Plastic surgery, Botox, and various other beauty treatments are part of the package of being a celebrity. For actors, especially, where youth is prized above all else, it's easy to see how some might cave to the pressure.
However, remaining ageless and looking #NoFilter perfect can come at a cost.
In a viral Reddit post on the r/Letterboxd subreddit, user u/SerpentesEye claimed that these "ageless actors" get in the way of immersing yourself in what should be absolute cinema.
Redditor calls out "'ageless actors'
To illustrate their point, they shared a side-by-side comparison of Ryan Gosling in Hail Mary and Matthew McConaughey in Interstellar.
"Both were age 43 when filmed," they explained. "Although both have aged well, the left [Gosling] feels so manicured and Disneyfied."
"We have reached a point where huge A-listers are using so much Botox and filler or getting digital beauty work in post that they have stopped looking like human beings and started looking like polished CAD models," they wrote. "I do not want to sound like a hater, but it is actively making movies worse for me."
"Acting is literally all in the face, and the loss of micro expressions is a huge deal. When a lead’s forehead is frozen, and their cheeks do not move when they cry, the emotional stakes just vanish. You can see them trying to convey grief or terror, but the anatomy isn't participating."
They then went on to complain about how "modern" faces ruin the authenticity of period dramas, and how 60-year-old actors are playing 40-year-old actors' parents, "but they look like they are the same age because the older actor has been airbrushed into oblivion."
They continued: "I look back at guys like Philip Seymour Hoffman or Gene Hackman who actually looked like they had lived a life, and it added so much texture to their characters. Now it feels like everyone is terrified of a single wrinkle. I am not saying people shouldn't do what they want with their bodies, but when the cosmetic work becomes a distraction in a serious drama, it is a problem."
What do other users think?
Many appeared to agree with u/SerpentesEye.
"Veneers and when they've obviously had work done bothers me," one wrote. "I can't take Bradley Cooper seriously anymore. Emily Blunt and Nicole Kidman looked out of place in Oppenheimer and The Northern. I suppose it worked for Gosling in Barbie, but it's going to bother me in Project Hail Mary for sure."
"Don Cheedle has been 40 for at least 30 years," a second quipped, while a third, returning to the teeth conversation, admitted: "One of the things I liked about Marty Supreme was he had grey/yellow teeth."
"And the acne scars," a further commenter said in response.
However, not all Redditors were convinced it was a problem.
"I think both of these cats look their age, honestly. I see what you're getting at, but these examples are kinda off," a fourth said.
And a fifth noted: "Philip Seymour Hoffman died of a drug overdose, man. He didn’t look 'his age'; he looked older than his age. Ryan Gosling has probably had work done. I’m not saying he hasn’t, but he doesn’t look a lot younger than 43. These are also movie stills with makeup and different lighting (McConaughey also had to look run down and tired in Interstellar, so makeup made that happen)."
While a sixth quipped: "I’m mad that I’m not as hot as Ryan Gosling, too, man, but this is a made-up problem. Also, you literally picked a photo with forehead wrinkles and crows' feet."
Ultimately, while this debate isn't dying down anytime soon, one thing is clear: no one can bash Ryan Gosling and get away with it.
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