Celebrities Who Changed Their Looks When They Got Famous

Miley Cyrus

 

Miley Cyrus has gone through several style transformations since her Hannah Montana days, but none were as shocking as the early 2010's when she not only distanced herself from the House of Mouse, but she did it in a twerk-filled, nearly naked music video for her single, "We Can't Stop."

That was the summer of 2013, and it would be the year Cyrus fully shed any trace of the above (left) Disney starlet, transforming into the weed-loving wild child on the right. It was the year that her tongue couldn't seem to find its way back behind her teeth; the year she told MTV that her style on stage is going to be "always crazy;" and the year she proved it during the VMAs when she infamously grinded all over Robin Thicke while wearing nothing but a nude-colored bikini and a giant foam finger.

When asked by Barbara Walters about her scandalous style shift, Cyrus said, "No matter what I do, I'm either boring or I'm a slut." When asked about the year she made headlines week after week with her risque revolution, she said, "It wasn't just shock to shock people, it really was with a purpose, I guess…to make everyone in the world talking about me and my music." Well, that is one way to accomplish that.

Michael Jackson

Where do we even begin with Michael Jackson? Obviously, we broke our pattern here and did a full before-and-after, rather than just the initial changes Jackson made when he hit it big. And that's probably because he was a little kid when he and his brothers, The Jackson Five, made their iconic appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show. But as Michael's fame eclipsed them all, so did his insatiable quest to make changes to his face.

According to ABC News, Michael only ever admitted to having two surgeries on his nose, telling Martin Bashir in a 2002 interview, "It helped me breathe better so I can hit higher notes." Obviously the result of extensive plastic surgery, Michael's face later in life appears to have been altered in every conceivable way: reshaped eyes and nose, a chin implant (dimples don't develop over time), skin lightening, and whatever was going on with his hair.

In a series of interviews, Michael's doctor, famed Beverly Hills cosmetic surgeon Dr. Steven Hoefflin, said that he was only doing what Michael wanted. "My job is to try to make people happy. In the case of high-level entertainers, the result may not be what the average person would want. But remember, these are performers who want to create a certain image for a special reason," he told The Telegraph. "He's very happy with what he's done, OK? I think he's done more than I recommended in terms of the changes, yes," Hoeffliln also told 20/20. Uh, yes. That may be the biggest understatement of all time.

​Matthew Lewis

Matthew Lewis didn't get to make his big transformation right as he got famous. He had to wait for puberty like the rest of the cast of Harry Potter, but when he finally filled out, and presumably finished paying off a small fortune to an orthodontist, the end result was startling. As if by way of a magic spell, the homely little kid who played Neville Longbottom transformed into a dashing young man who could have given Cedric Diggory a run for his money.

Not only that, but Lewis even had a genuine "internet-breaking" moment when he posed for Attitude Magazine (via People) and gave the Muggle world a glimpse at what he was packing under his wizard robe. Well done, Lewis. Seriously, points to Gryffindor.

Ryan Seacrest

If you're like us, you always just assumed that Ryan Seacrest wasn't actually born from a human being, rather he was created in a TV studio using data from decades of audience surveys revealing the most affable on-air personality imaginable. But you'd be wrong. It turns out, he was actually a little chubby kid from the South who now obsessively squeezes workouts into his insanely busy schedule, as well as counts eating "the wrong amount of almonds" as a big splurge, according to Men's Fitness.

The photo on the left was taken in 1993 while Seacrest was working as a DJ at WSTR-FM in Atlanta. On the right, a decade later, Seacrest had just become the host of American Idol, a career move that would skyrocket him to fame, and send Brian Dunkleman into an bottomless pit of regret. But the image changes Seacrest made over that decade are simultaneously obvious yet almost imperceptible. He seemed to lose a little weight, and he ditched the Zack Morris haircut for the piecey, Axe bodyspray-inspired coiffe of the early 00s, but he did keep rocking the t-shirt and blazer look. And yet, there's something more going on there — an unexplainable overall shift from good-looking nice guy next door to celebrity TV host. Weird.

Nicole Kidman

Nicole Kidman seems to be inexplicably defying the oppressive elements of both gravity and time. Seen above in the early 80s, Kidman had yet to break out in Hollywood, and was still several years away from her high-profile marriage to Tom Cruise. The photo on the right is from 2001, almost two decades later, and we're willing to bet if we said it was from yesterday, no one would bat an eye.

For years, Kidman claimed her beauty was "completely natural," and in fairness it basically is. The changes she made were clearly subtle — goodbye questionable perm, hello subtle contouring and fleeked out brows — but she did later admit to La Repubblica (via HuffPost), "I did try Botox, unfortunately, but I got out of it and now I can finally move my face again."

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