that getting a buzz cut made sense on a practical level because she was wearing a diving helmet for much of the film.

“I'm not going to be able to have touch-ups once I put the helmet on, so I must shave my head," she told The Today Show.

Amandla Stenberg

Actress Amandla Stenberg said shaving her hair was 'freeing'. AFP
Actress Amandla Stenberg said shaving her hair was 'freeing'. AFP

The Hunger Games actress had zero regrets about shaving their hair off for their role in When Hands Touch, about a biracial teen living in Nazi Germany.

"Shaving my head was wild,” Stenberg wrote in an essay about the experience. “I felt a sense of complete neutrality. It was so freeing.”

Natalie Portman

Like Demi Moore, Portman decided to undergo her head-shaving onscreen while the cameras were rolling. The actress had her hair cut off to play Evey Hammond in the 2006 film V for Vendetta.

"I was really excited to get to shave my head — it's something I'd wanted to do for a while and now I had a good excuse," she said. "It was nice to shed that level of vanity for a girl."

Kate Hudson

Kate Hudson with Maddie Ziegler in 'Music'. Photo: HanWay films
Kate Hudson with Maddie Ziegler in 'Music'. Photo: HanWay films

The actress reached for the clippers to play the character Zu in Music, the first film from singer-songwriter Sia.

Hudson later revealed that Sia, and Hudson’s son, Bingham, then aged 6, cut her hair.

Millie Bobby Brown

The British actress was only 12 when she had her head shaved to play Eleven in the Netflix hit, Stranger Things.

The young star later called the experience “the most empowering moment of my whole life”.

Habib El Qalb

Assi Al Hallani

(Rotana)

Globalization and its Discontents Revisited
Joseph E. Stiglitz
W. W. Norton & Company

Profile of Foodics

Founders: Ahmad AlZaini and Mosab AlOthmani

Based: Riyadh

Sector: Software

Employees: 150

Amount raised: $8m through seed and Series A - Series B raise ongoing

Funders: Raed Advanced Investment Co, Al-Riyadh Al Walid Investment Co, 500 Falcons, SWM Investment, AlShoaibah SPV, Faith Capital, Technology Investments Co, Savour Holding, Future Resources, Derayah Custody Co.

UAE v Gibraltar

What: International friendly

When: 7pm kick off

Where: Rugby Park, Dubai Sports City

Admission: Free

Online: The match will be broadcast live on Dubai Exiles’ Facebook page

UAE squad: Lucas Waddington (Dubai Exiles), Gio Fourie (Exiles), Craig Nutt (Abu Dhabi Harlequins), Phil Brady (Harlequins), Daniel Perry (Dubai Hurricanes), Esekaia Dranibota (Harlequins), Matt Mills (Exiles), Jaen Botes (Exiles), Kristian Stinson (Exiles), Murray Reason (Abu Dhabi Saracens), Dave Knight (Hurricanes), Ross Samson (Jebel Ali Dragons), DuRandt Gerber (Exiles), Saki Naisau (Dragons), Andrew Powell (Hurricanes), Emosi Vacanau (Harlequins), Niko Volavola (Dragons), Matt Richards (Dragons), Luke Stevenson (Harlequins), Josh Ives (Dubai Sports City Eagles), Sean Stevens (Saracens), Thinus Steyn (Exiles)

The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cyl turbo

Power: 201hp at 5,200rpm

Torque: 320Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm

Transmission: 6-speed auto

Fuel consumption: 8.7L/100km

Price: Dh133,900

On sale: now 

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PETER%20PAN%20%26%20WENDY
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EDavid%20Lowery%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStars%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Alexander%20Molony%2C%20Ever%20Anderson%2C%20Joshua%20Pickering%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%203%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
COMPANY PROFILE

Name: Xpanceo

Started: 2018

Founders: Roman Axelrod, Valentyn Volkov

Based: Dubai, UAE

Industry: Smart contact lenses, augmented/virtual reality

Funding: $40 million

Investor: Opportunity Venture (Asia)

Know your Camel lingo

The bairaq is a competition for the best herd of 50 camels, named for the banner its winner takes home

Namoos - a word of congratulations reserved for falconry competitions, camel races and camel pageants. It best translates as 'the pride of victory' - and for competitors, it is priceless

Asayel camels - sleek, short-haired hound-like racers

Majahim - chocolate-brown camels that can grow to weigh two tonnes. They were only valued for milk until camel pageantry took off in the 1990s

Millions Street - the thoroughfare where camels are led and where white 4x4s throng throughout the festival

The President's Cake

Director: Hasan Hadi

Starring: Baneen Ahmad Nayyef, Waheed Thabet Khreibat, Sajad Mohamad Qasem 

Rating: 4/5

Recipe

Garlicky shrimp in olive oil
Gambas Al Ajillo

Preparation time: 5 to 10 minutes

Cooking time: 5 minutes

Serves 4

Ingredients

180ml extra virgin olive oil; 4 to 5 large cloves of garlic, minced or pureed (or 3 to 4 garlic scapes, roughly chopped); 1 or 2 small hot red chillies, dried (or ¼ teaspoon dried red chilli flakes); 400g raw prawns, deveined, heads removed and tails left intact; a generous splash of sweet chilli vinegar; sea salt flakes for seasoning; a small handful of fresh flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped

Method

Heat the oil in a terracotta dish or frying pan. Once the oil is sizzling hot, add the garlic and chilli, stirring continuously for about 10 seconds until golden and aromatic.

Add a splash of sweet chilli vinegar and as it vigorously simmers, releasing perfumed aromas, add the prawns and cook, stirring a few times.

Once the prawns turn pink, after 1 or 2 minutes of cooking,  remove from the heat and season with sea salt flakes.

Once the prawns are cool enough to eat, scatter with parsley and serve with small forks or toothpicks as the perfect sharing starter. Finish off with crusty bread to soak up all that flavour-infused olive oil.

 

The specs: 2019 BMW i8 Roadster

Price, base: Dh708,750

Engine: 1.5L three-cylinder petrol, plus 11.6 kWh lithium-ion battery

Transmission: Six-speed automatic

Power: 374hp (total)

Torque: 570Nm (total)

Fuel economy, combined: 2.0L / 100km

The Buckingham Murders

Starring: Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ash Tandon, Prabhleen Sandhu

Director: Hansal Mehta

Rating: 4 / 5

MATCH INFO

England 19 (Try: Tuilagi; Cons: Farrell; Pens: Ford (4)

New Zealand 7 (Try: Savea; Con: Mo'unga)

The specs: 2018 Harley-Davidson Fat Boy

Price, base / as tested Dh97,600
Engine 1,745cc Milwaukee-Eight v-twin engine
Transmission Six-speed gearbox
Power 78hp @ 5,250rpm
Torque 145Nm @ 3,000rpm
Fuel economy, combined 5.0L / 100km (estimate)

Getting there
Flydubai flies direct from Dubai to Tbilisi from Dh1,025 return including taxes

RESULTS

Dubai Kahayla Classic – Group 1 (PA) $750,000 (Dirt) 2,000m
Winner: Deryan, Ioritz Mendizabal (jockey), Didier Guillemin (trainer).
Godolphin Mile – Group 2 (TB) $750,000 (D) 1,600m
Winner: Secret Ambition, Tadhg O’Shea, Satish Seemar
Dubai Gold Cup – Group 2 (TB) $750,000 (Turf) 3,200m
Winner: Subjectivist, Joe Fanning, Mark Johnston
Al Quoz Sprint – Group 1 (TB) $1million (T) 1,200m
Winner: Extravagant Kid, Ryan Moore, Brendan Walsh
UAE Derby – Group 2 (TB) $750,000 (D) 1,900m
Winner: Rebel’s Romance, William Buick, Charlie Appleby
Dubai Golden Shaheen – Group 1 (TB) $1.5million (D) 1,200m
Winner: Zenden, Antonio Fresu, Carlos David
Dubai Turf – Group 1 (TB) $4million (T) 1,800m
Winner: Lord North, Frankie Dettori, John Gosden
Dubai Sheema Classic – Group 1 (TB) $5million (T) 2,410m
Winner: Mishriff, John Egan, John Gosden

Updated: June 23, 2023, 12:12 PM