Botox Is a Thief

Lately, when I watch television and movies, I feel cheated. I tune in wanting to watch my favorite actors ply their art to their full ability. All too often, now, I don’t get to see that performance. It’s not that the actors are any less talented. Instead, it’s their limited range of expression due to the paralyzing of some of the very tools that allows them to show their full range of emotions.

I’m not naive about why actors fall down this rabbit hole. I recognize that actors have a vested professional interest not to look their age. Ageism, after all, is not only alive and well in Hollywood, but it can be especially vicious when you factor in certain audience demographics (fair or not). From their all-to-real history, actors–especially female actors–know that as the lines and sags increase the number of job offers are likely to dwindle. It the way of this particular business. But that’s not what I’m addressing here.

I’m constantly vexed when I see a favorite actor who, in their 20s, was able to furrow brows in annoyance, raise their hairline in surprise, and lift an eyebrow in bemusement suddenly be reduced to emotionless no-eye-crinkle smiles and general mannequin-like expressions; to see the actor now limited in their ability to emote to how open or closed their eyelids are. By locking away at least half of the tools in their toolbox, actors rob themselves of their full worth and cheat us of their full ability.

Personally, I like the lines that define our actors as they get older. Is it no surprise that the ones who have had the least amount of work done are the ones so often hired later in their careers because they actually look their age? Even during the difficult late-30s and through the 40s, when jobs can really dry up, it’s the lined faces that are actually the most interesting.

What I find ironic is that many of these frozen-faced actors, when they were younger, likely mocked the artificiality of the look of older actors trying to look 5-, 10-, or even 20-years younger. But it’s seductive. With just a few injections that relax that crease between your eyes and you can still go out for the same roles you’ve become known for. Sadly, even if you get the part, your performance will often be derided for their lack of depth or emotion because you weren’t able to move your face like a normal person.

Unfortunately, these injections are a gateway to fillers, plumpers, whiteners, peels, lasers, lipo, lifts, and a never-ending series of procedures in an effort to not look the age everyone knows you are and instead looking more and more generic and non-emotive. Sure, some of these procedures, especially when done by a skilled and experienced doctor, are very restorative and can correct a significant cosmetic/medical flaw, but they need to be used with very careful consideration. This is about an actor’s livelihood. Chasing the cosmetic dragon is more likely to end up hurting their bottom line than help (though there will always be exceptions that can be pointed to).

My personal plea is to actors, especially those in their late-20s onward, to eschew the needle which gives the illusion of youth while robbing you of the ability to be a great and fully-realized actor. As a consumer of your art, I say the cost is much too high…for both of us.