It's something that women in Hollywood are never allowed to do (unless it's for a role that'll net them an Oscar: see Charlize Theron in Monster), and that's ugly-up in public.
But for the current crop oftop-of-their-game actors, denying their gorgeous looks and making themselves as unattractive as possible, whether it's with their excess facial hair or unkempt clothes, is the on-trend thing to do.
From Brad's grey ratty facial hair - about which Angelina said, "I love Brad in every state" - to Tom Hardy's recent face and physique-fail and father-to-be Tom Sturridge's horrible bushy beard, we delve into why these guys fervently declare war on their looks…
Tom Hardy, 34
The British star of Inception has come across of late as a pretty complicated chap - a complexity that appears to have spilled over into how he treats his looks. And thanks to two back-to-back movies that required him to beef up beyond the size of which fans have seen him before - as a Mixed Martial Arts fighter in Warrior and hulking villain, Bane, in The Dark Knight Rises - Hardy recently denied his good looks further with a bushy beard. And it seems that the actor has an uncomfortable relationship with his looks, appearing infuriated when photos of him winning a UK modelling contest were shown on Jonathan Ross's UK talkshow in February, with Ross telling the audience, "He is genuinely ****** off with me" after Tom quit the stage.
"Tom really wasn't happy about the footage being shown and said he looked like a total idiot," spilled a source.
Ben Affleck, 39
The actor-turned-director is known for being a lot more relaxed about his appearance these days, after years of being preppy and clean-shaven both on and off screen. But Ben's recent beard was all for his new role in upcoming movie Argo, about the 1979-1981 Iranian hostage crisis, in which he stars and also directs. And the actor has long drawn praise from his co-stars for his pretty looks, with Charlize Theron gushing over his "beautiful skin", and Kate Hudson admitting she loves "the way his eyes smile." But The Town star says he has never considered himself handsome, insisting, "I never thought of myself as good-looking. Nobody said, ‘This kid's so good-looking, we've got to make him the lead.'"
Robert Pattinson, 25
"Byronic, smouldering, perfect," was how Elle magazine once described Robert's looks, and ever since he hit the big time as Edward Cullen in 2008, the ill-at-ease-with-fame British actor has long been trying to escape the constraints of his big-haired alter-ego.
And the scruffy public persona and excess facial hair Rob adopts between movies, appear to go some way to the actor destroying the Cullen heartthrob legacy that threatened to destroy his life.
"I never got the ‘brooding' thing," he admits of his looks. "I've had about enough of that." Adding, "When you see your face everywhere all the time you have the fear of over-saturation." But the answer to his beardiness could be down to Rob's own relationship with his looks, which he's always seen as being on the feminine side, revealing, "I always looked like a girl up until a few years ago."
Brad Pitt, 48
The actor has long been candid about the typecasting he felt he suffered after he landed his big break as the roguish cowboy, JD, in 1991's Thelma And Louise. And it was apparent that Brad enjoyed a love/hate relationship with his looks in the years following the iconic movie, uglying-up to play the psychotic Early in 1993's Kalifornia, uber-stoner Floyd in True Romance that same year and the insane Jeffrey in 1995's Twelve Monkeys.
"When I look in the mirror, what I see is pretty banal," the star has admitted in the past. Adding of his decision to grow his horrible beard, "It's boredom. No other reason than that."
Shia LaBeouf, 25
Occupying one of the most enviable positions for young actors in Hollywood - being the go-to guy for both ‘serious' and blockbuster roles - badboy Shia has always boasted looks that go beyond pretty boy, into the realms of interesting. But the Disturbia star appears to want to eradicate any resemblance to the fresh-faced kid who wowed fans in the likes of I, Robot and the first Transformers movie.
"Shia sees himself as set apart from the current crop of pretty boys like Robert Pattinson and Zac Efron," insisted an LA source. "His looks are very low on his list of priorities. Whereas a lot of actors make themselves look unattractive for attention, Shia genuinely doesn't care." And it's a laissez-faire attitude to his looks that have long been reflected in the California native's approach to Hollywood, which has seen him famously blurt out bizarre declarations such as, "Probably the sexiest woman I know is my mother… If I could meet my mother and marry her, I would." But, Shia's latest assault on his looks probably comes from his fervent anti-celebrity stance, revealing, "The way Steven [Spielberg] described [fame] to me was, ‘When Tom Cruise walks outside his house, he doesn't pick his nose. From the minute he leaves his door to the minute he comes back home, he doesn't pick his nose.' Now that's a certain way to live your life that I have no ambitions toward."
Tom Sturridge, 26
His looks would certainly have been a factor in lover-of-pretty-boys Sienna Miller picking him to be the father of her baby. And bestie-of-Robert-Pattinson, Tom, has long been the cheekboned boy of choice for producers looking to cast the parts that require a sensitive, poetic-looking soul. But after a spell of starring in movies that barely registered at the box office, including the Rachel Bilson-starring Waiting For Forever and last year's sunk-without-a-trace Junkhearts, it appeared that Tom wanted to show a more ‘serious' side to his acting chops - and grew that hideous beard.
"Even dressed scruffily in jeans, a check shirt and black hoodie… Sturridge is arrestingly handsome, with piercing blue eyes, ivory skin, a chiselled jaw and a mop of thick dark hair that appears not to have seen a hairbrush for months," gushed one interviewer of the pin-up boy looks that seem to annoy Tom.
And it appears that the beard has managed to play a part in landing him his biggest role to date - that of Carl in The Boat That Rocked - after he turned up to the audition wearing it. "We probably saw 70 people for this part over about two months so it was a big relief when we met Tom," insisted director, Richard Curtis. "He's handsome, but also quirky and charming."
