If Off-Campus is your latest obsession, you may have a flashbulb memory of the moment you learned that Stephen Kalyn – the hunky Canadian actor playing blond Briar heartthrob Dean Di Laurentis – is a natural brunette.
Since the beloved Prime show aired last month, the 28-year-old actor has been the subject of countless social media blond propaganda ‘fan edits’ and at the centre of a viral resurgence of fans “falling for a fictional blond man.”
While tears were unequivocally shed when, during the press for season one of the show, it was revealed that Stephen was not a natural blond. It got us thinking of all the Hollywood heartthrobs who have abandoned their tall, dark and handsome origins and bleached their tresses platinum blond for a leading role.
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Brad Pitt
Brad’s platinum blond era came at arguably the most divisive time of his career. The year was 2005, and the Fight Club star was in the middle of the fallout of his divorce from Jennifer Aniston.
Brad had wrapped filming on Mr and Mrs Smith, during which he starred alongside, and reportedly “fell in love” with his second wife, Angelina Jolie, a scandal that truly changed pop culture forever.
The actor was seen sporting his ice-blond locks while doing press alongside his new flame for the aforementioned Doug Liman film. Brad had previously rocked light blond tresses years earlier in 1997, while engaged to A-list actress Gwyneth Paltrow.
Ryan Gosling
It’s hard not to think of Ryan Gosling without having a visceral memory of the Barbie press tour that swept the globe back in 2023.
The Notebook actor, who won an Oscar for his role as Ken in the Greta Gerwig film, truly did not hold back from embracing his peroxide locks; honestly, we can’t be the only ones who miss them.
Zac Efron
Unlike the rest of the stars on this list, High School Musical star Zac Efron’s blond transformation wasn’t required for a role. No, the actor just fancied seeing if blondes really do have more fun in 2019.
Debuting his new locks at the Sundance Film Festival, according to reports, everyone’s favourite Wildcat brushed off the dramatic transformation, reportedly quipping: “It’s just for life, bro,” when asked about his new do.
Josh Hutcherson
We mentioned fan edits before, but, frankly, Josh Hutcherson fans walked so Stephen’s could run because the Hunger Games star really is the OG subject of obsessive fan edits.
It was even revealed that Hollywood actress McKenna Grace, who starred alongside Josh in Five Nights at Freddy’s 2, made a “Team Peeta” video as an excited fan, based on Josh’s portrayal as everyone’s favourite baker boy, Peeta Mellark, in the famous Suzanne Collins series.
Mckenna, whose superfan past was revealed while doing press alongside the actor in 2025, is now set to star as Maysilee Donner in the upcoming Hunger Games prequel, Sunrise on the Reaping – talk about a full-circle moment!
Tom Blyth
More in the world of Panem, before he was the tall, dark and handsome leading man in Netflix’s People We Meet on Vacation, Tom Blyth was the 18-year-old embodiment of President Snow, who is famously ice-blonde.
But, while fans may have loved Tom’s foray onto the lighter side of life – even cleverly coining his blonde buzzcut Snow era as ‘Paneminem’ – the British actor is fed up with people saying he “looks better than blonde.”
While doing press for People We Meet on Vacation, he said: “If one more person tells me to go blonde, I’m gonna throw a hissy fit. I loved it, but you don’t understand how many people I get telling me that I look better as a blonde. It’s not what you wanna hear because this is the hand I was dealt.”
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