Highlights
- Celebrities often change their hair color for roles or personal preference, but their natural hair colors can be surprising.
- Sophie Turner, Ariana Grande, and Emma Stone are just a few celebrities whose natural hair colors differ from their iconic looks.
- Jennifer Aniston, Lady Gaga, and Taylor Swift also have natural hair colors that may surprise their fans.
It is not uncommon for celebrities to change their looks. Many times, it is not dramatic but when it is, the photos of the new look bring publications running. While the choice of fashion can make critics take note for red carpet looks, it is a debut of hair color that grabs the attention of all.
While some celebrities will go back to their original looks after their film or photoshoot has ended, others may choose to keep their new look because it better suits their coloring. If that look is kept for a long time, many forget just what the original hair color was. As such, it can be shocking to learn what the hair color was when celebrities were born.
Here 15 celebrities and their natural hair colors that not many are aware of!
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15 Sophie Turner
Original Hair Color: Blonde
- Hair color most often seen with: red
Game of Thrones' Sophie Turner came onto the scene sporting bright red locks that really gave her a name for herself. It was a hair color she was able to pull off quite well.
As it turns out Turner actually is a natural blonde and had to dye her hair red for her role as Sansa Stark on Game of Thrones. Either way, it is safe to say that she can definitely pull off any hair color and really make it her own!
14 Ariana Grande
Original Hair Color: Dark Brown
- Hair color most often seen with: dark blonde
Ariana Grande is best known for her iconic high ponytail with extremely dark blonde locks. While she has opted for red or even blonde over the years, Grande is most often seen with the darker blonde to light brown hue.
It turns out that Grande was born with gorgeous dark brown hair, a look she had when first stepped out onto the fame scene!
13 Emma Stone
Original Hair Color: Blonde
- Hair color most often seen with: red
When hearing that Emma Stone is not actually a natural redhead, it can quickly turn some heads. This is because the color red that Stone has chosen for herself over the years is extremely complimentary to her complexion.
Stone does tend to often change up her hair color between red, blonde, and brunette shades but the actress has admitted to Vogue UK that she actually prefers red over her natural hair color.
12 Sofia Vergara
Original Hair Color: Dark Blonde
- Hair color most often seen with: dark brown
Sofia Vergara stole hearts all over the world with her role as the hilarious Latina mother and wife, Gloria, on the hit series Modern Family. Vergara is also quite well known for sporting her gorgeous long brunette locks. Surprisingly, it's not her natural hair color.
Vergara was born with dirty blonde locks. She even admitted to US Magazine that she dyed her hair brown in order to land more roles in Hollywood!
11 Kristen Stewart
Original Hair Color: Dark Blonde
- Color most often seen with: dark brown
Kristen Stewart is best known for her role as Bella Swan in The Twilight Saga films and for sporting some seriously gorgeous brunette locks throughout the entire film series. Nowadays she goes for more of an edgy look to perfectly fit her aesthetic.
Stewart's natural hair color is surprisingly a dark blonde that darkened as she got older. Stewart definitely looks surprisingly different with her natural locks.
10 Emilia Clarke
Original Hair Color: Brunette
- Hair color most often seen with: dark brown
Emilia Clarke's role as the white-haired goddess Daenerys Targaryen on HBO's Game of Thrones really caused a huge trend worldwide along with a huge new love for white and long locks!
Although Clarke can effortlessly pull off white locks and shocked people the first time she took the red carpet without her blonde hair, she is actually a natural brunette. The color is quite complimentary for Clarke's skin tone.
9 Jennifer Aniston
Original Hair Color: Dark Brown
- Color most often seen with: mid-blonde
A huge Hollywood star like Jennifer Aniston is known for having some seriously envious locks.
Aniston's hair has been idolized since she starred as Rachel Green in the hit TV series Friends. Over the years, Aniston has become known for her mid-blonde hair. But before her star shined as brightly as it does now, Aniston's hair was much darker given that it is naturally dark brown.
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Original Hair Color: Dark Brown
- Hair color most often seen with: blonde
Since Lady Gaga is often seen sporting blonde or almost white hair along with all of her different color wigs, it can be tough to imagine what her true hair color really is.
But it turns out that Lady Gaga is actually a natural brunette. She only started changing her hair color after her career really took off in order to make herself stand out. And that she did!
7 Mandy Moore
Original Hair Color: Blonde
- Hair color most often seen with: dark brown
Although Mandy Moore is best known for her dark brown locks that she has had for decades and has shown off in countless movies and TV shows, shockingly, that is not her real hair color!
When Moore started her music career in 1999 along with her acting career starring in the hit film The Princess Diaries, she kept her natural and gorgeous blonde locks intact. It kept her looking young and with a certain innocence that just suited her. These days, however, the dark brown color seems to suit Moore the best.
6 Laura Prepon
Original Hair Color: Red
- Hair color most often seen with: black
Nowadays, Laura Prepon shows off some intense black locks, similar to that of her character on Netflix's Orange Is the New Black, which she starred in from 2013 to 2019. But Prepon actually only dyed her hair that color for the role of the edgy Alex Vause. These days she just enjoys the color!
Prepon's natural bright red hair color is red. The same color she had when starring on the hit series That 70s Show. Not only was it one of the most popular roles that Prepon has had, That 70s Show also caused a huge love for redheads.
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Original Hair Color: Blonde
- Hair color most often seen with: dark brown
Katy Perry's has been just about every color under the rainbow during her career. From blonde to dark brown, black, purple, pink, and everything in between. As such, it can be hard to determine these days just what Perry's original hair color is.
Perry's real hair color is blonde. While many pay the big bucks to have the color that Perry comes by naturally, she is not one to keep her natural shade for long. These days, Perry has returned to the brunette color that has become her signature look. How long this will last though is anyone's guess.
4 Scarlett Johansson
Original Hair Color: Chesnut Brown
- Color most often seen with: blonde
Scarlett Johansson has never been one to shy away from a hairstyle or hair color for a film role. Because of this, she has had red hair, been a brunette, and blonde. All of the colors look great on the Black Widow star, so it can be hard to determine just which one she was born with.
As it turns out, Johansson is actually a chestnut brown color. While Johansson opts for a blonder color when not working, her true hue is several shades darker.
3 Britney Spears
Original Hair Color: Black
- Hair color most often seen with: blonde
Britney Spears was known for years for her long blonde locks. However, she has never been one to be afraid of experimenting with her hair color, just like she did when she went dark brown in 2008.
What is interesting is that while many fans think that Spears' real hair color is a light brown color, her real hair color is black. This was revealed in Spears' memoir, The Woman In Me, when she claimed that her real hair color was black.
"I'm not offended by all the dumb blonde jokes because I know I'm not dumb," Spears explained. "And I also know that I'm not blonde. My real hair color is black."
This revelation came as a shock to fans who knew that Spears' hair was not blonde but never expected it to be black.
2 Taylor Swift
Original Hair Color: Dark Blonde
- Hair color most often seen with: mid-blonde
Taylor Swift likes to experiment with different colors of blonde. From platinum to the dark blonde color Swift has been sporting in 2023, she has been every hue of the golden tone there is.
Swift is actually a natural-born blonde. While the platinum and lighter color was something Swift kept for a time, it is the dark blonde color that is Swift's natural color.
1 Jennifer Lopez
Original Hair Color: Dark Brown
- Hair color most often seen with: golden brown
The hair color that most people associate with Jennifer Lopez is a golden brown or slightly lighter. And since this has been her trademark color for over 20 years, it would make sense to believe that this is close to Lopez's natural color.
As it turns out, Lopez is actually a dark brown color that could look nearly black in some lights. But because she has not been that color since she was in her late twenties to early thirties, many people even forget that Lopez ever had hair that color.
Source: The Woman In Me, Vogue UK, US Magazine