x
Features Fan Edits Smart Awards More Recs Search / Site Map Home

The Plastic & Cosmetic Surgery Epidemic

Updated June 8, 2020 – It’s a mystery why so many beautiful actresses are drastically changing their looks. Why is this happening? It’s been said that there’s a lot of pressure on older women in show business to remain young-looking. However, younger actresses are also caught up in the epidemic, and not always with positive results.

As someone who has used Photoshop extensively, I know that even the slightest change in someone’s face can make a huge difference. In the end, though, people are free to change their looks as they see fit. If they have the means, people are gonna do what they want to do (e.g., Michael Jackson).


Katie Cassidy Arrow  Seasons 1 & 7

Fans of Arrow  were perplexed at Katie Cassidy’s transformation between Seasons 1 and 2. Initially, Katie was naturally stunning. Now her face often seems unnatural. It seemed to change a bit with each season of Arrow. SEE MORE PHOTO COMPARISONS IN NEW ARTICLE HERE.

This site gets a lot of traffic from people searching on “katie cassidy plastic surgery.” So I’ve added a little bonus below: a short video with various clips I’ve mashed together, in no particular arrangement except the order of the TV episode.

On the left is Katie from 2009’s Harper’s Island. Why would you want to mess with this face?! On the right is Katie from one of Arrow’s final episodes in 2020. Yes, granted, there’s an 11-year difference. But the differences don’t amount to natural aging. Especially telling is her right profile around 10 seconds in. By 2020, her face has calmed down a bit, compared to previous seasons of Arrow. But you can still tell she’s had a lot done. Pause the video whenever you like.

Katie in Harper’s Island  (2009) & Arrow  (2020)
Harper’s Island (“Whap”) © 2009 CBS Corp
Arrow ("Green Arrow & the Canaries") © Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.
Lindsay Lohan in 2008 and 2011

Lindsay Lohan is another young starlet who, sadly, drastically changed her given, naturally beautiful looks.

Courteney Cox in 2011 and 2015

Courteney Cox was gorgeous and probably would have aged beautifully. But for some reason she decided to make some changes. She has since regretted it, and is trying to change her looks back.

Fake: Marion Cottilard

In 2017, Marion Cottilard got her lips plumped for a movie role and posted pics on her Instagram about it. Glad this was just temporary for her.

Real: Famke Janssen in Hemlock Grove (2013-2015) and more recently

I just saw Famke in BBC One’s The Capture. She was in the final episode. I did a double-take when I saw her. She really looks different. This doesn’t seem like natural aging going on.

Emmanuelle Béart in 1986 and 2003

It was shocking to see Emmanuelle Béart in Mission: Impossible  (1996), because she looked so different in the smash French hits Jean de Florette  and Manon of the Spring  (1986). Her drastic lip change still plagues her today.

Nicole Kidman in Top of the Lake  (2017) and at Cannes in 2014

Nicole Kidman is someone who would probably age naturally very well. When she lays off the botox et al.  for a movie role, she can look quite natural (left photo). But when her face is all loaded up, it looks strange. Yes, she’s actually younger in the photo on the right.

Nicole in The Portrait of a Lady  (1996) and Big Little Lies  (2019)

Again, why would someone want to mess with this face?

“I don't happen to approve of plastic surgery. I think God put plastic surgeons on this earth for good reasons - people get burned or people might have a nose like Pinocchio and that has to be fixed. But to just chop yourself up to look a few years younger? You could come out looking like a Picasso picture.” —Iris Apfel, age 97

AGING GRACEFULLY

More examples could be given for bad plastic surgery: Meg Ryan, Goldie Hawn, Priscilla Presley, Melanie Griffith, Anna Faris, Lara Flynn Boyle, Daryl Hannah, Kim Novak, Faye Dunaway, Pamela Anderson, Mickey Rourke, and more.

Rather than showing their before-and-afters, how about some actresses who’ve allowed themselves to age naturally and gracefully. If these actresses have had anything done, it’s not noticeable.


Jacqueline Bisset
Rachel Ward
Jennifer Connelly
(She’s gotten too thin imo, but she hasn’t jacked with her face.)
Rachel Weisz
Susanna Thompson
Olivia Williams
Madeleine Stowe
Marion Cottilard
Halle Berry
Emma Thompson
Susan Sarandon
Jodie Foster
Diane Keaton
Diana Rigg
Jane Seymour
Jane Asher
Orla Brady
Audrey Hepburn
Maureen O’Hara

Other actresses that come to mind: Monica Bellucci, Marion Cottilard, Nina Hoss, Michelle Forbes, Cate Blanchett, Julianne Moore, Gillian Anderson, Robin Wright, Melissa Leo, Elizabeth Hurley, Lindsay Duncan, Kate Beckinsale.

“Nothing makes a woman look so old as trying desperately hard to look young.” —Coco Chanel