Amy Adams is destigmatizing women's facial hair one movie role at a time.
The actress recently spoke to Variety about her new role in upcoming film Nightbitch, and among other things explained that the hair growing on her chin in one of the scenes was real.
"The hair on the face—that was mine," she told the outlet in a way the reporter described as "proudly." "I saw it as a wonderful expression of the human experience without any artifice or filters. Or tweezers!"
She added, "I have that kind of hair that just grows overnight. One day it’s not there, and the next day it’s like I’m a catfish. That might turn some people away."
Given how many women scramble to get rid of their facial hair—and how many are actively embracing it in a world that still stigmatizes it—Adams' admission feels like a powerful one.
Nightbitch is about "a struggling stay-at-home mom" who "sometimes turns into a dog," therefore Adams' appearance in the film was deliberately unpolished. Because of this, "I’ve had people be like, 'Oh my gosh, you looked awful,'" the star revealed. "I was like, 'You do realize that’s what I look like in my life, right?'"
Adams' stance on all of this seems in line with a wave of tastemakers working to subvert expectations for how women should look, such as Pamela Anderson's makeup-free movement (the star prioritizes good skincare instead, with some help from her product line Sonsie).
As for the movie, it's based on the novel of the same name by Rachel Yoder.
The film was directed by Marielle Heller, who is known for directing Can You Ever Forgive Me? and appearing as an actress in the likes of The Queen's Gambit. It also stars Scoot McNairy, Jessica Harper, and Zoë Chao. It will be released on Dec. 6.
