24 Extreme Hair Makeovers

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Natalie Dormer

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The Game of Thrones star unveiled her head-turning new look, which she got in preparation to play Cressida in The Hunger Games: Mockingjay, at the 2014 SAG Awards on Jan. 18. ”[Cressida] comes from the Capitol, so she’s got a stylized thing going on and now she’s turned rebel,” said Dormer. ”I think it’s right for the character.” —Bronwyn Barnes

2 of 25

Jennifer Lawrence

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Now that America’s BFF has chopped off all her hair, trend spotters might just see an upswing of pixie cuts this holiday season. The dramatic new ‘do — in addition to losing inches, she also lightened the color — wasn’t for a movie role. Instead, Lawrence jokingly announced, ”I just did it to make Francis [Lawrence, Hunger Games: Catching Fire director] mad!” before clarifying that, really, her hair was just fried from all the brunette dye jobs she had to undergo to play heroine Katniss Everdeen. The arena has nothing on the painful realities of hair care. —Erin Strecker

3 of 25

Jennifer Hudson

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Putting the ”Spotlight” on a chic new coiffure, the triple threat came thisclose to sporting a shorn dome to match her Oscar. —Lanford Beard

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Kristin Chenoweth

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Now the Broadway belter has super-short locks to match her famously petite stature. —Lanford Beard

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Beyoncé

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Were fans ”Crazy in Love” with Mrs. Carter’s decision to let stylist Neal Farinah chop off her signature windblown tendrils in favor of a punky pixie? That’d be a resounding ”YES!” according to the million-plus likes the R&B diva garnered on a series of three Aug. 8, 2013, Instagram pics. —Lanford Beard

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Anne Hathaway

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Going under the shears ”reduced me to, like, mental-patient-level crying,” Anne Hathaway told Kelly Ripa of shaving her head to play Fantine in Les Misérables. Apparently, a $10 million paycheck is hollow succor to an actress who is bereft of hair. —Bronwyn Barnes

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Charlize Theron

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We can’t be mad at the Oscar winner for going back to her roots with the sheared-and-chic look she adopted for 2013’s Mad Max: Fury Road. —Lanford Beard

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Rihanna

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After the songstress chopped off her oft-changing tresses in favor of this Caesar cut, it’s safe to say she’ll be able to walk around under a much smaller umbrella-ella-ella-eh. —Lanford Beard

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Lena Dunham

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The Girls star debuted a boyish look at New York Fashion Week in September 2012. How did she have the courage to try something this bold and different? All adventurous women do. —Lanford Beard

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Elisabeth Moss

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Is that Peggy Olson or Twiggy? The Mad Men star showed off a lighter, shorter style at the New York premiere of For a Good Time, Call. Do blondes really have more fun? They do when their super-sleek short ‘do cuts an hour off primping time. —Lanford Beard

11 of 25

Miley Cyrus

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After documenting her new ‘do on social media, Cyrus got defensive when the inevitable backlash began. ”My dad @billyraycyrus used to tell me ”opinions are like a–holes every body has one. LOVE my hair feel so happy, pretty, and free,” the singer-turned-actress tweeted. —Bronwyn Barnes

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Britney Spears

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In February 2007, the pop starlet paid a late-night visit to Esther’s Haircutting Studio in Tarzana, Calif., where she seized a pair of clippers and proceeded to shave her own head. According to salon owner Esther Tognozzi, Spears then became emotional, declaring, ”My mom is going to freak.” —Bronwyn Barnes

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Scarlett Johansson

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Before hitting the road to promote Lost in Translation in 2003, Johansson debuted a ’70s shag at New York Fashion Week. The actress described the style as a Florence Henderson-inspired mullet, but gave off more of a Ziggy Stardust ”screwed down hairdo” vibe. —Bronwyn Barnes

14 of 25

Evan Rachel Wood

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Another Bowie homage came courtesy of the True Blood star, whose androgynous coiffure balanced out her generally feminine aesthetic. ”I think I’m a little controversial,” she told E! Online. ”I just try and keep some mystery, so hopefully people can’t really put their finger on it.” —Lanford Beard

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Demi Moore

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Critics panned her performance as a female commando in 1997’s G.I. Jane, but at least a newly buff Moore (in more ways than one) managed to pull off the cue ball look in real life. —Bronwyn Barnes

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Emma Watson

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After more than a decade of follicular association with the long locks of Hermione Granger (whose own locks went from frizzy to fab in the seven Harry Potter films), Watson was ready for a drastic change of pace as she transitioned to a more grown-up film career — and a more sophisticated aesthetic. —Lanford Beard

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Jennifer Aniston

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Oh, Rachel Green, why hast thou forsaken us? The Friends star celebrated her marriage to Brad Pitt by chopping off her long layers in December 2000. —Bronwyn Barnes

18 of 25

Katie Holmes

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Couture fashion shows in Paris, double dates with then-husband Tom Cruise and David and Victoria…in the summer of 2007, Katie Holmes had clearly fallen under the influence of the crossover Brit formerly known as Posh Spice. So much so that celebrity hair-watchers (yes, there is such a thing) wondered if her angular bob was a copycat cut. —Bronwyn Barnes

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Michelle Williams

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After making waves with a shoulder-length girl-next-door look since breaking out on Dawson’s Creek in 1998, Williams changed it up in late 2010 with a style dedicated to her late partner — and the father of her daughter, Matilda — Heath Ledger. ”I cut it for the one straight man who has ever liked short hair and I wear it in memorial of somebody who really loved it,” she said. —Lanford Beard

20 of 25

Viola Davis

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Davis spent much of the 2012 awards season donning hair pieces to events. When Oscar night finally arrived, The Help‘s Best Actress nominee said her husband encouraged her to go au naturel. ”It gives me flavor. It makes me feel like I’m spicing up my life a bit,” she told People magazine. —Lanford Beard

21 of 25

Halle Berry

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The versatile actress abandoned her pageant queen look and has rocked a close-cropped look for much of her career, proving that a boyish cut doesn’t mean one can’t still gets men’s heads turning. Appropriately, she wore this spunky style on Spike TV’s ”Guys Choice Awards” carpet back in 2009. —Lanford Beard

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22 of 25

Natalie Portman

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Portman may have picked up an English accent for 2005’s V for Vendetta, but she also lost a whole lot of hair. Living on the razor’s edge, Portman and director James McTeigue took a gamble as they filmed her head-shaving scene in a single take. —Lanford Beard

23 of 25

Ginnifer Goodwin

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Method acting be damned, the former Big Love star was so enamored of her own pixie cut, she confirmed to InStyle, that she begin to insist on a wig clause in all her contracts so she could express herself through her hair off-set. —Lanford Beard

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Keri Russell

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When ratings for the sophomore season of Felicity took a nosedive in 1999, network execs made Russell’s new super-short hairstyle the scapegoat. ”It must have been a boring year to have so many people worried about my hair,” the actress told the New York Times in 2004. —Bronwyn Barnes

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24 Extreme Hair Makeovers

1 of 25

Natalie Dormer

1 of 25

2 of 25

Jennifer Lawrence

2 of 25

3 of 25

Jennifer Hudson

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4 of 25

Kristin Chenoweth

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Beyoncé

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Anne Hathaway

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Charlize Theron

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Rihanna

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Lena Dunham

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Elisabeth Moss

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Miley Cyrus

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Britney Spears

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Scarlett Johansson

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Evan Rachel Wood

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Demi Moore

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Emma Watson

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Jennifer Aniston

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Katie Holmes

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Michelle Williams

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Viola Davis

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Halle Berry

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Natalie Portman

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Ginnifer Goodwin

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Keri Russell

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