Disney Stars Who Are Unrecognizable Without Makeup

Disney stars are some of the most attractive actors in the entertainment industry. Many of them got their start on a Disney Channel show or movie when they were young, so we have seen them literally transform in front of our eyes. While this means we've gotten used to the changing looks of these stars, we're still used to seeing them wearing makeup for their roles. Without makeup, these Disney stars look a lot different. In fact, they're pretty much unrecognizable.

That's not to say that this is a bad thing. These Disney stars still look stunning without makeup — they just look a lot different from what we are used to seeing. These stars clearly have the confidence to rock a bare face because many of them have posted makeup free portraits of themselves on social media over the years. Do you recognize these Disney stars when they have no makeup on?

Monique Coleman has changed a lot since her High School Musical days. She looks completely different these days, and, without makeup, she looks even more different than how we remember her. The lovely Disney star is not bashful about posting photos and videos of her bare face on Instagram, and, with a face as lovely as hers, we can see why. A 2019 video on Instagram shows Coleman sporting glasses and no makeup, which is quite a departure from her High School Musical look.

Coleman has been keeping busy since HSM wrapped. She's still acting, but she's also an activist with her own company, Motivated Productions, which filmed docu-series Gimme Mo for Discovery Life. "After High School Musical, I realized that fame and success were never going to be as fulfilling as giving back," Coleman told Digital Journal. "I decided to use my platform to try and make a difference for young people around the world. This was the birth of GimmeMO, a global movement to empower, inspire, and motivate the next generation of change makers."

Even though Sabrina Carpenter says that her selfies aren't flawless, we're having a hard time buying it. "Everyone takes a bad selfie — the first thing is to know that," the Disney star told Billboard. "Everybody takes at least 20 so even if you see a good selfie it probably wasn't the first one. So my tip is to just not take it too seriously and have fun. That sounds cliche but the obvious ones are good lighting and good arm positions."

It's kind of hard to believe that Carpenter's selfies don't all come out perfectly when even her makeup-free selfies come out stunning. Take, for example, her November 2018 Instagram photo in which Carpenter shines radiantly without makeup.

Carpenter, who's had a stunning transformation since she started in Hollywood, has loved makeup since her early days as a dancer. "When I was younger and a dancer I was so excited for recitals every year," she said. "I was like finally, I get to wear so much makeup! It was so fun."

Brenda Song hasn't changed much over the years. Just 16 years old when she landed her breakthrough role of London Tipton on The Suite Life of Zack and Cody, the actress still looks super youthful. A 2015 picture she posted of herself without makeup on Twitter proves that her youthful looks aren't the result of beauty products, either. 

Another thing that hasn't changed much is Song's relationship with some of the stars she grew up with on the Disney Channel. She's still close with other Disney alums, including Danielle Panabaker, Aly Michalka, and AJ Michalka. "As we all grow older and spin into adult careers, seeing each other is amazing because we've all been through this crazy thing together that not very many people understand," the Disney star told Teen Vogue. "I wouldn't stay friends with them just because we worked together. These people are great, and it makes me really happy to see them all so successful. It's not easy to make that transition."

Without a thick layer of makeup, Debby Ryan's freckled face is hard to recognize. In a foundation-free Facebook post in 2014, the Jessie and The Suite Life on Deck star wrote, "In real life, I have freckles. hiding is exhausting. what is your makeup hiding?" A 2018 Instagram pic later showed the Disney star without makeup.

Ryan's transparency extends beyond her physical looks. The actress has also been open about her struggles with anxiety. "It feels like the world is [made of] walls and they're all closing in on you and strangling you from the inside," she told Teen Vogue. "When that begins to happen, your heart rate rises."

Ryan's anxiety has inspired her to become an advocate for destigmatizing mental health. "When you have a complicated relationship with your mind... all of the tricky things, navigating [it] does not mean that you are broken and that something is broken about you or something is wrong about you," she said in the same interview with Teen Vogue. "But something is very wrong with society."

Danielle Fishel is an iconic Disney star. Millions of viewers grew up with Fishel who starred on the shows Boy Meets World and its spin-off, Girl Meets World. Fishel showed her fans what she looks like without makeup in a June 2018 selfie posted to Instagram. Fishel looked quite different without makeup on. Her willingness to show the world what she looks like without any makeup is very much in keeping with her Boy Meets World character, Topanga, who was always unashamedly herself.

"She was so absolutely sure of who she was and who her friends were," said Fishel of her Disney character in an interview with HelloGiggles. "And she held them to that standard. She never let the people around her decide that it was okay to be less than the best that they could be. And being that kind of person, and being around that kind of person, is such a comforting feeling because you know you can totally trust them to not lead you astray."

China Anne McClain showed off a makeup-free and filter-free selfie on Facebook in December 2017. While McClain looked amazing, as usual, it's a different look from what we're used to from the Descendants and A.N.T. Farm star. 

Going without makeup isn't the only way that the Disney star has embraced a natural look. McClain also embraces her natural curls. "Why do we let everyone else tell us what we should look like?" she captioned an Instagram post in 2017. "How we should dress? How to wear our hair? What we can't do based on our appearance or the color of our skin? Haven't ever really worn my hair natural but I'm sick of straightening this magic." She went on, "I'm a black girl and I'm hella proud. And whether you are black, white, brown, yellow, red, green, or purple you should be proud too because you're BEAUTIFUL."

Wizards of Waverly Place alum Jennifer Stone looks quite a bit different without makeup. In a 2015 makeup-free photo posted on Instagram, Stone's natural freckles shone through. While Stone's makeup-free selfie proves that her good looks are effortless, things aren't always easy for the actress. In 2018, the Disney star told dLife that she was juggling acting, nursing school, and being diagnosed with diabetes.

Stone said that balancing school and her career is "a little crazy" and exhausting. "But I'm excited about doing both," she said. "To be honest, the hardest part is managing stress. My blood sugars are really stress-dependent so whenever I'm stressed, in my brain I think I'm fine but my body will tell me otherwise. I have to be good about time managing with getting enough sleep and exercising, and eating right and just keeping everything very balanced and that can be a challenge."