Redhead Julianne Moore says there’s still a part of her that would ‘rather be a tanned blonde’

Kaitlin Reilly
·Health and Wellness Staff Writer
·2 min read
22
Julianne Moore talks about how she feels about her red hair and freckles. (Photo: Mike Coppola/Getty Images for The Gotham Film & Media Institute)
Julianne Moore gets real about her red hair and freckles. (Photo: Mike Coppola/Getty Images for The Gotham Film & Media Institute)
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Julianne Moore didn’t always love her signature look.

The When You Finish Saving the World actress, 61, spoke to The Times this week, revealing how she really feels about being ginger.

“My red hair made me feel like an outsider growing up,” Moore explained. “Redheads are 2% of the global population. Nobody wants to feel like they’re in the minority, particularly as a young child.”

As an adult, however, things have shifted.

“Now I feel very identified with my hair and freckles,” she noted, “but there’s still a part of me that would rather be a tanned blonde.”

Moore also told The Times that she received some not-so-helpful advice about her appearance while working in the entertainment business.

“Someone in the film industry said to me, ‘You should try to look prettier.’ I was like, ‘I don’t know if I can,’” the Dear Evan Hansen star shared. “Obviously, ours is a business where there is some physicality involved, but beauty and prettiness are subjective.”

The 79th Venice Film Festival - Premiere for the film
“Now I feel very identified with my hair and freckles,” said Julianne Moore, pictured here at the Venice Film Festival in September, “but there’s still a part of me that would rather be a tanned blonde.” (Photo: REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane)

Moore previously shared her insecurities about her looks with The Sunday Times. In July 2022, she told the UK-based publication, “When I was growing up in the US, it felt as if no one had freckles. I just wanted to look like every other tanned American kid. I hated being the one that couldn’t go to the beach or who had to wear long sleeves. I think that stayed with me a bit.”

She added that she’s gotten less “hung up” on her appearance as she’s gotten older.

“I think it’s because you have other things that you are interested in, such as family, relationships, work or your community,” Moore shared. “Being myopic about the way you look recedes. I don’t think it goes away entirely, I don’t think there is a person in the world who couldn’t care less, everybody cares somewhat. But the degree to which you are interested in that, and the fruitlessness of that, becomes apparent as you get older.”

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