Before & After Photos Of Celebs Who Embraced Going Gray

They say that the only certain things in life are death and taxes, but getting gray hair should be added to this classic idiom. Most people, if they live long enough and don't go bald first, will get gray hair. Of course, that includes celebrities, even if many of them work to hide their gray hair in an industry that focuses on their looks.

For example, beauty icon Jennifer Lopez shared with People in 2011, "I was prematurely gray at 23. I have to have [my roots] touched up every couple of weeks. I'm kind of tempted to one day just let it go." While we've never seen Lopez follow through with that temptation, plenty of other celebrities got the chance to live out their gray hair dreams during the COVID-19 pandemic.

You can occasionally find some celebs with a few wayward gray hairs, but this list is for those who have really gone all out with the gray in a way that you don't have to zoom in on a photo to know for sure. From Jane Fonda and Andie MacDowell to Patricia Heaton and George Clooney, these stars can certainly pull off a silvery look. 

Andie MacDowell started out in modeling in the late 1970s, and then she made the switch to acting. In the 1980s and 1990s, she starred in films like "St. Elmo's Fire" and "Four Weddings and a Funeral," establishing herself as a bonafide Hollywood star. She became known for her Southern charm as well as her curly hair. She still has the curls, but she's embraced silver hair, which may be part of the reason why Andie MacDowell still feels sexy as she's gotten older.

In 2021, she confirmed that it was the pandemic and quarantine that helped kickstart the change. "I've been saying for a while now it was time for me, personally, to make that transition, because I felt like it was appropriate for my personality and just who I am," MacDowell told Vogue. Despite initial pushback from her management team, she went all out with the shade. It was the right time, since as MacDowell put it: "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!"

Carrie Bradshaw on "Sex and the City" was famously played by Sarah Jessica Parker. The show started in 1998, running for six seasons before inspiring two feature films and another series. Through just about all of it, Carrie had blonde hair. But when the revival of the show came back in the 2020s, Carrie's hair noticeably had gray in it. It's a look that Parker also embraced off-screen, keeping the blonde highlights but also letting the gray shine through in what's known as herringbone highlights: one of the best ways to transition into gray.

Plus, this style means Parker doesn't have to go to the salon as often. Typically, hair can grow about half an inch in a month, so if you're trying to hide the gray completely, you'd have to go to the salon more often. As Parker told Allure in 2022, "I can't spend time getting base color every two weeks. Can't do it. Nope. Too much."

Patricia Heaton has made a career of playing sitcom moms. She was Debra Barone on "Everybody Loves Raymond" for nine seasons, and then Frankie Heck for another nine seasons on "The Middle." People got used to seeing her on-screen with deep-brown hair with the occasional red tint. However, in the years since the shows that helped make her famous, Heaton has let her brown hair go gray. People apparently had so many thoughts about this decision that Heaton made a video on Instagram in May 2026 about her hair. In it, she said, "There are some things that come along in life that I've just decided to embrace. And that doesn't include boxed hair dye. ... And maybe we could all use a little more of just accepting what is and being grateful."

Fans are loving the look and the message. Actor and singer Kristin Chenoweth chimed in with, "It's gorgeous!" Someone else said, "You are stunning!!! This whole convo is so stupid. Ignore the haters." We agree.

Steve Carrell became a household name playing the role of Michael Scott on "The Office." He had dark-brown hair for just about every episode until he left the show in Season 7 at the age of 47. When he came back for the show's finale in 2013, you could see some gray at his temples. By the time he started on Apple's "The Morning Show," which first aired in 2019, it had spread past his temples. He's been full on salt and pepper since.

Allison Janney has had an impressive career with a lot of range. She was a star on the political drama "The West Wing," and she showed off her comedy chops on the CBS sitcom "Mom." Through the years, she was often either blonde or brunette — at least in public. In truth, she'd actually been wearing a wig for the entire series of "Mom," which ran from 2013 to 2021. Her natural hair was coming in gray during the pandemic, and she decided to keep it and let the world see it.

During her interview on "The Ellen Show" in February 2021, Janney said, "... a big, healthy few inches of gray roots came in, and I just decided I wanted to be free from hair color and hair extensions." It sounds like she's loved the change. "I cannot tell you how amazing it is to feel free," Janney told Drew Barrymore on "The Drew Barrymore Show" that April. "Free from hair color and hair extensions and hair tapes and blah blah blah. ... it's just heaven. I'm enjoying this new chapter in my hairdo world." While she reverted back to icy blonde later, it's clear she appreciated her gray stint.

Jane Fonda is a living legend. She became an Oscar winner in the 1970s, was a fitness revolutionary in the 1980s, and has continued acting and activism throughout her life and into her 80s. She's faced a lot of questions about her look over the years in the public eye, and Jane Fonda has gotten real about aging, including accepting her gray hair. She debuted a gray pixie cut at the Oscars in 2020; it was a look that had been a long time coming.

Her colorist Jack Martin talked to Vogue UK about what it took to get her hair looking great with the gray; it was a lot more involved than simply growing out her gray hair. Instead, there was bleaching, toning, and dyeing involved. But that way, when her roots naturally grew in, there wasn't any contrast. She hasn't been seen with anything but gray hair since, and she looks great. "Nowadays, honestly, grey hair is not related to age in the same way it used to be," Martin told the outlet. "I really like the idea of allowing people to be more accepting of the changes in their life."

George Clooney has embodied the definition of a silver fox with his head of graying hair for years. He started out with brown hair in his breakthrough role of Dr. Doug Ross on "ER," but by the end of his time there in the late 1990s, he'd started to go gray and didn't hide it. The world, including George's wife Amal Clooney, has gotten so used to his gray hair that it was jarring to see him in 2025 when he had to dye his hair brown for the Broadway production of "Good Night and Good Luck."

During an interview on "CBS Mornings," Clooney admitted that the darker look, which mimicked what he looked like when he was younger, didn't work for him. "I know it's not good," he admitted. "You never get used to it. It's not my favorite look, and my wife, she thinks it's funny."

When Meryl Streep first played Miranda Priestly in "The Devil Wears Prada," she rocked an iconic white bob. But it wasn't her natural color or even her real hair. When she attended the premiere in 2006, her hair was clearly blonde, and Anne Hathaway spilled the beans about the look during an interview with Vanity Fair in 2024 when she confirmed that Streep was wearing a wig for the role.

In a version of life imitating art, Streep's natural hair color now seems to be closer to Priestly's as Streep has taken aging in her stride. Her hair's now a soft silver, bordering on white on top, and blended with a bit of blonde. Whether it's entirely natural, we may never know, but it looks great.