6 Male Celebs Who Ditched Their Short Hair & Grew Long Locks For A Role

Many films set in a different time period or setting, such as historical dramas and fantasy movies, make actors wear hair extensions or wigs for their characters. However, some male stars and their directors prefer to let their hair grow for a more authentic and realistic look. A lot of actors look drastically different after certain roles, because they choose to keep the different hairstyles, hair colors, and body types from their characters. 

Male actors usually get noticed for sporting longer hair in their movies, especially when they tend to wear shorter styles in their daily life and red carpet appearances. These men demonstrate a special kind of dedication to their craft by growing longer locks for a role. From action and thriller movies to historical dramas, here are six male celebrities who ditched their short hair to transform into a long-haired character.

Although Leonardo DiCaprio played characters with longer hair before, he didn't actually grow his hair until "The Revenant," a 2015 period piece that earned him his first Oscar. DiCaprio's character, Hugh Glass, survived a bear attack, so the actor achieved an unruly look by growing his beard for six months and wearing his hair long enough to put it in a ponytail. The actor didn't have an issue with his hair in real life, since he slicked it down before pulling it back. However, he dealt with too many things caught in his beard to ever wear it that long again. He told Ellen in 2016, "I don't think I'll ever have a beard like that ever again. Unless it's for a role," (via Entertainment Tonight).

Chris Hemsworth was born to play Thor, but he needed to make some more changes to look like the Norse god. The actor incorporated more weights into his fitness routine to build muscle, but it's not a well-known fact that he only grew out his hair while filming "Thor: The Dark World." In a 2023 GQ video, Hemsworth saw a comment on his TikTok video that asked if he wore his own hair as Thor. The actor clarified that he wore wigs in the first and third "Thor" movies, but not the second. To be fair, Hemsworth rocked a man bun in 2012, so it didn't seem unlikely that his hair was naturally long in other Marvel films. He said, "Mostly, it's wigs, though. Sorry."

Like Leonardo DiCaprio, Jake Gyllenhaal starred in a movie where his character is stranded in the wild. He played expedition leader Scott Fisher in "Everest," a 2015 film based on the tragic 1996 attempt to climb Mount Everest. Although some actors choose to wear wigs for their long-haired characters, Gyllenhaal opted to grow out his brown locks to film "Everest." The nepo baby also chose to grow out his beard, and made headlines when he shaved and cut his hair after filming in 2014.

Aaron Taylor-Johnson gets attention for his age-gap marriage to Sam Taylor-Johnson, but the actor demonstrated dedication to his craft by wearing longer hair for a role. Taylor-Johnson portrayed a gang leader in Tom Ford's 2016 thriller, "Nocturnal Animals." Taylor-Johnson told I-D Magazine about the natural way he transformed into his scruffy character. "Prior to making the movie, Tom said 'Grow your hair out, grow your beard out, grow your fingernails long,'" the actor said. "I had disgusting, dirty fingernails." Despite the grime, Taylor-Johnson appreciated and admired Ford's creative process.

Joaquin Phoenix diverged from the norms of playing Jesus Christ when he starred in "Mary Magdalene" alongside his partner Rooney Mara, who played the titular character. He also opted against wearing a wig to play Jesus. The Daily Mail reported that Phoenix grew his hair out on set, and the actor was spotted with his hair in a ponytail and a bigger beard in Jerusalem when he wasn't filming.

Tom Hanks won a Golden Globe for his performance in "Cast Away," directed by Robert Zemeckis. The 2000 movie took longer to film because Zemeckis insisted on taking a year-long break, so Hanks could lose more than 50 pounds for the second half. The actor had a very restricted diet to achieve a gaunt frame, and he grew out his hair to look like someone trapped on a deserted island. Speaking with Entertainment Weekly, Hanks considered the physical changes "a burden," and later suspected that his weight transformation for "Cast Away" partially caused his type 2 diabetes.