Celebrities Who Proudly Show Off Their Gray Hair

One of the most common factors to consider when getting older happens to be going gray. It doesn't matter how vibrant and bright the color of your hair was in your 20s and 30s. Eventually, gray strands will start popping up and making a difference in your appearance. Of course, it might be a bit easier to make the transition to gray hair when your starting point is blond or light brown. Still, just about anyone can comfortably and confidently let their gray hairs grow out when they're ready to do so. 

The alternative is spending hours in hair salons trying to dye your hair back to the color it used to be. Coloring your hair is a process that generally costs a lot of money, takes up several hours, and potentially damages your hair follicles. It may be easier to embrace the changes that come along with getting older when you can reflect on talented celebrities who have already demonstrated self-love and self-acceptance with their own gray hair.

Jane Fonda's long career has been in motion since 1960. "Barbarella" and "Sunday in New York" are a couple of her most noteworthy projects, but her later roles have given younger generations the chance to get to know her as an actor, too. "Grace & Frankie" was a beloved Netflix hit between 2015 and 2022. Her poignant portrayal of a woman trying to figure out her future after losing her husband to infidelity is honest and sweet. In  "Grace & Frankie," Fonda's hair features some very visible gray streaks. 

Fonda opened up about her decision to grow out her gray hair on The Ellen Show. She said, "I tell you, I'm so happy I let it go gray. Enough already with so much time wasted, so much money spent, so many chemicals ... I'm through with that." Not wanting to invest money into hair treatments is a valid reason to let your gray hair grow as it may. Fonda also gets to spend the valuable time she would've wasted in salon chairs getting serviced doing other things she cares about more.

Jamie Lee Curtis is the type of actor who doesn't seem intimidated by the notion of getting older. Most people can recall her playing opposite Lindsay Lohan in "Freaky Friday" in 2003. The premise is about a mother and daughter who accidentally swap bodies after getting cursed. One of the main topics covered in the film revolves around aging and how it feels to live life in an older body going through various physical changes. 

Curtis told Today, "I tried to do everything you can do to your hair. Personally, I felt it humiliating. I would go into a hair salon, the smell of the chemicals, the feeling of that color on my hair, the wearing the things, sitting under the hair dryer, I was like, 'For what?'" She added, "I have been an advocate for natural beauty for a long time, mostly because I've had the trial and error of the other part. I did plastic surgery, it didn't work. I hated it. It made me feel worse." Since gray hairs grow naturally with age, they've become something Curtis has learned to embrace.

Rocking gray hair isn't something that makes Paget Brewster feel insecure or uncomfortable in her own skin. While some women might prefer to color their hair back to whatever color it was when they were younger, Brewster has a different thought process. She shared a message on Twitter, noting how much she liked her hair, despite pressure earlier in her career to color it. She added that she had no desire to "pretend to be 35 again."

The responses in her social media thread were incredibly positive, especially from other women who have been grappling with the decision to dye their hair or not. One woman openly shared her vulnerability and gratitude, tweeting, "As someone who is also not doing anything to pretend I'm not my actual age, I very much appreciate you. I hope that a few of us making these little decisions add up to some actual change happening in terms of women's body image. Also, your hair is glorious."

It's common to picture Sarah Jessica Parker with honey blond hair, strutting her stuff in fashionable fits in episodes of "Sex and the City," which ran from 1998-2004. That imagery of Parker — as Carrie Bradshaw with her iconic curls — will likely always remain in the minds of fans, but her hair has certainly changed since those original days of filming. Parker now has gray hair blended into her honey blond curls.

Parker spoke to Allure saying, "I can't spend time getting base color every two weeks. Can't do it. Nope. Too much. It became months and months of conversation about how brave I am for having gray hair. I was like, please please applaud someone else's courage on something!" From her perspective, no bravery went into her choice to go gray. It simply came down to the fact that she isn't interested in spending time in a salon chair when she can be handling other tasks. 

Helen Mirren has been in the game as an actor for decades with some of her biggest roles including "The Queen," "Gosford Park," and "The Good Liar." Although she's been in films since 1967, 2023 has been a huge year for her as well. She had new movies such as "Shazam! Fury of the Gods," "Barbie," "Fast X," and "Golda" hit theaters. It just goes to show that Mirren isn't slowing down anytime soon. She's as active as ever, regardless of her hair color changes.

Mirren discussed her hair transition with Vogue, saying, "I have to say it was very easy for me because my hair was always blonde. I was a natural blonde and although it was quite dark at times, in the summertime when I'd spent time in the sun, it would basically go white. So the process of me losing the color of my hair was very easy — it just looked more and more as if I had been in the sun, but year-round." Blond to white certainly isn't too aggressive of a change, so it makes sense that she felt so comfortable with it as it started happening. 

Tia Mowry's hair was far from gray during her years filming the hit show "Sister Sister" with her twin, Tamera Mowry. Of course, the sisters were teenagers at the time, and many years have passed since then. Mowry took to Instagram to share an update with her fans in honor of her birthday in 2020. In the shot, she showed off the strands of gray hair swirled into her curls. She added a simple caption that read, "This is Me. 42 [prayer hands emoji]." 

Two years later in 2022, she addressed her hair decision with InStyle, saying, "I was working on a film, and someone on set told me, 'You really need to cover those gray hairs! Girls shouldn't be seen that way.' And I said, 'No. I'm going to keep my gray hair. This is normal, this is what happens. Because at the end of the day, no matter what the trends are or what people tell me about how I should look, I define what beauty is for me." Mowry feels beautiful, and that's all that matters.

Andie MacDowell's decision to embrace gray hair is something her kids had a hand in. After starring in movies like "Four Weddings and a Funeral," "Groundhog Day," and "Green Card" back in the '90s, she's continued her successful career without coloring her hair to disguise her age. In fact, her gray hair is on full display in her 2023 film, "My Happy Ending." Her self-acceptance is easy to take note of.

MacDowell's honesty and candor about her hair was revealed in an interview with Vogue: "My kids ... kept telling me I looked bada** with my gray hair." The compliment from her kids went a long way in her mind. Later on, when her managers tried to convince her to color her hair, she said, "I think you're wrong, and I'm going to be more powerful if I embrace where I am right now. It's time because in two years I'm going to be 65. If I don't do it now, I won't have the chance to be salt and pepper. I always wanted to be salt and pepper!"

Fashionable choices and trendy fits are the language Stacy London speaks. Anyone who needs advice about how to upgrade their style can turn to London for some insight. After all, her years filming "What Not to Wear" count for a lot. What about turning to London for advice on getting older, though? It turns out she's a great person to gain some motivational insight from.

London discussed her gray hair with Cup of Jo, saying, "I've never felt uncomfortable about it. I think it puts me in the same category as Cruella de Vil or Rogue from 'X-Men.' There are actually easy ways I could hide it — I could part my hair a certain way and it wouldn't show. But I would never. It's a part of me." Instead of caving to the pressure to fight for eternal youth, London is happy to live her life without hiding anything. Playfully calling out fictional characters who rock gray hair likely helps the experience feel far more lighthearted.

Worrying about what to do with your hair simply isn't fun for anyone. Who wants to deal with stress over something everyone in the world can see on your body? Allison Janney is an actor who understands that sentiment. Movies and TV shows like "I, Tonya," "The West Wing," and "The Help" have turned Janney into a bona fide star, and fortunately, she isn't the type who feels the need to chase after eternal youth forever. 

Janney talked about her gray hair growth on "The Drew Barrymore Show," saying, "I cannot tell you how amazing it is to feel free. Free from hair color and hair extensions and hair tapes and blah blah blah... To be able to run my hands through my hair, and hopefully sometime a man will be able to run his hands through my hair — and appreciate ... it's just, it's heaven." It seems that the worries she once had about altering her hair have disappeared into oblivion.

Whoppi Goldberg went from starring in movies like "Sister Act," "Ghost," and "The Color Purple," to being one of the leading ladies on the hit TV talk show "The View." In earlier roles in her career, her hair was always black and typically dreadlocked. Now, seeing the talented actor and talk show host rocking gray hair gives off a totally different vibe. She portrayed Mother Abigail in the TV adaptation of Stephen King's novel "The Stand," a role for which she sported silvery white faux dreadlocks.

However, she has her own natural grays. In one episode of "The View," she lifted her mostly black locs and revealed a salt-and-pepper undercut, saying, "I don't mind the gray. I push my hair up all the time." She appears to have an optimistic view of aging and the gray hair that comes along with it, saying in an interview with The Times of London, "My stuff's going to sag and fall and I will be fine. My chest is gonna do what it does. I can age the way I age."

Social media is a great place to go for celebrities who want to speak their minds candidly and unabashedly. Christie Brinkley caught that memo when she decided to open up about her gray hair growth on Instagram. The model shared a stunning photo thread of herself lounging on the beach with her long hair rippling in the wind. The blond strands were visibly mixed with some grays.

Brinkley's Instagram caption reads, "Grey sky! Gray hair! The second you see gray hair it raises the question, just like when you cut bangs ... to keep or not to keep? Thank goodness both are just a personal preference or a fun change of pace. My son thinks it looks cool, but I think I may want to wait till it's more like the silver whitecaps than the grey wave itself! The verdict is still out! Happy Sunday!" Her choice to share the images without photoshopping the grays or coloring her hair at the salon first says a lot about how confident she feels about getting older. 

If the mental image of Jennifer Aniston with a brunette bob-length haircut is the image stuck in your mind when thinking of this actor, you're not alone. Aniston's hair while she played the role of Rachel Green in episodes of "Friends" became iconic in the beauty industry and beyond. Now that Aniston is older, her hair has started changing as well. Aniston may forever be remembered as Rachel, but that doesn't mean her hair can never change.

Fortunately, these changes aren't something Aniston is actively trying to fight or run away from. She spoke about her gray hair with Glamour, saying, "I think everyone should feel confident in whatever choices they make, including embracing natural color or texture. Hair is a creative way to express yourself, and I love that your mood and energy can change with the change of a hairstyle, cut, or color. Embrace whatever is going to make you happy." Her gentle advice is geared toward anyone grappling with the decision to go gray or not.

Gray hair isn't enough to slow someone like Susan Sarandon down. She spoke to People, saying, "I have a little tiny bit of grey hair but some of my sisters that are really blessed with really thick, fabulous hair turned grey much faster. So mine was really late, really really late. I'd like it if it was a really dramatic streak like in '101 Dalmatians,' one of those things, I think that would be cool but at the moment I don't really think I have enough to go grey and mean it. That's going to be a little while coming I think."

Sarandon is ready and willing to let the gray hair take over when it's fully ready to do so. Even though it's easiest to recognize the actor with her vibrant red tresses, she will still be just as legendary when the majority of her hair is visibly gray. In 2023 alone, she starred in "Blue Beetle" and "Maybe I Do," proving that her career is still in motion as she continues getting older.

Gwyneth Paltrow has been thought of as a blond beauty for the bulk of her career. Her long, golden hair made her one of the most easily identifiable characters from the Marvel franchise as someone in the mix without superpowers. Although Paltrow didn't have gray hair while taking on the role of Iron Man's love interest, Pepper Potts, her hair has started going gray since. 

She told People, "Of course I have wrinkles [and] gray hair. But I genuinely love it. This is who I am. I have been through incredible ups and downs and I feel so blessed that I have the wrinkles to tell the story" (via ABC News). Along with openly embracing her gray hair, Paltrow is also perfectly fine with wrinkles forming on her skin. The pressure of trying to stay young forever isn't something that impacts Paltrow, who seems confident about the entire process of aging.