Celebs Who Look Even Better With Gray Hair, From Anderson Cooper to Steve Carell

Sooner or later, most people go gray. Instead of running from the inevitable, why not embrace your fading pigments like these celebs did? See how some of Hollywood's most iconic silver foxes transitioned to salt and pepper and some to full on white.

George Clooney in the '80s was all hair. You may be less familiar with this version of the actor, but before ER, Ocean's Eleven, and Gravity, he rocked dark brown curls.

The term silver fox was practically coined for Clooney. The actor embraced his graying hair when he was just at the start of his movie career and it has since become his signature style.

We were first introduced to Matt Leblanc's signature dark hair on Friends, when he starred as Joey Tribbiani. Little did we know he died his hair. "I think it was the second season of Friends—way back then—that I started getting gray hair on the sides, so they started to dye it," Leblanc said on The Late Late Show with James Corden.

The actor fully embraced his gray hair when he said goodbye to Joey for good after his spinoff was canceled. His reason? He just didn't want to be bothered with dying it anymore. Fair.

As a young actor, Richard Gere had a thick mane of dark hair, which he sported in films like American Gigolo and Officer and a Gentleman.

By the time Gere starred alongside Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman, the actor was delightfully gray. Nowadays, Gere's hair is more white than gray and he wears it proudly.

Patrick Dempsey was known for his thick brown hair when he rose through the ranks as a teen actor in the '80s. Years later, the actor booked Grey's Anatomy and stole viewers hearts as Dr. Derek Shepherd—a.k.a. McDreamy.

Over the course of Dempsey's 10 seasons on Grey's Anatomy, his hair went more and more gray. Now, he's the definition of salt and pepper. Fun fact: His wife is a hairstylist and cuts his hair.

Hugh Grant's floppy brown hair was one of his trademark features during his run as the go-to romantic comedy star in the 1990s.

A few years ago, the British actor decided to fully embrace his graying hair and honestly we think it was the right call.

When Morgan Freeman was starting out in film back in the early '80s, the actor had more or less the same haircut and facial hair he still has today.

The only difference? The legendary actor is completely gray. We have to say, the style is more striking this way—and his film career certainly hasn't suffered.

When Daniel-Day Lewis first arrived on the Hollywood scene, the actor sported long dark brown hair (as you'll find many men did in the '80s).

The British actor—who is known for his intense method acting—has gradually grayed throughout the years and gone shorter as well. His bold eyebrows on the other hand have stayed dark.

Since his breakout role on The Wonder Years, Eric Dane kept his hair short and trimmed.

Around the time that Dane joined Grey's Anatomy, he found himself going gray. But he was on the show for six years so, if anything, it seems like fans were into it.

When Jeffrey Dean Morgan debuted on Grey's Anatomy as reoccurring guest star, Denny Duquette, he was already sporting some gray in his beard, but his hair was dark brown.

The star's gray beard is now iconic and he seems to be embracing the salt and pepper on top of his head too.

A fresh-faced Steve Carell skyrocketed onto the scene in 2005 thanks to The Office. His clean-cut look was nice, but nothing out of the ordinary.

Since leaving Dunder Mifflin behind, Carell matured in both his career and appearance. The actor has taken on more serious movie roles as of late and has also started sporting a gray beard and hair combo.

When Anderson Cooper first got his start in his 20s, he had ashy hair, but we'd hardly call it gray.

Cooper says in his 30s he was salt and pepper and now at 52, he can't find the pepper anymore. Even though most know the TV personality for his silver style, he says he misses his brown hair.

From Remington Steele to James Bond, Pierce Brosnan's perfectly coiffed dark brown hair helped earned him a heartthrob status he's continued to hold for decades.

At 66 years old, Brosnan is just another Hollywood star proving that you can get better with age.

The Chicago Fire star has been in the limelight since the mid-2000s and when he first started out his hair was a deep, dark brown.

At just 38 years old, Kinney is almost completely gray and is here to remind all of us that there's no shame in embracing it. Honestly, we think he looks even better this way.

Idris Elba began acting in the '90s and sported a simple haircut with a goatee at the time—which is still his go-to look today.

The difference is, now his beard is gray. But that's not holding him back. In fact, just last year Elba was named PEOPLE's Sexiest Man Alive—gray hair and all.

Before he was a comedic film icon, Ben Stiller was just starting out in the business—with a full head of thick, dark curls.

Stiller's sprinkling of gray in his short cut is a lesson to us all on how to age tastefully.

The Brothers and Sisters actor has always looked young for his age, and his messy hairstyle only accentuated that.

Now, at 39, Annable looks completely different than he did when first starting out in the mid-2000s due to his silver gray head of hair.

Early in his career, Josh Duhamel kept his naturally dark brown hair cut short and clean.

At 46, Duhamel welcomed what comes with aging by letting his hair go gray at the temples and on the sides.

Jeff Goldblum looked every bit a movie star back in the day when the Jurassic Park star's thick hair could rival that of Elvis Presley.

Rather than fight against the inevitable, Goldblum went full silver fox in the recent years. We think it was the right call.

Before he was the Hulk, Mark Ruffalo's short and spiky brown hair was part of his signature look.

The Avengers star has begun to go gray at his temples and beard, but rather than fight aging, he's leaning into his new mature look.

America fell in love with Ted Danson on Cheers—and we think his full head of hair could have had something to do with that. It was just so...impressive.

The actor has made a television comeback on NBC's The Good Place in recent years and not much has changed about the actor, except his white-gray head of hair.

The emerging comedian had the same fluffy hair most stars wore during the '90s when he was first starting out in the industry.

Even though Stewart's hair has been gray for some time now, since leaving The Daily Show in 2015 he's grown out a gray beard to match it.

Chris Pine's dark brown hair color and strong brows have been part of his signature look for years.

But Pine gave us something we didn't even know we needed when he debuted just a hint of silver around his hairline at the premiere of I Am the Night.

Hollywood's bad boy, Sean Penn, wore his dark hair long in the front and short in the back during his heyday.

The actor's hairstyle hasn't changed much over the years, with one exception: Penn now lets his gray grow out on the side and keeps the top of her head darker.

Talk about a throwback hairstyle. Ryan Reynolds arrived at the premiere of National Lampoon's Van Wilder in 2002 with his brown hair in a signature 2000s spike.

Although Reynolds switches up his hair for different roles, the actor gave us a taste of his more natural look when he let his gray hair peep out recently.

Jon Bon Jovi said farewell to his feathered bangs and curly hair in the early '90s, but the rockstar continued to slay on stage with shoulder length, sandy blonde hair.

The musician has embraced his natural gray coloring, becoming a bonafide silver fox.

Tom Hanks' natural brown curly hair is seen here as he arrives at the Vanity Fair Oscar Party in 2010.

Hanks has slowly been graying on the sides for years. But when he debuted his new beard on the red carpet of the 2019 Governors Awards, we got a fuller picture of what a gray Hanks looks like. Well done, sir!

Michael Keaton flashed a smile as he arrived on the red carpet of the Cannes Film Festival, sporting his signature short brown hair in 2002.

The actor has kept his hair at a super short length since transitioning to gray.

The actor arrived at the TV Week Awards in 2006 with his dark brown hair styled in his famous coif.

Chris Noth has gradually incorporated his gray roots into his look since, but his bold brows have remained dark.

Alec Baldwin wore his dark brown hair in his typical slicked back fashion for the Tisch School of the Arts Annual Gala in 2006.

The actor, who has recently been sporting a blonde wig while playing Donald Trump on Saturday Night Live, let his brown and gray as of late.

The Welsh actor wore his dark hair in a clean cut style for the Critic Choice Awards in 2014.

For his new show, Prodigal Son, Sheen has been rocking a full beard and longer hair, offering a glimpse of his natural color.

Jon Hamm doesn't usually stray from his Don Drapper hairdo: jet black hair, slicked back.

The actor still looks dapper after letting the hair at his temples and beard go gray. Here he is at a 2019 Oscars viewing party.

From Pride & Prejudice to Bridget Jones's Diary, Colin Firth's curly brown hair is part of his signature look.

The actor has become more and more gray in the temples throughout the years, and seems to have embraced it with ease.

The Danish actor rocked his long blonde hair at the premiere of Jauja.

At the 76th Golden Globes, Mortensen looked suave and sophisticated with his graying hair.

Over the years, Brad Pitt's hair has been through all of the hairstyles. But the one thing that's remained consistent? His blonde hair.

Pitt's facial hair has been graying for years, and the actor knows how to rock it. But at the premiere of Ad Astra, we first started seeing him go gray at the temples.

Ben Affleck hasn't mixed up his hairstyle much since his Good Will Hunting days.

But recently, his beard has gone gray and the actor has been seen with a silver stripe through his hair.

Entering the Oval Office, Obama had just a touch of gray at his temples.

Flash forward eight years and Obama was almost completely gray when he exited the White House in 2016.

Before he starred on NCIS, Harmon was an '80s heartthrob with dark brown hair. The actor was even voted as People's Sexiest Man Alive in 1986.

Thirty years later, Harmon still has what it takes to land the coveted title. The actor has been gracefully aging into his silver fox status since going salt and pepper in the mid-90s.

In his early 60s, Washington proved that age was just a number when he arrived at the Golden Globes looking half his age.

In 2020, Washington finally embraced his graying beard at the age of 65 by sporting a salt and pepper beard at a Lakers game.

Elliott may look different in his younger acting days, with flowing brunette hair, but of course his mustache was on point.

Elliott's mustache is still living its best life. The only thing that's different is the fact that the actor has gone completely white. Well, except for his eyebrows.

The Spanish actor made a name for himself in The Mask of Zorro in 1998 when he had dark brown hair.

Banderas has been aging like a fine wine, slowly graying around the temples. But in Cannes in 2017, he rocked a white and gray beard, reminding us that Zorro's over 60.

When we first met Ford as Luke Skywalker, the actor was sporting light brown hair.

Ford has never shied away from embracing his silver fox status. He even refused to dye his gray hair for the 2008 revival of the Indiana Jones franchise.

From Taxi Driver to The Godfather Part II, when De Niro rose to Academy Award level fame in the '70s, he did it all with curly brown hair.

De Niro, now in his late 70s, has been gray since the '90s. Now, with a full white beard as well, he's never looked so jolly.

We've gotten so used to Garber's silver hair for the past few decades, we completely forgot the actor once was a brunette.

Garber looks the exact same as he did in 1986, except now the Titanic actor has all white hair.

Douglas grew up in front of the camera and always sported dirty blonde hair similar to his father, Kirk Douglas. It wasn't until the late '80s that he started graying at the temples.

The Wall Street actor is now 76 and hair hair is completely white. We're sure his wife Catherine Zeta-Jones approves.

When Olyphant rose to fame in the '90s in The Broken Hearts Club, he had the grunge look down with his facial scruff and long flowing hair.

Olyphant's career has only become better with age, thanks to Damages, Santa Clarita Diet, and Fargo. Maybe it's because of the gray hair he so easily transitioned to?