Going bald gracefully! A-List men who look better (and achieved more success) after losing their locks

From Sean Connery to Ben Kingsley, Taye Diggs and Anthony Hopkins, some of the greatest actors of the last century have climbed to the top of Hollywood without a head of hair.

Action heroes like Jason Statham, The Rock and Bruce Willis, serious actors like Stanley Tucci and Laurence Fishburne, as well as heartthrobs Channing Tatum and Jesse Williams are all known for the their shaven heads.

Other stars like Harry Styles, Jake Gyllenhaal, Zayn Malik and Tom Hardy have devastated fans by ditching their luscious locks.

So, to buzzcut or not to buzzcut?  Hollywood heartthrobs have long divided their fans with their shaved heads, here Femail looks at stars who have got even more successful after getting rid of their hair, and what they might look like if it grew back...

 So, what did they look like when they did have hair?

Jason Statham 

A true OG of the bald celebs, Jason Statham embraces his lack of hair. 

In fact, Jason is so known for his hairless head that fans were unsure how to react when he played a character with hair in 2005. 

In the film, Jason plays Jake Green - a gangster and gambler who tricks people using a victory-ensuring formula.   

People online were so alarmed by Jason with hair that one wrote 'Few things in life are as disconcerting as Jason Statham with hair', while another asked if there was 'anything scarier'.

The actor's dating life was also not impacted by the lack of hair on his head, as he married former Victoria's Secret model Rosie Huntington-Whiteley in 2010.

The pair have been happily married ever since and share two children - a six-year-old son and one-year-old daughter.

Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson 

Dwayne 'the rock' Johnson is another bald celebrity whose lack of hair has had no impact on his popularity - even being named 2016's sexiest man alive. 

But the wrestler-turned-actor revealed that for him being bald was a conscious choice, rather than a matter of genetic predisposition. 

Based off a timelines of The Rock's hair-dos, it looks like he made this decision at the start of the 2010s. 

Confirming that he the choice in 2017, The Rock replied to a GIF of him with curly brown hair on X, formerly known as Twitter.

'Why I luv GIFs,' he wrote. 'I'm not bald because I went bald.'

He went on to explain his hair is quite difficult to manage - comparing it to the pubic hair of a llama... 

Bruce Willis

Very few people can say their head has been described as 'a monument to cranial architecture'.

But while some turn to hair transplants when they start to notice thinning, Bruce Willis' balding was revered - both by himself and others. 

And his bald confidence should be used as motivation for all of those whose hairlessness has made them question their appearance. 

Fans first saw Bruce's hair start to thin when he graced our screens in the TV series Moonlighting where he played detective David Addison.

He was just 30 years old at the time, but went on to commit to the look. 

On the set of Die Hard 4.0, Bruce famously said: 'I'm a man and I will kick anybody's a*** who tries to tell me that I'm not one because my hair's thinning.'

Vin Diesel

 He's cemented himself as a heartthrob and action hero with his roles in Fast and the Furious. 

And Vin Diesel is among the celebrities who looks better without a head of hair.  

In fact, after a clip of an old film of the star with hair went viral, fans were quick to say it just 'wasn't right'.

Find Me Guilty, released in 2006, Diesel played Jackie DiNorscio - a real life member of a Philadelphia crime family who represented himself in one of the longest running trials in US history.

'I just saw Vin Diesel with hair and I need more therapy,' one fan wrote.

Stanley Tucci

Stanley Tucci has famously sported a completely bald look ever since he rose to fame in the 1990s.

The American actor, 62, has previously told how he decided to completely shave his head in his 30s after he began gradually losing his locks.

Photographs from his younger years show him sporting a brunette hairstyle, while he was also clean-shaven at the time.

He has since shaved his head and grown a stubbled beard, sporting a strikingly different look, while he has also now become known for his signature square glasses.

Speaking about his decision to shave his head, Stanley told Time Out in 2010: 'Well, it takes a while, because you don't lose your hair all at once.

'You kind of wish you would; it would be so much easier. I had classic male-pattern baldness, which is not necessarily very attractive.

'So you do get to the point where you just say, forget it. I think that happened in my 30s.'

Patrick Stewart

Patrick Stewart has sported a fully bald head throughout much of his acting career, after losing his hair at the age of 19.

But the legendary actor, 83, looked strikingly different in his younger years as he could be seen sporting a head of curly hair for a film role in a throwback picture.

Patrick has been open about his hair loss over the years, telling how he lost his hair at the age of 19, saying he went completely bald within a year.

During an appearance on Parkinson, Patrick admitted it was 'horrible' at the time and he thought 'everything was over' as he looked back on the period.

He said he had a comb-over, wore a toupee and wore hats all the time to cover up his hair loss, before his friend George pinned him down and shaved off his head for him.

Patrick said on the chat show: '[George] and his wife invited me to lunch one day and we had lunch, it was very nice, and the two of them got up at the end of the lunch and I was grabbed from behind by George, this big powerful man, and I thought he was playing some kind of game, so I was laughing and joking.

'Then his wife appeared with a pair of scissors, and I knew in an instant what she was going to do. Now it was serious, I was fighting to keep my appearance, and she lifted it up and cut it all off. 

'And George knelt down in front of me and said 'now you be yourself, no more hiding'. And he was right!'

Patrick also told how he nearly had to wear a wig for his role as Captain Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek, but was able to stay bald for the part. 

He said they were told: 'It doesn't make any sense, you've got a bald actor playing this part, surely by the 24th Century they would have round a cure for male pattern baldness.

'And Gene Roddenberry said, 'no by the 24th century, nobody will care'.'

Jesse Williams 

He won heartthrob status on Grey's Anatomy in his role as dreamy doctor Jackson Avery for more than ten seasons.

Proving you don't need luscious locks to be considered a sex symbol, Jesse picked up various sexiest man alive gongs throughout the noughties.

The star hasn't actually lost his hair, but regularly shaves it.

Recently he even debuted a blue buzz cut. 

Laurence Fishburne 

With multiple Emmys, Tonys and even a Francis Ford Coppola collaboration under his belt, Laurence  Fishburne has become one of the most revered actors of a generation.

The Oscar-nominated star,  63, became a household name when he starred as Morpheus in the Matrix films.

The lack of hair has not been a problem for the star, who has an incredible career.

Channing Tatum 

 

Magic Mike himself, the lack of locks has not been a hinderance for Channing Tatum.  

In 2012, he was named the 'Sexiest Man Alive' by People magazine, despite having shed his locks.

The star debuted his buzzcut in Coach Carter, his first film in 2005. His fame level - and hair - rose when he starred in Step Up and She's the Man a year later.

By 2010, Channing had grown a full head of hair to star in Dear John, but it was shaved again by Magic Mike in 2012.

Now he's considered a sex symbol by millions of people worldwide.

Steve Harvey 

He's known for his perfectly crafted moustache and shiny bald head, which is often joked about on his various shows.

In fact Steve Harvey's career has gone from success to success since losing his hair.

He's now well known, and loved, for hosting the US version of Family Feud, as well as Miss Universe.

Speaking on his talk show in 2019,  he addressed the issue head on.

'Going bald is not something you should try to fight, because it's a fight that you can't win. So you've got to know when to start accepting the fact that it's going away,'

'I noticed some stuff was happening to my hair, so I said instead of fighting it, I'm going to just come on and get with it. A lot of you don't know when it's time to come on and get with it.' 

'If your barber starts charging you half price... it's time for you to start thinking about letting it go,' he joked. 'If you have been wearing a fitted hat for years, same hat, same size, all of a sudden it's loose? Come on.

'If you have a lot of hair on the side of your head, and when you take your baseball hat off, everybody in the room says 'woah'... come on, partner.... If your combover don't go all the way over, then it's over!'

Terry Crews

NFL star-turned actor and TV host has won legions of fans for his roles as the loveable Sargeant Terrence Jeffords in Brooklyn Nine-Nine and the less-loveable Julius Rock in Everybody Hates Chris.

Now in high demand as a comedian and host, Crews certainly hasn't been hindered by his lack of hair. In fact, he actively chooses to keep the cut.

In a 2018 appearance of Jimmy Kimmel, the 6ft 2 star was asked if his hair style was a choice.

Crews was asked if his bald head was by choice or if he can actually grow hair

'I am living a lie, because I am really not bald at all. I shave my head every day," he said.

 "But see, when it grows in, people are like, 'Who is he? What is that?' And people get really disturbed. So I've been this way for almost 30 years." 

Tyson Fury

Tyson Fury began his career with long locks of hair but his curls have since disappeared, and he is now known for his completely bald head.

He has since grown out his facial hair and is often seen sporting a thick beard, but photographs from his younger years show him with a strikingly different look.

Throwback snaps from his early romance with his wife Paris and from his days in the ring show him looking cleanly shaven with short curly hair.

Tyson, 35, has previously spoken out about his hair loss and told how it is 'beautiful', insisting he embraced his bald look.

He said he now no longer has to shave his hair before a fight due to being bald and admitted he 'politely declined' a hair transplant offer from a London clinic.

Speaking to JOE in 2020, Tyson said: 'The Rock's bald and he's the most famous actor in the world.

'It doesn't bother him. The Gypsy King's bald and it doesn't bother me.

'I used to have a lion's mane of hair but lost it all. Did it affect me? Nah. Did I let it get me down? Nope. Use it as a positive - you don't have to get it cut all the time.

'It's a sign of getting older, innit? Some people lose their hair, some people don't.

'Embrace being bald. Don't be in denial. Shave it off if it looks a mess. 

'Get rid of it. Grow a beard, get some facial hair going. That's what I did, I've got the upside down haircut!' 

Steve McFadden

Steve McFadden is best known for playing Phil Mitchell on EastEnders and has been on the BBC soap opera since back in 1990.

The Walford hardman is very recognisable for his bald and clean-shaven look, but he looked different in the early 90s with a full head of hair.

One throwback black and white snap shows the soap actor, 64, with short brunette hair and short bearded stubble.

He looks worlds away from his longtime appearance as Phil on EastEnders, a now-iconic role for the star.

Pep Guardiola

Manchester City's manager Pep Guardiola is very recognisable for his bald look and full silver beard.

However, he used to sport a head of short dark hair and appeared strikingly different compared to his now look.

Pep had a full head of hair throughout his younger years playing football before he opted for his shaven look during his managerial career.

Speaking about his hair loss, Pep reportedly joked that he opted for a fully shaven look so he wasn't tempted to follow his players and get a mohawk.

He said: 'I lost my hair so I did not have the temptation to have [Jerome] Boateng's hairstyle! That's why I decide, 'okay, lose the hair, now the problem is done'.'