Celebs Who Damaged Their Careers With Plastic Surgery

Usually, a makeover is a good thing — a new look often makes a person feel more confident, attractive, or just reinvented. However, makeovers can make some people unrecognizable, and that can pose a problem — especially in Hollywood, where a big part of a celebrity's relevance (and paycheck) stems from having a famous face. Whether that mug is known for its beauty or for its alleged flaws, it's the face that fans know and love. (Seriously, think of how bummed you'd be if Will Smith got his ears pinned, Madonna got her front teeth bonded, or Adrien Brody got a nose job.)

The following celebrities looked a whole lot different after a makeover. Whether you consider the new look subjectively worse or superficially better, one thing is clear: These stars lost some of the character that made them unique, thereby affecting the perception of audiences and agents alike.

Let's take a closer look at the famous faces whose careers suffered major downturns after getting extreme makeovers.

Tara Reid got her big break in "The Big Lebowski," which she parlayed into becoming a late '90s-early 2000s cinema staple, with starring and supporting roles in "American Pie" and its sequels, as well as "Josie and the Pussycats" and "Van Wilder."

Unfortunately for Reid, when she went under the knife in 2004 for breast implants and liposuction, it had a negative impact on her career as well as her self-esteem, leaving her with rippled skin on her abdomen from the lipo and deformed nipples from her breast augmentation. "My stomach became the most ripply, bulgy thing," she told CBS News. "I had a hernia, this huge bump next to my belly button. As a result, I couldn't wear a bikini. I lost a lot of work."

Reid reportedly got her procedures reversed in 2006, but the damage to her career made her "Sharknado"-bound. She told People in 2008, "In my 'American Pie' days, everyone was kissing my butt. I didn't realize how good I had it." She added, "I'm scared about getting surgery ever again. It's like surviving a plane crash and getting on a plane again. [My stomach scars] are my battle wounds; boom, that's it."

Mickey Rourke took a respite from acting in the early 1990s to pursue a boxing career. He won six out of six matches but paid a steep price with his once devastatingly handsome face. He underwent a series of plastic surgeries to try to correct the results of his injuries, but the outcome hurt his prospects in Hollywood.

"Most of it was to mend the mess of my face because of the boxing, but I went to the wrong guy to put my face back together," he told the Daily Mail. "I had my nose broken twice. I had five operations on my nose and one on a smashed cheekbone. I had to have cartilage taken from my ear to rebuild my nose and a couple of operations to scrape out the cartilage because the scar tissue wasn't healing properly."

Rourke finally got most of the bad work reversed, or at least minimized, and his career has since picked up, with roles in "Sin City," "Iron Man 2," "The Expendables," and "The Wrestler" (for which he was nominated for a best actor Oscar in 2008). Still, Rourke isn't done going under the knife: In October 2017, he revealed on Instagram that he underwent yet another nose job to correct prior work, remarking, "Now I am 'pretty again.'"

Lara Flynn Boyle was a beauty on "Twin Peaks" from 1990 to 1991, and she was just as stunning during her tenure on "The Practice" from 1997 to 2003. However, around the early 2000s, her lips began to look noticeably larger. By 2006, after "Las Vegas" was canceled, her work began dwindling. The erstwhile TV A-lister was relegated to TV movies and guest roles. The actor appeared in two TV movies and one short in 2006, two low-budget projects in 2007, one episode of "Law & Order" in 2008, two low-budget projects in 2009, and one low-budget film each in 2011, 2013, and 2014.

That may well be because the brunette beauty has become almost unrecognizable, but Boyle's struggles may actually be a symptom of a larger problem in Hollywood. She told The Mail On Sunday (via The Sydney Morning Herald), "I know I may be running out of time. There are just not that many roles for older women. On a vanity level, I am not looking forward to aging at all — I think I look pretty good now."

What's heartbreaking about that statement? When Boyle said she felt like she was "running out of time," she was only 32 years old.

Meg Ryan was America's sweetheart, but in 2003, she looked like a different person — and took a lot of heat for it. That, combined with the dissolution of her marriage to Dennis Quaid (which was rumored to be the result of her affair with Russell Crowe) and taking on roles incongruent with her "girl next door" image, damaged her career.

Dr. Mark Youssef, a plastic surgeon who hasn't treated Ryan, told Hollywood Life, "The most obvious thing that she's had done is some sort of filler or fat transfer to her cheek ... When she smiles, all of that filler moves up and makes her eyes look smaller. The reason she looks masculine is because of the placement of the volume in her cheeks." He continued, "... it's very possible that she had some sort of rhinoplasty. There's definitely volume in her lips as well ... She's had too much Botox in the forehead." Youssef added that her face shape and texture also appeared different, raising the possibility of laser resurfacing.

The media attention didn't help. "All of the tabloid attention really shook her up," a source told People. "She was deeply troubled by it. It contributed to her stepping away [from Hollywood]."

Former soap opera star Joan Van Ark, famous for "Dallas" and "Knots Landing," has looked like a ghost of herself since the late 2000s. Since her run on "The Young and the Restless" ended in 2005, she's landed only bit parts – including, ironically, two episodes of "Nip/Tuck," TV movies, and voice-over work.

"Her appearance seems to have drastically changed over the years. This may be due to quite a bit of plastic surgery ... I suspect she's had at least one facelift, if not two, causing her neckline and jawline to look tight. Her forehead is smooth and wrinkle-free, a possible consequence of a brow lift and Botox," Dr. Anthony Youn, who hasn't treated Van Ark, told the National Enquirer. Youn said her skin "may be due to multiple chemical peels and laser treatments, along with injections of filler and Botox ... Overall, I'd recommend she continue taking care of her skin but consider stopping invasive treatments ... short of a little Botox here and there if she wanted."

Michael Jackson will always be the King of Pop, but toward the end of his life, he was more notorious for his bizarre appearance (and his scandals) than for his hits. Jackson is believed to have undergone numerous plastic surgeries, including several rhinoplasties, as well as skin bleaching.

However, in a tell-all with Martin Bashir, Jackson insisted, "I've had no plastic surgery on my face. Just my nose. It helped me breathe better so I can hit higher notes ... [I've had] two [nose jobs] as I can remember ... Yeah. Just two."

Plastic surgeon Pamela Lipkin speculated to ABC News, "What I think has happened recently is that something in his nose, a graft, an implant, something has now come out through the skin, and that's why he's probably got a hole in his skin ... They're called nasal cripples. People whose nose has been done so many times that there is no nose really to breathe through. Michael Jackson has what we call an end-stage nose, a crucified nose, one that's beyond the point of no return."

This entry also comes with a bit of an asterisk, since Jamie Lee Curtis is a Boss who's only gotten better with age — but her efforts to fight aging actually hindered her work temporarily. In a 2002 interview with More magazine, the "Halloween" star admitted to having several procedures, including liposuction and Botox, and that she didn't like the results of any of them. She even suffered from a painkiller addiction post-op. However, it was surgery on her undereye bags that she said actually hurt her ability to make a movie (though she didn't specify which film it was).

"Ten years ago, before anybody did that, I had fat taken from underneath my eyes because I was on a movie and I was puffy. I remember the cameraman saying: 'I can't shoot her now,'" she recalled (via The Telegraph). "I remember being mortified. And yet, you know what? Nobody tells you if you take fat from your body in one place, it comes back in another place. All of these 'bettering' experiences are not without risk. And there is this illusion that once you do it, then you'll be fine. And that's just horses**t. I looked worse." Since then, Curtis has been unapologetically herself. In 2012, she wrote a blog for The Huffington Post decrying the obsession with anti-aging.

Courteney Cox didn't admit to losing any specific acting work due to her procedures, but did admit she could barely move her face because she had too much filler. Wait, isn't moving one's face an actor's entire job? 

The "Cougar Town" actress confessed to New Beauty that her use of fillers was gradual, which made her not notice she'd gone too far until a pal pointed it out. The "Friends" star has since had her fillers dissolved, though she hasn't discounted a more cautious, conservative use of them in the future. "Things are going to change. Everything's going to drop. I was trying to make it not drop, but that made me look fake," she said. "You need movement in your face, especially if you have thin skin like I do." She added, "I grew up thinking that appearance was the most important thing. That's kind of sad because it got me in trouble. I was trying so hard to keep up, and I actually made things worse."

It seems she's developed a healthier attitude toward aging, telling The Sunday Times in 2022 as she approaches 60, "There's nothing wrong with being 60, I just can't believe it."

Janice Dickinson boasts that she's the world's first supermodel, but there isn't much of the world's first supermodel left. The brunette beauty admitted to having a facelift, tummy tuck, facial fillers, and botched breast implants (which she got fixed on the show of the same name). They all cost her: Dickinson filed for bankruptcy in 2013, Radar Online reported, much of it allegedly owed to cosmetic surgeons. Luckily for Dickinson, $1 million of her debts was erased a year later.

In addition to the actual costs of her myriad procedures, Dickinson also may have paid for her surgeries in terms of her career successes. Models unfortunately have expiration dates in the problematic and often sexist fashion industry, and the combination of Dickinson's age, puffy appearance, and often-difficult attitude has caused much of her work to dry up. She had fewer than a dozen acting roles over two decades, but she's appeared as herself on a number of TV shows.

You'd presume that if anybody were to be supremely confident in their looks, it would be a supermodel. Unfortunately for Linda Evangelista, such was not the case. The model, who grew to fame in the 1990s, underwent a CoolSculpting procedure that many people opt for instead of liposuction, as it's used to remove fat from your body. Unfortunately, some patients are left with a condition called paradoxical adipose hyperplasia, which Evangelista unfortunately suffered from. "I tried to fix it myself, thinking I was doing something wrong ... I got to where I wasn't eating at all. I thought I was losing my mind," she told People.

The rare side effects of the procedure left Evangelista with bulges on her body and a newfound desire to stay out of the spotlight. "I loved being up on the catwalk. Now I dread running into someone I know, she added of her shift in confidence post-procedure. Other models of her day, like Christy Turlington and Christie Brinkley, are still modeling to some degree — something we can only assume Evangelista would be doing, too, if it weren't for the botched plastics.

When you grow up in the spotlight, the whole world watches. And things are especially amplified when you are part of a popular kids' television show and movie franchise. Ashley Tisdale, who starred in "The Suite Life of Zack and Cody" and in all three "High School Musical" installments, underwent a rhinoplasty at the height of her fame due to a deviated septum.

Fans of hers misunderstood the purpose of the procedure and were not shy about their opinions. Tisdale was subject to intense scrutiny as a teenager for undergoing elective surgery. "After several doctor's visits about my health issues, they also suggested shaving my 'bump' down. I was young and didn't put much thought into it, so I decided, why not? It wasn't a big deal to me nor was it like I was dreaming of the day I'd get a nose job," she shared in a blog post. Despite her acceptance of the procedure, others were not so kind. "Plastic surgery wasn't culturally accepted then like it is now. When I got it done I was scrutinized, judged, and made to feel ashamed over my decision."

Tisdale examined her experience with plastic surgery when she learned she was expecting a daughter, adding, "I hope her choices aren't met with judgment or shame."

Rupert Everett may no longer an in-demand Hollywood actor, but he was for a time expected to catapult his scene-stealing appearance in 1997's "My Best Friend's Wedding" into a blockbuster career. There are many theories as to why Everett's career ultimately fizzled, and plastic surgery is one of them. Then again, even the actor himself admitted in an interview with the Daily Mail that his lack of that movie star quality may have been the true reason why he stopped getting cast. He has also blamed coming out of the closet as gay as a potential explanation for why he was unable to climb the ranks of show business.

When it comes to his cosmetic work, Everett has rubbed some the wrong way by denying having had any procedures despite people putting together photographic evidence to the contrary. In 2009, photos of the actor looking shockingly different came out, with many tabloids speculating about the specific procedures he had done. For instance, a plastic surgeon hypothesized to Star that the actor had likely gotten a facelift, a chin implant, and Botox.

Though he denied having surgical enhancements, Everett claimed the perception that he had done so damaged his career. "Those images went all the way round the world, and at one point I lost a job from a great Australian director because of him seeing the before and after images in a newspaper," he told the Express. "A man shouldn't really have a facelift, because their faces don't deal with it well."

Though she is most known for having been married to Elvis, Priscilla Presley had a thriving acting career in the 1980s and early 1990s. Many have since speculated that Presley's botched plastic surgery may be the reason she stopped getting acting work. After years on the series "Dallas" and roles in a few of the "Naked Gun" movies, things dried up for the star. And after 1999, she has only four credits listed on IMDb, all of them playing herself.

Presley was long known for her natural beauty, so people were shocked to see what she happened to her face when she decided to have work done. TMZ reported that the star visited a sham cosmetic surgery doctor in 2003 who injected her face with industrial silicone that was typically used in automotive parts. The doctor later went to jail and Presley had reconstructive surgery, but her face never looked like it was before the botched surgery. Not only have fans not been kind about her plastic surgery, but neither have TV critics (The Spokesman-Review published an incredibly nasty article when she was on "Dancing with the Stars," for example).

Though she had been working for years before breaking out with her smash hit, "Fancy," it felt like Iggy Azalea was an overnight sensation. She continued to crank out some hits — most notably the collaborations on "Black Widow" with Rita Ora and "Pretty Girls" with Britney Spears — but has never recaptured the viral success she had early on. While there are many reasons why this may be the case, some people think it is due to Azalea's plastic surgeries.

The rapper has copped to having a nose job as well as a breast augmentation. But some online have suggested the list doesn't end there, and people believe Azalea's surgeries have made her look like a new person. Photos from recent years have caused speculation that the rapper has had other facial procedures done, with one doctor telling the Daily Mail he believes she has had a chin augmentation and work done on her jaw.

Another aspect of people's issues with Azalea's changing looks is the way they align with critiques that she engages in "blackfishing," or cultural appropriation. The rapper has been accused of increasing the size of her lips and behind, which some feel is an attempt to adopt a more ethnically ambiguous look.

Since youth and beauty are valued in media industries across the world, it's not only Western celebrities who have been known to go under the knife. While Hollywood is bad when it comes to lookism, Bollywood might be even worse in that regard. Bollywood cinema is known for casting gorgeous women, in particular, and the pressures to look like a beauty queen are intense. Even actual beauty queens feel the pressure, like Priyanka Chopra Jonas — a former Miss India and Miss World – who has called out "unrealistic beauty standards." Chopra Jonas explained on "The Howard Stern Show" that she went into a depression after receiving a bad nose job, but her career never suffered from the surgery. The same sadly cannot be said for Rakhi Sawant.

Sawant is another Indian actor who felt the pressure to look a certain way, and she has come under fire for going under the knife. Sawant revealed (via India Today) that she got plastic surgery early in her career, after running away from home to join the film industry. She spoke out about her surgery but then got saddled with criticism that she was too plastic. Sawant explained (via Koimoi) that she has suffered due to the perception of her and has had minimal acting roles in the last decade, resulting in her becoming a reality TV staple in India.