We've seen a growing trend of silver and gray hair, particularly during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. For actors and celebrities who want to embrace their natural color, it can often be a powerful statement against age-ism in their profession. Embracing their gray can range from letting a few strands of natural silver shine through to full heads of gray hair. Some celebrities have "gone gray" and never looked back way before it was cool (think: Jamie Lee Curtis, Judi Dench, and others). But these days, more and more people have been jumping on the bandwagon—even if it's just for a single event before they start dying their hair again.
Whether you want some tips on how to grow your natural hair color out, or you just want to see the multitude of ways gray hair can be styled, here are 32 times celebrities went gray and absolutely nailed it.
Allison Janney
Since 2021, Allison Janney has on and off embraced her gray hair, from silvery strands (above) to a full head of gray hair. "I was in Ohio for most of 2020," she told Ellen DeGeneres at the time. "A big, healthy few inches of gray roots came in, and I just decided I wanted to be free from hair color and hair extensions."
Christie Brinkley
Christie Brinkley has spoken about her gray roots with fondness. "The second you see gray hair it raises the question, just like when you cut bangs...to keep or not to keep? Thank goodness both are just a personal preference or a fun change of pace. My son thinks it looks cool, but I think I may want to wait til it’s more like the silver whitecaps than the gray wave itself!" We have also seen her with gray blending (using gray hair as highlights with more colorful strands throughout).
Tracee Ellis Ross
Tracee Ellis Ross doesn't often channel gray hair on the red carpet (here, we see just the faintest silver at her roots) but on social media she has addressed it, explaining that she's been going gray for years now. In 2016, she showed off her roots and explained, “I’m not afraid of my age!”
Kate Moss
Kate Moss has gone with silver hair before—both as a way to channel the color contrasting trend (colorful, thick highlights that are a different shade than your natural color) and, as we see here, hairdos where a touch of her natural roots show through.
Bonnie Raitt
Bonnie Raitt's white streak of hair is a big part of her look. She's explained it appeared in her 20s—she has poliosis, an absence of melanin in certain hair strands. She dyes her hair around the streak to make it stand out more—and it totally works for her.
Stacy London
Much like Bonnie Raitt's streak of white hair, Stacy London's white hair came in early and has become an important part of the stylist's signature look. I also love the silver flecked hair behind it—it's a brilliant contrast to the rest of her jet black hair.
Queen Letizia
When Queen Letizia first started showing off some gray streaks in her hair, it led to some disparaging (and quite gendered—her husband has gone completely gray!) commentary on social media. Undeterred, Letizia has continued to wear her hair with some natural gray, and looks stunning. Look at that hair flip!
Salma Hayek
In February 2024 on Instagram, Hayek shared several hacks of how she hides her gray hairs: L’Oréal Professionnel Hair Touch Up when working with a stylist, and mascara when she's doing her own hair (ha!). But she's also just embraced the natural streaks of silver in her black hair, to great effect.
Katie Holmes
This photo, from 2023, shows how Katie Holmes started to expertly blend her grays in with her brown hair (since the silver carries through to the end of the strand, she's most likely working with a stylist to achieve the right balance of gray blending). In 2024, she showed up to an event with visibly more grays, so she's leaning in—which we love.
Jennifer Aniston
Jennifer Aniston has been open about graying since 2009, telling Ellen Degeneres, "I found a really long grey hair, and it kind of flipped me out...It’s not my first, but it’s the fact that it was so long. I was like, ‘Oh that’s been there. How many others are there, and what does that mean?'" To Glamour in 2022, she explained, “You do you! If you want to go gray, go for it...If you want to keep coloring your hair, that’s great too...I think everyone should feel confident in whatever choices they make, including embracing natural color or texture."
Tia Mowry
In a 2020 Instagram post, Tia Mowry shared her natural short, curly hair that was fully gray. "This is me. 42," she captioned the photo. And in this 2022 photo, she's obvious choosing not to dye her natural gray hair even when her extensions are blue and black. Stunning!
Gwyneth Paltrow
While Gwyneth Paltrow employs various hairstyles on red carpets and at events, she will sometimes let her natural gray hair shine through—like in this photo at the 2020 Golden Globes. She has told interviewers that she loves herself as she naturally ages, including those changing strands.
Sarah Jessica Parker
This is a still from Sarah Jessica Parker filming And Just Like That. To me, it's impressive that she would choose to give her character's iconic hair some gray. In a 2022 interview with Allure, when told she had "herringbone highlights" (highlights woven in and around natural gray hair), she replied, "I can't spend time getting base color every two weeks. Can't do it. Nope. Too much." She added, in reference to a viral photo of her with gray hair, "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!"
Jodie Foster
Now this is great gray blending! Jodie Foster has face-framing strands of silver in the front, and then different shades of gray are "highlighted" throughout. This is, by the way, a great way to go fully gray (in other words, this cut and color has phenomenal grow-out potential).
Whoopi Goldberg
Whoopi Goldberg is giving us inspiration: Just because your hair is going gray, that doesn't mean you have to abandon your trademark style (in her case, her locs). Her natural gray hair appears at the scalp and at the top of her locs; you can also see some silver strands farther down, too.
Kelly Hu
According to Instagram, Kelly Hu wears her grays "like a badge of honor," and spent a full year growing them out. Per the beauty website Byrdie, growing out your grays and blending, not covering, them (while working with a good stylist on the right hair dye formula) is a great way to achieve this.
Blythe Danner
If you're familiar with the "blue rinse," which was popular for decades and reduced or removed the yellow tints in natural gray hair, it was the gold standard (pun intended) for fashionable gray hair. Fortunately, though, we've embraced that yellow-gray hair like Blythe Danner's can look just as good—and, frankly, more natural. Also, this works well with some very light yellow hair dye mixed in, if you want a blend.
Rita Moreno
Proof that sometimes it's less about the hair color and more about the haircut, Rita Moreno looks youthful and energetic here (and also very much herself). This spiky layered cut is a pretty easy one to replicate and works with a bunch of face shapes.
Diane Keaton
Diane Keaton has never been afraid to walk to the beat of her own drum—in fashion, beauty, and life. At certain points, she has gone with stylized salt and pepper hair (dark and light hues next to each other), but this all-over gray is much more low-key.
Nichelle Nichols
The late Star Trek star (who passed away in 2022) looks so spectacular here that it's impossible to omit from this list. Again, there's some yellow-gray tint here along with pure white, and the added volume to give dimension is very in keeping with Nichols' trademark look.
Judi Dench
One of the most iconic gray-haired actors of our generation, Dame Judi Dench fully embraced her natural hair color years—decades!—before it was cool. The color made her look smart and wise (especially as James Bond's boss in various films), and this fully white version is even more striking.
Alexandra Grant (With Bonus Keanu)
Pro tip: Go gray alongside your partner! Alexandra Grant was first linked with Keanu Reeves in 2011; her gray hair has been an integral part of her aesthetic for a long time. “I went gray prematurely in my early 20s...and dyed my hair every color along the way until I couldn’t tolerate the toxicity of the dyes any more,” she wrote on Instagram in 2019.
Jane Fonda
Jane Fonda has embraced all manner of haircuts and colors (often, as she freely admits, with the assistance of wigs). But when she embraces the gray, it's striking and fun. She first went gray at the 2020 Oscars, with her stylist explaining at the time, “Her goal color was a silver icy blonde to surprise everyone.”
Kristen McMenamy
Model Kristen McMenamy had a brilliant take on going gray: "The reason I went grey was that I didn’t think I’d ever work again, and I wanted to make my life simple. I didn’t want to keep running back to the salon to get my roots done. I didn’t expect it to look great; it was an accident. But now I want to help people realize you can be over 50 and still be cool. You don’t have to conform, you don’t have to cut your hair. You’re still yourself." Yes!
Helen Mirren
Dame Helen Mirren is the gold standard for going gray and having a little fun with it (she's rocked some very colorful hair colors recently!). She's also showing how gray hair with a touch of "brassiness" (yellow) can look awesome. Here, her hair is giving an ombre effect from white to light yellow.
Meryl Streep
While Meryl Streep's (gorgeous) turn as Miranda Priestly in The Devil Wears Prada is probably our biggest data point that she looks good with gray hair, Streep has also embraced the natural aging process off-screen, too. May we all look this great as we get older!
Elizabeth McGovern
It might initially look shocking: Downton Abbey's Cora Crowley with a full head of gray hair. But I really love the dimension to it, and the range from deep gray to light silver. In an interview, she explained, “I can’t tell you how many times I’m interviewed, and the first question is about plastic surgery, or ‘How do you feel about making a statement with your grey hair?’ It’s like, ‘Would you ask a guy any of these questions? No!’ No, there are other things. Life is full of other things.”
Jamie Lee Curtis
One of our finest, most legendary natural gray-haired stars is Jamie Lee Curtis. She started going gray in her 30s and was absolutely over coloring it by 2000 (which tracks with her fierce, fabulous personality). This short style (at the 2024 Oscars) shows off the various hues in her hair, from deep gray to white.
Glenn Close
In much the same way, Glenn Close (at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in 2024) rocks a pixie that's shorter on the sides and voluminous on top. It's such a sharp cut, regardless of hair color, but particularly when you want to show off those grays.
Hilarie Burton
The One Tree Hill actor told The View in 2023 that she went gray early (aka, well before she hit middle age). She called it "a relief" to be able to let her natural hair grow out. Her long, voluminous locks—including the ombre yellow ends—look awesome in this photo.
Emma Thompson
Emma Thompson's move to embrace her natural hair in the 2020s has been met with massive approval: It suits her buoyant personality, and this full curly cut feels youthful and vibrant. There's a variety in hues, from dark to light, and she accessorizes perfectly with cool earrings.
Andie MacDowell
Comparing herself to George Clooney, Andie MacDowell said she felt incredible finally embracing her (gorgeous) gray hair. "I’ve been saying for a while now it was time for me, personally, to make that transition because I felt like it was appropriate for my personality and just who I am...once I did it, it was just so clear to me that my instincts were right because I’ve never felt more powerful."
