'90s Actresses Who Look Absolutely Nothing Like They Used To

Whether they were making headlines on the silver screen or entertaining us weekly on television, there are a plethora of '90s beauties who have continued to turn heads. Many of the most recognizable actresses from that decade were known for their stunning looks and caused quite a commotion in the press when they would step onto the red carpet in the latest fashions. As the years progressed, many of those same actors have embraced a new era of their beauty. Some have chosen to enhance their features with plastic surgery, while others have faced trials and tribulations that have taken precedence. This has left a good portion of those performers virtually unrecognizable compared to the era that brought them into the spotlight.

With that said, not all actresses have made the move toward manmade solutions for aging — some have chosen to embrace nature and the different sides of beauty that it presents. "My face is changing, and I love that my face is changing and aging," Charlize Theron once told Allure, denying rumors of a facelift. "I'm like, 'B****, I'm just aging!" she later added. "It doesn't mean I got bad plastic surgery. This is just what happens.'"

We've been worried about Amanda Bynes for a while, but in the '90s, she was a precocious child star who made her way onto our TV screens in the Nickelodeon series "All That." After starring in her own comedy series, "The Amanda Show," and headlining rom-coms like "What A Girl Wants" and "She's The Man," Bynes surprisingly announced her retirement from acting in 2010. "Being an actress isn't as fun as it may seem," she posted to X (formerly Twitter) at the time (via Forbes). "If I don't love something anymore, I stop doing it."

Over the next few years, Bynes exhibited a number of concerning behaviors. Between 2012 and 2013, she had several run-ins with the law and mental health crises that caused her parents to file for a conservatorship in 2013. During the conservatorship, Bynes became notorious for posting wild statements on social media. From making abuse accusations against her father to showcasing her new face tattoo, Bynes took her followers and fans on a rollercoaster ride of emotions online. Despite the number of concerning behaviors she has exhibited, including instances of drug abuse, she did express remorse for her actions during a point of sobriety in 2018. "My advice to anyone who is struggling with substance abuse would be to be really careful because drugs can really take a hold of your life," she once expressed to Paper.

After years of being mocked and ridiculed for her career path, Pamela Anderson has finally been vindicated — partially of her own doing. The former "Baywatch" star, then known best for her voluptuous figure as much as her scandalously public sex life, was the blonde bombshell that took over every tabloid. The timeline of Pamela Anderson's relationships became more recognizable than her acting career, as forays with rocker Tommy Lee and country rap personality Kid Rock made headlines in all the wrong ways. To make matters worse, those headlines were causing her to feel poorly about her own image. "I look back at pictures of myself when I was in this awful relationship, and I looked 20 years older," she admitted to W Magazine in 2016. "I know it sounds like a cliché, but happiness has a lot to do with beauty."

After years of being red carpet ready and dressed in designer head-to-toe, she chose to embrace a more natural look to mirror the peace she was seeking. She first debuted her new look at Paris Fashion Week in 2023 and has been proudly showing off her fresh face (and time-saving routine) ever since. "It's fun when you're new in the business and you get all this attention," she explained on "Live with Kelly and Mark" (via People). "But I feel like I've done that and I kind of just wanted to simplify and keep it low key."

Another blonde bombshell (and former flame of Tommy Lee's), Heather Locklear is also well known for her roles on classic '90s shows including "Melrose Place" and "Spin City." The once household name was a fixture on TV beginning in the 1980s, and by the time the new millennium was approaching, it was hard to avoid a tabloid with Locklear's name attached. Her long blonde hair and classic beauty endeared her to millions. She's also had her fair share of high-profile relationships (and splits) over the years, but the tragic real-life story of Locklear includes several traumatic incidents involving her health.

In the late 2000s, the star began experiencing a number of setbacks both with the law and with her sobriety. She has been arrested for driving under the influence, been in and out of both inpatient and outpatient rehab several times, and added several more high-profile engagements (and splits) to her relationship roster. Some have speculated she also began experimenting with facial work, including fillers and plastic surgery, to keep herself looking young. But despite the troubles she's faced and the changes to her look, Locklear maintains that she's happy just as she is. "I've always loved getting older because it means I'm alive," she told People in 2021. "I'm so grateful. I don't really give a hoot."

Known for her roles in iconic films like "Thelma & Louise" and "A League of Their Own," the statuesque Geena Davis has been a stunner for decades. After winning her first Academy Award for "The Accidental Tourist" in 1989, the actress' career skyrocketed through film and television alike. But even the most glamorous and talented of stars can feel belittled by beauty, something that Davis herself has said she struggles with. "I can be beautiful, where I actually accept it, when I'm all dressed up, makeup and hair and everything," she once admitted to The Times. "Then I think, 'Oh yeah, I'm not so bad'. But it's a struggle. It's [always been] a struggle."

As she has gotten older, Davis has channeled that struggle into something more encompassing. After revealing the shameful reason she was denied a huge role — she was too old for her male co-star, who was older than her — she has become a passionate advocate for gender equality in the film industry. She even created the Geena Davis Institute, a research initiative dedicated to championing equal representation in media to help combat ageism and gender disparity in Hollywood. But even champions of women's rights aren't immune to a bit of beauty regimen testing. While the "Tootsie" star claims she doesn't have a standard beauty routine, she has admitted to the occasional effort to introduce new products into the mix. "I'll try it on half of my face and then ask people if they can tell any difference," Davis shared with AARP. "Usually it's no, so I don't do that kind of stuff."

Star of "American Pie" and "Josie and the Pussycats," Tara Reid was one of Hollywood's hottest young actresses in the '90s. Her platinum blonde hair and always on-trend fashion choices (hello, low-rise jeans!) made her an "it girl" for years. But just as her star was rising, the tragic details of Reid's life started to show themselves and changed the trajectory of her career.

In the mid-2000s, the known party girl admitted that she had experienced several botched plastic surgery procedures, including breast augmentation and stomach liposuction. These not only negatively impacted her self-image but also, according to Reid, her career." My stomach became the most ripply, bulgy thing," she told Us Weekly in 2006, adding that she "couldn't wear a bikini" and "lost a lot of work." While she underwent more surgery to correct the issues, she continued to face online ridicule. She was also accused of having an eating disorder, while others expressed concern for her health when she appeared in interviews slurring her words. 

Despite the rumors, Reid continued to focus on her work both on screen and in her personal life. She found success in the "Sharknado" film series and completed rehab treatment in 2008. In spite of all that she has endured, Reid tries to embrace a positive outlook. "I am in great spirits and health and I look forward to my future projects and what's in store for me next," she shared in a 2018 statement to Australia's "Today Extra" (via People).

There was a time in the '90s when actress Laura Flynn Boyle was a constant presence in the press. But now that Hollywood won't cast her anymore, we can reflect on how the star's trajectory and looks have changed over the years. The "Twin Peaks" star was a household name in the '90s, thanks in part to her role on the David Lynch series and her well-publicized relationship (and breakup) with Hollywood legend Jack Nicholson. Flynn Boyle's dark brown hair and sultry eyes made her a tabloid target from the beginning, but the starlet says that she tried to keep things in perspective throughout the years. "I never wanted to bow out," she told People in 2024. "Any moment I was feeling down or sorry for myself, I made sure I did not complain."

While she saw success in the early 2000s with roles in "Men in Black II" and "The Practice," the projects she starred in became less than blockbuster level, and eventually, she took a break from acting in 2020 to spend more time with her husband during the pandemic. After a few years, she began to dip her toes back into the acting waters, but she didn't forget the tumultuous time she had in her heyday. "I don't think anyone can imagine what it is like to go through what a lot of women went through in the late '90s, early 2000s," she told People.

Before she retired from acting in 2002, Bridget Fonda was best known for two things: Being part of the famous Fonda family of actors and a series of breakout roles that started with 1990's "The Godfather Part III." The "Singles" star was often seen in public with shining hair and a statuesque figure, and several of her roles in films like "Jackie Brown" showcased her sultry side. But despite what we saw on screen, Fonda was more demure in real life. "I wouldn't say I'm modest, but I'm a really shy person and I have a tendency to want to hide," she admitted to MovieMaker. "I don't like feeling exposed."

By the early 2000s, she had moved on from her award-winning acting career and settled down with film composer Danny Elfman. She has rarely been seen in public since, but paparazzi photos showed that Fonda had gained weight since her last role on screen. By late 2025, she was seen again, having reportedly lost 80 pounds. "Sometimes I feel like I can make myself look the way that I'm happy with, but I get really depressed if I think of the big picture or compare myself to [other] movie stars," Fonda once told the Los Angeles Times, calling it a "weird pressure."

Actress Patricia Richardson played one of the most recognizable TV moms of the '90s on the Tim Allen-led "Home Improvement." After the show ended in 1999, the real-life mom decided to step away from her acting career to focus on her own children. "I loved acting, but I was content to step back and be a mom," she told Modern Mom. "When you're on your deathbed, you're going to remember being a mom, not doing a movie," she later added.

Years later, Richardson's children were all grown, and the actor decided to return to her roots — this time in the theatre. She threw in a few Lifetime movies here and there, but overall, Richardson embraced this new chapter of her career. To go with her fresh start, she let her natural beauty shine. The star's chestnut brown bob became an all-white flowing mane — a byproduct of the pandemic — and she let her wrinkles show on her face. She even reunited with her former TV husband, Allen, on his sitcom "Switching Gears" in 2025. Despite embracing the progression of her looks, Richardson admits that sometimes she feels it doesn't always translate to her professional commitments. "I'm in a weird in-between age where I don't look right," she explained to Modern Mom.

From "Who's the Boss?" to "Melrose Place" to "Charmed," Alyssa Milano was an inescapable force in '90s television. With her dark brown hair and fit physique, she also became a sex symbol of that era's young Hollywood scene. But around the COVID-19 pandemic, Milano began to embrace a more natural era of beauty while still focusing on current trends. She started posting makeup-free selfies to her Instagram, simultaneously acknowledging the fillers, Botox, and microblading she uses for maintenance.

In September 2025, she even decided to get her breast implants removed. "Today I'm releasing those false narratives, the parts of me that were never actually parts of me," she wrote in an emotional Instagram post from her hospital room. "I'm letting go of the body ... that I believed was necessary for me to be attractive; to be loved; to be successful; to be happy." She cited both her past with sexual abuse and the future of her daughter Bella as inspiration for letting go of her implants and embracing her natural shape. "Today I am loved, I am feminine, I am attractive, and I am successful," she continued in the post. "None of that is because of my implants. I will still be all of those things when I wake up and they are gone."

With starring roles in '90s classics like "Point Break" and "A League of Their Own," Lori Petty was a megawatt star in her heyday. Her dark cropped hair, athletic physique, and rough-and-tumble attitude endeared her to millions — even when it may not have best suited her in the audition room or on set. "I always used to tell [casting directors], 'If you want the girl next door, go next door, that's where she lives, cos I'm not her,'" she once told The Guardian. "So it's kind of my fault."

That attitude has remained with her as she has aged into new roles, including her standout performance as Lolly Whitehill on "Orange Is the New Black" in the mid-2010s. To accompany this new era, Petty cropped her hair even shorter and traded her dark locks for bright shocks of neon colors, from white to purple and everything in between. This reflects how Petty approaches this new chapter of her career as an actor, writer, and director: She takes no nonsense and stays true to herself and her values, particularly in a post #MeToo era. "Do I want the world for young actresses now, do I want the moon and the stars for them? Yes," the "Tank Girl" star told the outlet. "And I want them not to be sexually harassed ... I want them not to go through b*******."