Actors Who Weren't Allowed To Change Their Appearance During Filming

We've all heard stories about actors who went to extraordinary lengths to transform themselves for a big role; actors who dedicated themselves physically to add muscle to play a superhero, slim down to play a tortured soul, or shaved their head to get into character. From Christian Bale in "The Machinist" to Natalie Portman in "V For Vendetta," actors often spend untold amounts of energy and hours to make sure they fit the physical requirements of their parts.

But sometimes actors are forbidden to make changes to their physical appearance while filming. We're all aware of the horror stories of women who were pressured to stay thin in Hollywood, but even in more recent years — when those kinds of studio pressures have been rightly recognized as going too far — some actors have still been strictly prohibited from changing their appearance while filming. It's bad enough when it's during a three month shoot for a big, blockbuster Hollywood production, but even worse when it's during filming of a decade spanning film series or a long running hit television show. The pressure on those behind the camera to make sure their popular stars stay looking the way the audience expected them to often had them hand down uncomfortable physical limitations and restrictive rules to their on-screen talent.

Whether it's by studio decree, at the demand of an overbearing director, by contract, or by law, we've compiled a list of actors who were not allowed to change their appearance while filming.

Avery Brooks played the tough-as-nails Commander Benjamin Sisko in "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine," and it was always the actor's intention to play the character with a bald head and a goatee. But infamously, producers of the show refused his request to cut his hair and grow a beard for his career-defining role. Over the years, many reasons were given, including not wanting two bald leads for their franchise after chrome-domed Patrick Stewart captained the Enterprise for seven seasons. Some said it was to set him apart from his previous role as Hawk on the ABC action series' "The Man Called Hawk," and "Spenser: For Hire," as the character was very different than Sisko. 

But in the 2018 documentary, "What We Left Behind", showrunner Ira Steven Behr finally set the record straight: while there were concerns about comparisons to Hawk, studio executives were afraid that his bald head and facial hair would make him look "street," a regrettable studio euphemism. After two years of Brooks pressing the matter with producers, the studio compromised midway through the show's third season in 1995, allowing him to grow a goatee as long as he kept his hair. They relented fully a year later when Brooks finally sported his now trademark bald head and cropped beard, and that's how he remained for the rest of the show's run.

Growing up on the set of a TV show or movie is hard enough for child actors, but spending the entirety of your adolescence in front of the camera — as the cast of the "Harry Potter" movies did from 2001-2010 — can be especially difficult. After production had completed on the series, the young actors were finally free to open up and talk frankly about what it was like to grow up on screen. From being forbidden snacks and treats on the set to problems with alcohol as they got older due to the stress of fame, there was seemingly no end to the rules, restrictions, and problems encountered by the young cast as they made their way to adulthood as budding superstars.

Emma Watson who seemed to get the worst of the often draconian rules set by the studio, directors, and crew. This including the odd rule of being forbidden to wear undergarments that might accentuate her growing female figure. What seems to have frustrated her the most, as she told Metro, was that for more than a decade she was not allowed to cut or change her hair. after completing "The Deathly Hallows Part 2," Watson famously chopped off her long flowing locks and sported a pixie cut, as her first act of independence off the set of "Harry Potter."

Set in the offices of a New York City ad agency in the 1960s, AMC's "Mad Men" followed the life, career, and rampant womanizing of the suave Don Draper, played by the charismatic and dashing Jon Hamm. The series ran for seven seasons, airing from 2007 to 2015, while the show covered the years 1960 through 1970. Playing out in the background of the hit cable series we saw everything from the death of JFK to the moon landing. Perhaps one of the most historically accurate period dramas on television, "Mad Men" faithfully recreated the era, down to the characters' attitudes, their wardrobes, the props, and even the branded products.

To keep in line with this accuracy, and likely to stay true to the nature of the conservative Don Draper, producers wouldn't permit lead actor Jon Hamm to grow any facial hair. "Mad Men" makeup artist told OK Magazine that they had to shave his face two or three times a day while shooting. Mustaches and beards were out the window for Hamm, limited to the younger, hipper men on the series like Sam Rizzo, or in some instances older characters who were trying desperately to portray themselves as younger and hip. Hamm had a tendency to grow enormous, untamed beard whenever the show was on hiatus, probably just because he wasn't allowed to during filming of the show.

Between 2007 and 2010, the Jonas Brothers — Nick, Joe, and Kevin — starred in a variety of projects on the Disney Channel, including headlining their own hit series, "Jonas." In a interview with Vulture in 2013, Joe Jonas finally talked openly about the restrictive life of a Disney Channel star after years of silence; from the lack of creativity forced on their songwriting, to the demands of the studio on their physical appearance, total control over their careers, and even holding sway over their love lives. But keeping the Jonas brothers looking young was perhaps the studio's top priority.

"I had to shave every day because they wanted me to pretend like I was 16 when I was 20," Joe told Vulture. Jonas intimated that Disney may have pressured them with the power they held over the success or failure of their careers. The three brothers went along with every uncomfortable limitation and demand because they thought that their show might be their only shot at maintaining stardom. Joe Jonas admitted to the magazine his fear of losing everything, saying "we were terrified that it could all be taken away from us at any moment." 

For eight seasons Kit Harington played Jon Snow, the would-be King of Winterfell on "Game of Thrones." Snow was a fan-favorite, and Kit Harington's luscious locks were almost as identifiable as Snow himself, and a critical element to his popularity. In fact, his dark flowing mane was so crucial to the show that it was apparently written into his contract for the HBO series, as he was not permitted to cut it off. 

On a 2014 episode of "Live! With Kelly and Michael" (via The Hollywood Reporter), Harrington revealed the fine print clause in his contract for "Game of Thrones," telling the hosts that "I didn't realize this until recently and then I kind of, I wanted to cut it — I've had long hair for ages — and they were like, 'No, no, no, that won't be happening.'" The disagreement over his cut was followed by "ridiculous conversations ... between agents and managers and HBO ... Can we have four inches off or can we have an inch off? What can we do with this? How curly should it be?" He concluded by noting that "It gets silly."