Instead Of Hiding Their Scars, These Stars Showed Them Off

Charlie Golsley | August 1, 2023 4:44 pm

On our bodies, scars can be a visual representation of what we have gone through. They tell a story and show the world we can tackle whatever comes our way, even if we don't love how they look. Seeing different marks on your body can take some time to get used to. Some people choose to hide them, others choose to wear them with pride. Either way is okay.

When you're in the public eye, wearing scars proudly can be more challenging. These celebrities show that even in front of cameras, we can be proud of our scars. The way these celebrities flaunt their scars and welcome their past is truly inspiring. Plus, we had no idea there are two royals with surgery scars! Read on to learn more!

Michael K. Williams

GettyImages-1333129781
Photo by Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic
Photo by Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic

Williams prominent facial scar is the result of a razor blade used in a bar fight that almost killed him. The scar that was left has actually helped his Hollywood career. It has become his signature and allowed him to act within a niche of tough, gritty characters like Omar Little on HBO's The Wire.

Williams actually cites Seal's facial scars and inspiration for him to embrace his own.

ADVERTISEMENT

Princess Eugenie

ADVERTISEMENT
GettyImages-1051960162
Photo by TOBY MELVILLE/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
Photo by TOBY MELVILLE/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)
ADVERTISEMENT

The newlywed royal recently made headlines for choosing a wedding dress that put her scoliosis scar front and center. Many with similar scars took to social media thanking the Princess for showing the beauty of the scar.

ADVERTISEMENT

Eugenie even told ITV News that she chose the dress specifically to "change the way beauty is."

ADVERTISEMENT

Queen Latifah

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
GettyImages-1193962134
Photo by Paras Griffin/Getty Images for ESSENCE
Photo by Paras Griffin/Getty Images for ESSENCE
ADVERTISEMENT

Queen Latifah's forehead scar has been there as long as the public has known her, and it's all thanks to her brother. The two were playing tag as a child, and Queen Latifah tripped and fell into the corner of the bathroom wall, and needed three stitches.

ADVERTISEMENT

She's said she'll never cover it up, and that "it gives [her] face character."

ADVERTISEMENT

Mary J. Blige

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
GettyImages-909710602
Photo by Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic
Photo by Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic
ADVERTISEMENT

The powerhouse singer has never told the public exactly how she got the prominent scar under her left eye, and she doesn't plan to.

ADVERTISEMENT

She has made a point to talk to the media about how she chooses to embrace the scar because if she learned to love it then "everybody else can love it."

ADVERTISEMENT

Miles Teller

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
GettyImages-1397919762
Photo by Joe Maher/Getty Images
Photo by Joe Maher/Getty Images
ADVERTISEMENT

The up and coming actor has multiple scars along his jawline as a result of a 2007 car accident. Teller told ShortList that he used to cover the scars with makeup for auditions, then one day had a change of heart.

ADVERTISEMENT

Teller decided that he was going to "be the actor that people know for having scars." It definitely hasn't affected how much his fans love him.

ADVERTISEMENT

Joaquin Phoenix

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
GettyImages-921198482
Photo credit should read TOBIAS SCHWARZ/AFP via Getty Images
Photo credit should read TOBIAS SCHWARZ/AFP via Getty Images
ADVERTISEMENT

The scar between Phoenix's lip and nose is a result of cleft palate that occurred and went away all in the womb. It left a scar that Phoenix simply refers to as a "birthmark."

ADVERTISEMENT

By calling the scar a birthmark, he has inspired many with a similar mark from cleft palate surgery.

ADVERTISEMENT

Padma Lakshmi

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Sean Zanni/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images
Sean Zanni/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images
ADVERTISEMENT

The Top Chef host was also very conscious about the 7-inch scar running up her right arm. She was in a car accident when she was 14 and the scar even stopped her from pursuing a modeling career.

ADVERTISEMENT

Lakshmi finally embraced the scar and in 2001 wrote in Vogue that "I love my scar. It is so much a part of me."

ADVERTISEMENT

Seal

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Noel Vasquez/Getty Images
Noel Vasquez/Getty Images
ADVERTISEMENT

One of the most recognizable things about Seal is his facial scars. There have been tons of rumors about everything from tribal scars to being attacked by wolves, but they're actually from a specific type of lupus.

ADVERTISEMENT

The disease can cause skin inflammation, scarring, and even hair loss. Seal is now in remission from lupus but admits he learned to love the scars.

ADVERTISEMENT

Tina Fey

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Steven Ferdman/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images
Steven Ferdman/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images
ADVERTISEMENT

It's usually well hidden under her red carpet makeup, but if you look closely you can see a long, thin scar across Fey's face. The scar is thanks to a still-unknown attacker that violently slashed her face while she was playing in the front yard as a child.

ADVERTISEMENT

Fey was actually never embarrassed of the scar until she made it big in Hollywood and had to become more aware of which side of her face to "flaunt."

These Short Celebrities Prove That Height Isn't Everything

ADVERTISEMENT

Catherine Zeta-Jones

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Andrew Toth/Getty Images
Andrew Toth/Getty Images
ADVERTISEMENT

Zeta-Jones would not be alive if it wasn't for the tracheotomy surgery she had which resulted in her distinctive neck scar. The operation is done when a child has breathing problems and the doctor needs to make an emergency airway for the lungs.

ADVERTISEMENT

Zeta-Jones was initially timid of her scar when she broke into Hollywood, but she knows she wouldn't even be alive today without it.

ADVERTISEMENT

Harrison Ford

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic/Getty Images
Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic/Getty Images
ADVERTISEMENT

For as long as we've seen Ford on the silver screen, he's had a distinctive scar on his chin. It came from a car accident where he hit a telephone pole near Laguna Beach, California.

ADVERTISEMENT

The accident was traumatic, but helped establish the "rugged and handsome" look the star would use to his advantage for roles like Han Solo and Indiana Jones.

ADVERTISEMENT

Ariel Winter

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Wags & Walks 10th Annual Gala
Photo by Amanda Edwards/Getty Images
Photo by Amanda Edwards/Getty Images
ADVERTISEMENT

Another Modern Family star that has been in the spotlight since a young age has had to deal with a lot of backlash for showing off her scars. Winter underwent a breast reduction surgery when she was 17 years old and has never been afraid to show off the scars.

ADVERTISEMENT

One year after the surgery, she purposely walked the red carpet at the SAG awards with a dress that wouldn't hide her scars.

Follow us for more great content

ADVERTISEMENT

Kate Middleton

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Turner/Getty Images
Turner/Getty Images
ADVERTISEMENT

The Duchess of Cambridge usually wears her hair down in those iconic bouncy waves, but she has been pulling her hair back and showing off her scar more and more. The scar runs along the left side of her head underneath her hairline.

ADVERTISEMENT

Middleton announced the scar was "related to a childhood operation" but didn't elaborate. Maybe motherhood and life in the limelight have inspired her to proudly show off her scars.

ADVERTISEMENT

Kylie Jenner

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
US-ENTERTAINMENT-MUSIC-AWARD-BILLBOARD
Photo by Maria Alejandra CARDONA / AFP) (Photo by MARIA ALEJANDRA CARDONA/AFP via Getty Images
Photo by Maria Alejandra CARDONA / AFP) (Photo by MARIA ALEJANDRA CARDONA/AFP via Getty Images
ADVERTISEMENT

Kylie has never been afraid to flaunt every part of her body on social media, and that includes the large scar on the back of her left thigh. She got the scar at a fan event when she had to make a quick exit, climbed over a gate, and slipped and fell on a sharp pole.

ADVERTISEMENT

Jenner sees the mark as a thing that makes her unique, and has even captioned Instagram photos "I love my scar."

ADVERTISEMENT

Francia Raisa

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Amanda Edwards/WireImage/Getty Images
Amanda Edwards/WireImage/Getty Images
ADVERTISEMENT

Raisa's small scar along her abdomen is from a kidney surgery, but it wasn't to save her own life. Raisa actually donated her own kidney to her best friend Selena Gomez in September 2017.

ADVERTISEMENT

She's never been afraid to show off the scar as it only took a few days after the surgery for her to proudly flaunt the scar on social media.

ADVERTISEMENT

Selena Gomez

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
SEPHORA Loves Rare Beauty
Photo by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images for SEPHORA
Photo by Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images for SEPHORA
ADVERTISEMENT

Gomez has the sister scar to her BFF Francia Raisa. Gomez has publically battled lupus, and in September 2017 it was announced she needed an emergency kidney transplant. While Gomez is a much more private person than Raisa, she has still embraced her scars in the public eye.

ADVERTISEMENT

Her first post after the kidney transplant surgery included a photo of her scar and text that said: "I am incredibly blessed."

ADVERTISEMENT

Kaley Cuoco

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
Amanda Edwards/WireImage/Getty Images
Amanda Edwards/WireImage/Getty Images
ADVERTISEMENT

The Big Bang Theory star has a huge scar running from her foot up her leg thanks to a horseback riding accident. Her horse spooked, booted her off the horse, and left her needing two steel bars in her leg.

ADVERTISEMENT

Cuoco felt uncomfortable on the red carpet for a long time, but now she's embraced the accidental scar.

ADVERTISEMENT

Jonah Hill

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
GERMANY-BERLINALE-FILM-FESTIVAL
Photo credit should read ODD ANDERSEN/AFP via Getty Images
Photo credit should read ODD ANDERSEN/AFP via Getty Images
ADVERTISEMENT

The actor and comedian has a large scar along his right arm all thanks to his own admittedly stupid decisions. When he was 15, he was riding out the window of an SUV and the driver recklessly flipped the vehicle.

ADVERTISEMENT

He woke up in the hospital to see his parents crying and the doctors deciding whether or not to amputate. From that experience, Hill says his scar reminds him to work hard and be thankful every day.

Follow our brand to see more like this