14 Celebrities Who Are Unrecognizable Without Their Signature Long Hair

There is nothing quite like a dramatic haircut to completely transform a person, and we need only look to some of the biggest celebs to see just how big a difference new hair can make. 

Just take Julia Roberts, who swapped her long wavy red hair for a blond shaggy long bob. Or Sydney Sweeney, who ditched her lengthy blond locks for a black bob with bangs. Then there was Florence Pugh who said goodbye to her hair altogether when she shaved her head for the film "We Live In Time." And who can forget Lily Collins' iconic bob at the 2024 "Emily in Paris" press tour. 

While each of these celebrities are known for their long, flowing hair, they've all experimented with shorter styles and have looked completely different every time. Here are celebs who transformed their entire look with a bold haircut.

Julia Roberts is known for her long auburn hair. In pretty much all of her most iconic roles, she's sported long curls or waves. We're thinking, of course, of "Pretty Woman," "My Best Friend's Wedding," "Runaway Bride," and "Erin Brockovich." 

But Roberts is a fan of switching up her hairstyle, having sported many different lengths and colors over the years, and she did it again in 2024 when she went from chest-length auburn hair to a a shoulder-length blond lob.

Although Roberts may have sported a shorter style in 2024, it seems that her main focus was still on hair growth. Speaking to InStyle about her colorist, Kadi Lee, who also launched a hair growth brand, Roberts said, "My hair gets put through a lot at work, and I am amazed it has held up over the years. We all can use a bit of hair health and support, and this is it for me. I feel like my hair has had a holiday [after] using these products."

Natalie Portman is another actor who has typically sported longer hair in her real life, even though she's done a few roles with shorter hair — we're thinking of "Jackie" when she wore Jackie Kennedy's famous bob and her role in "V For Vendetta," in which she famously shaved her head on-screen. As Portman told Elle years later, "Shaving my head for a 'V for Vendetta' was another moment of real transformation. It was so liberating."

Portman debuted a bob at the 2020 Oscars, and later told Harper's Bazaar, it proved to be fairly low-maintenance, thanks to Leonor Greyl Baume Bois de Rose. "With that, I can let my hair dry naturally," she said. "It gives it a nice wave, and it doesn't look like a frizzy disaster!" In October 2024, Natalie Portman decided to go for a dramatic hair change once again, swapping out her long hair for a chic curly bob. 

Julianne Hough's long blond hair was her trademark look for years, until 2013 when she chopped her hair for the film "Safe Haven." It turns out, the cut inspired some big life changes, too. "A little while after, when I cut ties with my relationship," Hough told Allure, explaining how she ended her relationship with Ryan Seacrest. "I chopped more. It was about changing it up and beginning fresh — in the movie but in real life, also."

In 2018, Hough once again went for a dramatic cut, trading her long hair for a blunt bob with bangs. As her stylist Riawna Capri told Allure, she had been growing her hair for her wedding (she married Brooks Laich in 2017), but afterward, she was free to go for a bold chop. "Julianne has been so excited to go short since we were growing it out for her wedding," said Capri, adding that they decided to go for a "chic French bob." 

Sydney Sweeney's long blond hair was, for a long time, a staple part of her look. As she told Harper's Bazaar in October 2024, "I've had long hair most of my life." It was her staple until she cut it into a chin-length bob, styled in sleek waves, in March 2024. "I recently did a trim to cut off all the dead ends," as she put it. Sweeney seems to have liked the trim. She later told People, "I feel like my hair is super healthy and thick now. It's kind of crazy!"

Sweeney went one step further with her head when she arrived at the 2024 Met Gala with a wavy black bob and bangs. The look was, it turns out, a wig and a collaboration with Sweeney's hairstylist Glen Oropeza, who secured the wig to Sweeney's head before cutting it into shape.

Rita Ora usually wears her hair long, either with her natural curls or straightened. However, in February 2024, the singer debuted a chin-length, side-swept bob. The haircut was a dramatic one, but as it turns out, it was also very spontaneous. 

"I cut my hair off at 7 o'clock this morning," Ora said during an appearance on "Today with Hoda and Jenna." "Yeah, I just had a real thing, me and my hairdresser were like, 'Let's just chop my hair off.' Now I'm here hosting the show with you. What is my morning by the way?!" Apparently, she was craving a "fresh start." She went on to explain that she didn't even know she was going to co-host the show that morning.

Her stylist, Dimitris Giannetos, later took to Instagram to share a clip of the spontaneous trim, which he called an "Italian bob." He also explained that he had dyed her hair slightly darker, going for a "Hazelnut Latte" shade.

Ever since her Fifth Harmony days, Camila Cabello has typically gone for a long hairstyle. In September 2024, however, she decided to shake things up with a major trim. At the Rabanne spring/summer 2025 show during Paris Fashion Week, the singer debuted a shaggy shoulder-length bob with long sweeping bangs, styled by Chris Appleton. This came just a few days after she had walked the runway with super long hair.

"I love it when you get to make people look good, but when they feel it has always been a magical [sic] to me," Appleton wrote on Instagram next to a picture of Cabello's chop. "Hair is a great way to express yourself, and it's fun to change it up and show different sides of your personality. This was the shortest Camila has ever cut her hair, but the best part was how good she felt about it."

As for Cabello, her hair is a means of self-expression. "My hair varies depending on how I feel or what person or personality traits I want to embody," she told Cosmopolitan back in 2023.

Zendaya has been through quite a few looks in her time, but throughout her early career, she almost always wore her hair long in her natural curls. In 2016, she made a major hair change when she appeared at the Met Gala with a super sleek bowl cut that circled her head almost like a round helmet. The look was a wig, though, and honestly, we don't blame her for not cutting her actual hair into this odd shape.

Although Zendaya's bold bowl cut experiment was a major move away from her natural hair, for the most part, Zendaya prefers to keep things simple and natural day-to-day. "I like to wear my hair natural because I like to stay away from heat products," she told The Cut that same year. For occasions when she wants to get a little playful and ditch her signature long hair, she turns to wigs. "I use wigs and clip-ins and then I can go to town with anything I want," she said.

Florence Pugh's locks have gone through a few transitions over of the years, from long and wavy to shorter and shaggy. But in 2023, the actor debuted her most dramatic hair transformation yet. At the Met Gala, Pugh showed up with a completely shaved head, along with a Valentino gown and towering feathered headpiece.

As Pugh told reporters on the red carpet (via X), the buzz cut was done for her film "We Live in Time." It was, she said, a "requirement of the job that I happily wanted to do." Apparently, she kept the look "under wraps" for three weeks in order to debut it at the Met Gala.

Pugh later spoke about the experience of shaving her head on camera for the film. Although she was determined to remove her hair in service of the character and the story, she told British Vogue that she "went into a bit of trauma from it," adding, "My head was so sensitive and so many people were trying to touch it and it was so alive."

Another actor who shaved her head for a role was Karen Gillan. Ever since starring in "Doctor Who" in 2008, Gillan has been known for her bright red hair. However, in 2013, the actor landed a part of Nebula in "Guardians of the Galaxy" that required her to shave it all off. She revealed her shaved head at Comic-Con that year when she pulled off a wig during a panel.

"I was told before I auditioned for the role that I would have to shave my head if I got it," she told Yahoo! Movies. "But I didn't think I was going to get it." Although it was a big change, Gillan took it in her stride. "I found the thing like totally hilarious," she said. "I mean it was so funny!"

In 2017, Gillan reprised the role of Nebula, but this time, she was allowed to keep the upper part of her hair. "I shaved half of my head this time, but they took away the butt — like, the underneath-half of my hair, and then left the top part. That was the best gift ever," she told The Wrap.

Back in the '90s and early 2000s, Patricia Arquette almost always wore her hair long. However, in 2009, she debuted a bold bob with longer pieces at the front. "I love your hair," gushed to Ellen DeGeneres when Arquette first got the trim that year. "I'm trying to copy cat you," Arquette replied. "But then you went shorter!"

Arquette went on to explain that she had been "trying to grow it as long as she could." However, on her show, "Medium," her character Allison was diagnosed with a brain tumor. The producers asked if she would cut her hair for the show. "I didn't feel good about it," she said, "and my daughter was really upset about it." However, Arquette did cut her hair and her daughter soon came around to it, too.

Hair can be a powerful, symbolic thing — it certainly was in Beyoncé's case. While Beyoncé almost always wears her hair long, she has gone for a few bold chops over the years. In 2013, for instance, she debuted a drastic change when she cut her hair into a pixie. "I remember the day I decided to just cut all my hair off," Beyoncé told Essence. "I didn't have a particular style in mind. It wasn't an aesthetic choice, but it was a very big emotional transformation and metamorphosis that I was going through. So much of my identity as a performer has been connected to flowing hair. Cutting my hair off was me rebelling against being this woman that society thinks I'm supposed to be."

The singer went on to explain that even her hair stylist, Neal Farinah, was against the chop. Nevertheless, Beyoncé grabbed the scissors and did it herself. "It was what I needed to do. And after that, I became super brave," she revealed. "It was the first step to many more audacious decisions I made in my life and my career that have led to who I am now."

For a while, Chris Pine was rocking a long "surfer dude" hairstyle with a bushy gray beard. However, early in his career, Pine had a very different look. Remember Pine in the early 2000s? Instead of long, shaggy hair, he sported a super clean, cropped "leading man" look.

In 2023, Pine once again chopped his hair in a return to his "leading man" look of the past. As he explained to Esquire, he decided to chop his hair after attending the Venice Film Festival earlier that year. "I thought I was looking pretty, pretty fly, the hair was long, everything was happening and my publicist said I looked like Rachel from 'Friends,'" Pine said. "I couldn't un-hear it and it was the first day of my first time in Venice." Apparently, Pine wasn't going for the famous "Rachel" hairstyle, so as soon as he got the chance, he chopped it all off.

Lily Collins has always been known for her long flowing brunette hair — until June 2024, when the "Emily in Paris" star went for a drastic chop, swapping her long hair for a blunt bob. And honestly, it was way more French-girl chic than Emily could ever be. Collins shared footage of the cut on Instagram, showing herself doing the first big chop on her own hair before her stylist, Gregory Russell, took over to complete the look.

"We had the long hair for some time and we did layers, bangs, face-framing ... we did a lot," Russell later told British Vogue. "We thought this would be a chic switch-up." For Collins, the new trim just worked. "Changing my hair always brings out different sides of my personality and I love playing around. This cut and color feels bolder and yet somehow lighter. And more me, right now," she said.

Collins remained a fan of the bob for the rest of the year, rocking a short style throughout her "Emily in Paris" Season 4 press tour. And who knows, maybe in Season 5, Emily will also sport a chic bob.

We all think of Hailee Steinfeld as having long flowing locks, but in June 2024, the actor decided it was time for a change. She chopped off her super long wavy hair and went for a chin-length textured bob instead. 

As Steinfeld later explained to People, she had been inspired to cut her hair after realizing that she never had short hair in her life. "I was going through old photos with my mom, and there's a photo of me — I'm not kidding, I have to be nine or 10 months old in this photo — and my mom had clipped one of her ponytail [extensions] to my head," she said. "So at 10 months, this girl had long hair. I've never had short hair like this." Steinfeld realized that she had been wearing her hair up more than she wore it down and that she was "constantly trying to get it out of my way." So, she knew it was time for a big chop.