Beard or Bare? A-List Hunks Who Might Look Better Without Facial Hair

After Ben Affleck got raves for losing his facial hair, Life & Style takes a look at what other celebrities might look better less hirsute!

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Ben Affleck

The 51-year-old recently attended his son Samuel’s basketball game minus his salt-and-pepper beard, leading some fans to agree that the Oscar winner had, well, shaved years off his appearance. “Looks younger, cleaner and handsomer,” wrote one commenter. Ben knows what it’s like to feel old. Last year, he joked about life with his ageless wife, Jennifer Lopez: “She works out. I work out too but I don’t magically appear to be 20 years old … with perfect skin and the whole thing.”

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Keanu Reeves

Asked about his facial hair, the 59-year-old demurred in one interview, “I’m afraid I can’t answer that question until I speak to my people,” the John Wick actor quipped. Still, entire forums are dedicated to the patchy look, with headlines like “Keanu and his ‘low density’ beard give guys hope”!

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Hugh Jackman

The Aussie sported a bushy beard during a recent sweat session. While his current facial hair is au natural, the 55-year-old admitted that he’s gotten some help with the chin hairs for movie roles. “There’s some extensions in there,” he revealed about his Les Miserables look, while others required much “manscaping,” he said. As for his most famous Wolverine mutton chops, he joked, “The worst kind of facial hair to walk around in.”

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George Clooney

Back at the height of the pandemic in 2020, a lot of guys put their razors down, growing what Esquire called a “Clooney beard,” describing it as “the sort you’d grow when you won’t see anyone for a while, cultivated through sheer laziness, or, probably, just for something to do.” To be fair, the 62-year-old trimmed the fur after filming The Midnight Sun for a more dapper look. (Realizing his beard was coming off in one piece, the prankster wrapped it in plastic and gifted it to the film’s hair and makeup designer, who joked, “It’s my pension plan. I’m going to sell it on eBay, I think.”)

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Brad Pitt

For a few years now, the 60-year-old has been rocking the stubble. It’s been suggested that the Bullet Train actor grows out the scruff to tamp down his dazzling good looks and be taken more seriously. Comparing him with legends such as Paul Newman and Robert Redford, director Quentin Tarantino gushed, “It’s just a different breed of man. And frankly, I don’t think you can describe exactly what that is because it’s like describing starshine.”