'Hobbs & Shaw' & The Rarity of Bald Movie Stars | Heat Vision Breakdown - video Dailymotion

Hollywood Journal

With 'Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw' in theaters, 'Heat Vision Breakdown' looks at the correlation between Hollywood leading bald actors and their blockbuster movie success.

Transcript

00:00Hello friends.

00:01Becoming a movie star is difficult, just ask any waiter here in Los Angeles.

00:04But for the follically challenged, it can be an even more daunting task than it already

00:07is.

00:08While Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham command a significant box office clout, the majority

00:11of Hollywood films, particularly big budget summer tentpoles, are led by men with impressive

00:16quaffs atop their pretty heads.

00:18This week on Heat Vision Breakdown, we take a look at films starring bald leading men

00:21and examine why it's such a rarity in Hollywood.

00:23Let's get this out of the way right off the bat.

00:29There are absolutely bald movie stars.

00:31Dwayne Johnson is the highest paid actor on earth right now, while Jason Statham may have

00:34never had hair, like, ever, but is still one of the sexiest dudes to ever walk the planet

00:38in a major box office drop.

00:40Bruce Willis losing his locks only served to make him an even bigger badass, and Vin Diesel

00:43films where the star rocks a bare dome have grossed significantly more than ones where

00:47he has hair.

00:48Ever heard of 2006's Find Me Guilty?

00:50Didn't think so!

00:51Maybe he did, I don't know.

00:54That said, there is no denying that the majority of movie stars have full heads of hair.

00:57Don't believe me?

00:58First off, how dare you?

01:00Second, I brought receipts and did the research.

01:02In the last four decades, only 20 total films of the 10 top grossing movies from each year

01:07starred a balding or bald man.

01:09And even then, the data can be skewed by bald actors wearing hair pieces or actors who voluntarily

01:13shave their heads.

01:14This of course excludes Despicable Me's Gru and Shrek.

01:17From the Shrek movies.

01:18Holgers are like onions.

01:22The Rock and Statham obviously buck this trend, as both are bonafide, proven movie stars.

01:26So it's not much of a gamble to team them up in their own spin-off film from a franchise

01:29that has been making bank with a bald leading man already for nearly two decades.

01:32Still, it is rare to have a project with two bald dudes as the leads.

01:36Uh, Breaking Bad?

01:37Come on.

01:38Dean Norris?

01:39Alright, well Dean Norris, yes, but technically Bryan Cranston does have hair, he just shaved

01:43it.

01:44Also, Aaron Paul.

01:45Full head of hair.

01:46Okay, you're right.

01:47Uh, Glass.

01:48So many bald dudes in that movie.

01:49Alright.

01:50Yeah.

01:51Kinda.

01:52Except James McAvoy isn't bald, he just shaved his head.

01:54And Sam Jackson, who is bald, is wearing a wig.

01:58So you're right and I'm wrong?

01:59Yes.

02:00I quit.

02:01Actually, let's talk about Sam Jackson a bit.

02:04He's the highest grossing actor of all time, having appeared in over 100 films, many of

02:08which were installments in incredibly popular franchises.

02:10Honestly, when you're part of the MCU and Star Wars, the numbers kinda start to pile up.

02:15Over the years, Jackson has appeared on screen with pretty much every do imaginable, from

02:18a full head of hair, to a receding look, to a full blown shaved head.

02:22Oddly enough, in 1995 he starred in Die Hard with a vengeance, alongside fellow balding actor

02:27Bruce Willis.

02:28The receding hairlines of both stars in the film did nothing to slow it down, as it's

02:31the second highest grossing film in the series worldwide, only trailing behind 2007's Live

02:35Free or Die Hard, the one with Justin Long.

02:37I don't get it either.

02:38Thank you, Dolores.

02:40Willis is no slouch himself.

02:41One of the most recognizable faces in the world, Bruce really got his start on the 1980s

02:45sitcom Moonlighting.

02:46While he certainly had hair during the run of the show, he was already showing signs

02:49of male pattern baldness at the time.

02:51Director John McTiernan didn't mind at all, and neither did audiences, as Willis turned in

02:55a star-making performance in 1988's Die Hard and Never Looked Back.

02:58He's been a movie star ever since Hairline Be Damned.

03:01Outside of the movie star realm, there are also a number of notable prestige actors who

03:05don't happen to have hair.

03:06Oscar winner Yul Brynner was one of the most respected performers of his era.

03:09Ben Kingsley has been nominated for four Oscars, won one, has a career that spans five decades,

03:14and oh yeah, he was knighted.

03:15Have you done that, Alec Baldwin?

03:19Patrick Stewart, also knighted, started going bald at 19, and is one of the rare bald blockbuster

03:23movie stars who isn't a tough guy like The Rock or Jason Statham.

03:26He plays characters known for their intellect.

03:28He's also the rare star to embrace male pattern baldness rather than shave his head completely,

03:32at least when he's playing Jean-Luc Picard rather than Professor X.

03:35Still, there's a stigma.

03:37Actors are skittish of losing the locks.

03:38Matthew McConaughey has famously been open about his routine for keeping his blonde curls,

03:42while Ashton Kutcher revealed on Conan in 2018 that he has been taking hair loss drug

03:46finasteride for years.

03:47Heck, even Captain America himself, Chris Evans, has been open about his struggles with

03:50hair loss.

03:51There may not be a large amount of bald or balding movie stars, but that doesn't mean

03:55there are none or that would-be actors who may not have Brad Pitt's hairline should give

03:58up hope.

03:59Being as buff as The Rock or Statham certainly doesn't hurt, neither does having the acting

04:02chops of Kingsley or the charisma of Jackson, but there's no doubt that's a bit of a steeper

04:06climb to the A-list for bald actors, at least when it comes to blockbusters.

04:09We're likely not going to see a balding Mr. Fantastic or Wolverine any time soon, but we

04:13will see a bald supervillain in Dwayne Johnson's upcoming Black Adam.

04:18Baby steps.

04:19But really I'm just hoping for a One Punch Man movie.

04:20Do it.

04:21So what do you guys think?

04:22Did I leave out any bald actors that you'd like to talk about?

04:25Let us know in the comments right down there.

04:26Don't forget to subscribe and join us here every Friday morning for new episodes of Heat

04:29Vision Breakdown.

04:30Did Jason Statham ever have hair?

'Hobbs & Shaw' & The Rarity of Bald Movie Stars | Heat Vision Breakdown

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