Our appearance doesn’t always meet generally accepted standards of beauty. At the same time, every woman has a choice: try to make her appearance fit the stereotypes, or love herself and conquer everyone with her charm and charisma.
Personal Gain suggests you take a look at this list of successful actresses who have proved beyond doubt that a perfect appearance isn’t the thing that makes a woman beautiful – beauty lies in her inner sense of harmony.
Meryl Streep
Meryl Streep says openly: ‘My appearance is not the card up my sleeve.’ However, the actress is certainly a true example of elegance, otherwise The Devil Wears Prada wouldn’t have been such a crazy success. At the same time, during the audition for King Kong the producer turned Meryl down because of her appearance. This incident could hardly hurt the actress: one can only envy her self-confidence. Maybe it’s just her innate self-respect, or maybe it’s her husband, whose eyes fill up with love and admiration when he looks at his wife.
Barbra Streisand
‘Everyone is beautiful,’ says Barbra with the benefit of hindsight. ‘We only need to believe in it sincerely, and then others will believe.’ The classmates who teased Barbra for having slightly squinting eyes and a huge nose would probably never have thought that she would become a global sex symbol. The famous actress and singer had enough chances to go under the knife and correct the drawbacks in her appearance, but she refused. ‘Being perfect is boring,’ says 72-years-old Barbra Streisand. ‘That’s why you should cherish your defects – they make you special.’
Winona Ryder
At school Winona was mistaken for a boy, and during auditions she was openly advised not to become an actress, because she ‘wasn’t attractive.’ How wrong they were…Winona turned from the supposedly ugly girl into a great actress, having broken a lot of men’s hearts. Even Johnny Depp fell under her spell.
Anne Hathaway
Anne Hathaway’s debut in The Princess Diaries accurately depicts her life: from a shy teenager with an ungainly body and a bunch of other drawbacks, her character turns into a real princess. Mind you, her appearance hardly even changed in the movie – but when she changed her attitude to herself, she blossomed. The same thing happened to the actress in real life: when she realized and accepted her drawbacks, she lost her destructive complexes.
Jennifer Lawrence
The Oscar-winning actress has been criticized throughout her life for being too curvy. But she doesn’t give way to the paparazzi’s provocations, though they continue to publish pictures of her in a bikini with ambiguous comments. This comment sums her attitude up perfectly: ‘It’s better to look a little curvy in pictures and look like human, than to look chic on the screen but resemble a skeleton in real life.’
Uma Thurman
Uma Thurman has never considered herself beautiful: too tall, with angular movements and a huge shoe size (11). But this didn’t prevent her from becoming Quentin Tarantino’s muse, and one of the most successful actresses in Hollywood. What people used to call ‘non-standard traits,’ became her highlights. ‘Everyone looks the same. I don’t fit conventional standards, and that’s why I’m beautiful,’ says Uma.
Sarah Jessica Parker
It’s impossible to overstate Sarah Jessica Parker’s influence on several generations: the actress’ style has become a guide for lots of girls and women around the world. It’s hard to imagine anyone else playing the legendary Carrie Bradshaw. And she looks so natural as a glamorous writer! It’s interesting that Sarah changed her destiny by herself. She could have ended up playing ugly girls getting into awkward situations for her whole life, as it was at the beginning of her career. But she didn’t give up, and achieved recognition. ‘Don’t try to please everyone’, the actress says, ‘because it’s impossible.’
Renée Zellweger
Renee became well-known to a substantial female audience having played the role of Bridget Jones, who was constantly trying to lose weight. She’s truly amazing when you think about it: she played a shy, plump woman, who was constantly finding herself in awkward situations, and became the idol of millions. Zellweger can play either a plain woman or a glamor girl without losing her charm.
Helena Bonham Carter
In her youth, Helena hated her appearance, but then the actress understood the most important thing. It’s not your appearance that matters, but the way you present yourself to people. Her success is astonishing and self-evident: Helena has the reputation of a great actress, and a style that cannot be confused with any other. All of it has allowed her to play the most unexpected and successful roles.
Keira Knightley
Keira Knightley doesn’t worry when talking about her drawbacks, even when malicious tongues like to discuss her thinness, accusing her of anorexia. Keira has no complexes about it. On the other hand, she tries to inform the public about her position. ‘For me, it’s important that everyone knows’, said Knightley in an interview, ‘that appearance doesn’t really matter to me.’
