Celebrities Who Proudly Show Off Their Gray Hair

One of the most common factors to consider when getting older happens to be going gray. It doesn't matter how vibrant and bright the color of your hair was in your 20s and 30s. Eventually, gray strands will start popping up and making a difference in your appearance. Of course, it might be a bit easier to make the transition to gray hair when your starting point is blond or light brown. Still, just about anyone can comfortably and confidently let their gray hairs grow out when they're ready to do so. 

The alternative is spending hours in hair salons trying to dye your hair back to the color it used to be. Coloring your hair is a process that generally costs a lot of money, takes up several hours, and potentially damages your hair follicles. It may be easier to embrace the changes that come along with getting older when you can reflect on talented celebrities who have already demonstrated self-love and self-acceptance with their own gray hair.

Jamie Lee Curtis is the type of actor who doesn't seem intimidated by the notion of getting older. Most people can recall her playing opposite Lindsay Lohan in "Freaky Friday" in 2003. The premise is about a mother and daughter who accidentally swap bodies after getting cursed. One of the main topics covered in the film revolves around aging and how it feels to live life in an older body going through various physical changes. 

Curtis told Today, "I tried to do everything you can do to your hair. Personally, I felt it humiliating. I would go into a hair salon, the smell of the chemicals, the feeling of that color on my hair, the wearing the things, sitting under the hair dryer, I was like, 'For what?'" She added, "I have been an advocate for natural beauty for a long time, mostly because I've had the trial and error of the other part. I did plastic surgery, it didn't work. I hated it. It made me feel worse." Since gray hairs grow naturally with age, they've become something Curtis has learned to embrace.

It's common to picture Sarah Jessica Parker with honey blond hair, strutting her stuff in fashionable fits in episodes of "Sex and the City," which ran from 1998-2004. That imagery of Parker — as Carrie Bradshaw with her iconic curls — will likely always remain in the minds of fans, but her hair has certainly changed since those original days of filming. Parker now has gray hair blended into her honey blond curls.

Parker spoke to Allure saying, "I can't spend time getting base color every two weeks. Can't do it. Nope. Too much. It became months and months of conversation about how brave I am for having gray hair. I was like, please please applaud someone else's courage on something!" From her perspective, no bravery went into her choice to go gray. It simply came down to the fact that she isn't interested in spending time in a salon chair when she can be handling other tasks. 

Tia Mowry's hair was far from gray during her years filming the hit show "Sister Sister" with her twin, Tamera Mowry. Of course, the sisters were teenagers at the time, and many years have passed since then. Mowry took to Instagram to share an update with her fans in honor of her birthday in 2020. In the shot, she showed off the strands of gray hair swirled into her curls. She added a simple caption that read, "This is Me. 42 [prayer hands emoji]." 

Two years later in 2022, she addressed her hair decision with InStyle, saying, "I was working on a film, and someone on set told me, 'You really need to cover those gray hairs! Girls shouldn't be seen that way.' And I said, 'No. I'm going to keep my gray hair. This is normal, this is what happens. Because at the end of the day, no matter what the trends are or what people tell me about how I should look, I define what beauty is for me." Mowry feels beautiful, and that's all that matters.

Fashionable choices and trendy fits are the language Stacy London speaks. Anyone who needs advice about how to upgrade their style can turn to London for some insight. After all, her years filming "What Not to Wear" count for a lot. What about turning to London for advice on getting older, though? It turns out she's a great person to gain some motivational insight from.

London discussed her gray hair with Cup of Jo, saying, "I've never felt uncomfortable about it. I think it puts me in the same category as Cruella de Vil or Rogue from 'X-Men.' There are actually easy ways I could hide it — I could part my hair a certain way and it wouldn't show. But I would never. It's a part of me." Instead of caving to the pressure to fight for eternal youth, London is happy to live her life without hiding anything. Playfully calling out fictional characters who rock gray hair likely helps the experience feel far more lighthearted.

Whoppi Goldberg went from starring in movies like "Sister Act," "Ghost," and "The Color Purple," to being one of the leading ladies on the hit TV talk show "The View." In earlier roles in her career, her hair was always black and typically dreadlocked. Now, seeing the talented actor and talk show host rocking gray hair gives off a totally different vibe. She portrayed Mother Abigail in the TV adaptation of Stephen King's novel "The Stand," a role for which she sported silvery white faux dreadlocks.

However, she has her own natural grays. In one episode of "The View," she lifted her mostly black locs and revealed a salt-and-pepper undercut, saying, "I don't mind the gray. I push my hair up all the time." She appears to have an optimistic view of aging and the gray hair that comes along with it, saying in an interview with The Times of London, "My stuff's going to sag and fall and I will be fine. My chest is gonna do what it does. I can age the way I age."

If the mental image of Jennifer Aniston with a brunette bob-length haircut is the image stuck in your mind when thinking of this actor, you're not alone. Aniston's hair while she played the role of Rachel Green in episodes of "Friends" became iconic in the beauty industry and beyond. Now that Aniston is older, her hair has started changing as well. Aniston may forever be remembered as Rachel, but that doesn't mean her hair can never change.

Fortunately, these changes aren't something Aniston is actively trying to fight or run away from. She spoke about her gray hair with Glamour, saying, "I think everyone should feel confident in whatever choices they make, including embracing natural color or texture. Hair is a creative way to express yourself, and I love that your mood and energy can change with the change of a hairstyle, cut, or color. Embrace whatever is going to make you happy." Her gentle advice is geared toward anyone grappling with the decision to go gray or not.

Gwyneth Paltrow has been thought of as a blond beauty for the bulk of her career. Her long, golden hair made her one of the most easily identifiable characters from the Marvel franchise as someone in the mix without superpowers. Although Paltrow didn't have gray hair while taking on the role of Iron Man's love interest, Pepper Potts, her hair has started going gray since. 

She told People, "Of course I have wrinkles [and] gray hair. But I genuinely love it. This is who I am. I have been through incredible ups and downs and I feel so blessed that I have the wrinkles to tell the story" (via ABC News). Along with openly embracing her gray hair, Paltrow is also perfectly fine with wrinkles forming on her skin. The pressure of trying to stay young forever isn't something that impacts Paltrow, who seems confident about the entire process of aging.