A few years ago, New York dermatologist Dr David A Colbert received an unexpected call from a Hollywood director. The director was shooting a film starring a high-profile actor who had plumped his face with so much filler it wouldn't move. The director berated Colbert, whose practice has treated famous faces such as Sienna Miller, Naomi Watts and Robin Wright, for stilting his star's ability to emote. 'He was kind of rude,' Colbert said. 'He was like, 'Hey, can you stop doing what you're doing to his face?'' The director was mistaken: Colbert had never given dermal filler or Botox to the actor. 'But I felt for him, because he wants his actors to look like people,' said Colbert.
That director was fighting a losing battle. These days, the new 'it' product among celebrities is an entirely new face, with pillowy lips, stretched-out skin and a stationary forehead. For audiences, that means staring at faces on movie screens and streamers that look enhanced and therefore restricted by expensive cosmetic procedures. When the trailer for Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey dropped, critics griped that Anne Hathaway could not move her forehead enough, finding it unbelievable that Penelope would have access to such a good dermatologist in ancient Greece. In the Wicked franchise, Ariana Grande's airbrushed lack of expression led one writer to ask: 'Is Botox ruining cinema?' Similarly, Margot Robbie as Wuthering Heights's Cathy faced speculation about cosmetic surgery that could inhibit expressive facial contortions.
Much of this speculation is mean-spirited and reeks of misogyny, blaming women for unrealistic beauty standards widespread in film-making. Millie Bobby Brown, only 22, said audiences' responses to her expression during the Electric State press tour left her 'depressed for three, four days.' Men have faced scrutiny too: Barry Keoghan said online abuse about his looks made him 'shy away' from acting, and Ryan Gosling's ageless appearance on a recent show had an uncanny valley vibe, according to fans. But it is also true that some of the best acting comes from total abandon and a willingness to be ugly, whether it's Lucille Ball in I Love Lucy or Charlize Theron in Monster. Apparent dermal fillers, Botox, and lip augmentation do not allow for expressive performances. 'It's almost become standard that the face doesn't move as much as it used to,' Colbert said.
That lack of movement presents an existential threat to the craft of acting. Beauty has always been a job requirement for being a star, but so has facial dexterity. Actors have sculpted their faces for as long as the film industry has existed. Marsha Gordon, a film studies professor, cites a 1929 article that named and shamed mostly men who had gone under the knife, such as boxer Jack Dempsey. The close-up was crucial to moviemaking, and audiences saw beautiful faces like Marlene Dietrich and Greta Garbo. These women were not immune to face-sculpting rumors; legend has it that Dietrich removed her molars for cheekbones, and MGM reportedly sent Garbo to a surgeon. Neither is remembered for hamming it up onscreen, but they were celebrated for their signature features.
Dr Anthony Brissett, a cosmetic surgeon, points to modern high-definition cameras that reveal more than the naked eye. 'There are things that actors and actresses will share with me that bother them about their appearances,' he said. 'I have a hard time seeing it. Then I'll watch them on television and yeah, sure enough, there it is. They're under a high level of scrutiny and feeling this desire to look the same continuously.' Age used to be an actor's enemy; fortysomething women might fade away or accept character roles. Now, female actors are no longer expected to disappear after 30, but it helps to look as if they never aged. 'I just sort of expect female actors between 30 and 60 are probably doing stuff, and they're not going to move their foreheads,' Colbert said. Hollywood's filler-mania mirrors national interest: an estimated 1.6 million Americans received facial procedures last year, with neurotoxins and fillers being the most popular.
Forgoing these procedures has become a show of dedication to one's craft. Kate Hudson quit Botox while filming Song Sung Blue because it was set in the 1980s. Jennifer Lawrence gets Botox but draws the line at forehead filler. In casting, there are two types: bankable stars and actors who lack name recognition. 'Visible plastic surgery is an immediate audition killer for almost every project I've worked on,' said Marie, a Los Angeles-based casting director. 'Networks really hate plastic surgery unless it's on someone who's already famous, then they magically don't notice it.' Marie said some younger actors clearly have filler, which looks good in a selfie but prohibits them from embodying a role. 'It's really sad, a lot of younger actresses feel the need to be beautiful on Instagram, but then it makes them less realistic and accessible,' she said. 'Being a model and an actress are two different things.'
Zak Barnett, an acting coach, believes AI's recent infiltration of Hollywood might help reverse this trend. 'The desire to be perfect will be taken over by AI projects and AI actors. I think what audiences are going to want to see more and more is the truth, which is imperfections,' he said. But journalist Jessica M Goldstein is not as hopeful. 'Beauty standards under capitalism require there to always be something new to purchase. There might be a superficial change, but that doesn't mean that people are going to stop paying to have work done. It just means the nature of the work will change.' She predicts a shift toward more subtle enhancements, similar to how veneers became less standardized over time. Brissett says patients are reporting 'filler fatigue,' either dissolving their filler or not re-upping. More people are turning to facelifts, particularly the 'deep-plane facelift' that allows for facial movement and costs up to $40,000. Jennifer Lawrence, who shies away from filler, eagerly responded when asked if she had had a deep-plane: 'Believe me, I'm gonna!'
