This could be another one of those short columns, simply because my three-word take on plastic surgery is this: Don’t do it.

Of course, I know plenty of actors who have had plastic surgery — some successfully and happily, others not so much — so let me state for the record that those who are very happy with their lifts and tucks and such are the exception, not the rule. It’s far more common that something too extreme happens. Something that is done from a place of hope that the actor will suddenly be more castable turns out to be something that renders a brand wholly unrecognizable. Ouch.

Where this really hit me was during “A Night at the Movies with John Williams” at the Hollywood Bowl this summer. It was great. Many of the composer’s best pieces of work for the silver screen, often with a parade of images and scenes from the accompanying movies projected on the screens throughout the concert space.

When I saw some of the leading ladies from the past 20, 30, even 40 years, I was in shock. Several — of course — have aged naturally and look like softer, older versions of themselves. But some, I actually had to go home and do a Google Image search to be sure… yep. They had gone all carnival fun-house mirror on themselves. Yikes.

The only reason I’m writing this column is because you cannot know you’ve messed up your face until it’s DONE, and once it’s done, you’re done. So, I’m just putting this out there as a caution.

I understand the pressure is there. I spent some time around a group of gals a couple of years ago, and I was the youngest in the bunch. We got together regularly, and regularly the talk turned to Botox, collagen, and other injectables. I came home from our ladydates looking at my face in the mirror differently, squinting and scrutinizing… talking about “issues” that weren’t on my radar before. At one point, my husband said, “I don’t want you to go out with those ladies anymore. You’re too mean to your face when you get home.”

So, I get how it can be something folks — even those of us who are not in on-camera pursuits — can become obsessed over, and that it’s so affordable, so accessible, and so often DONE by others makes it very tempting. Especially for those who earn a living on the screen.

But let me share with you the story of one of my students. She was a top commercial booker (seriously, you saw her on TV daily for a year or so there) and then she had a slump. A full 18 months of nothing. She knows this because she uses a spreadsheet to map out her traction, auditions to callbacks to avails to bookings to renewed contracts on nationals. She could tell when things were going well and when they were not.

Finally, a spike! Back up! Back on TVs all over the country. Yay! But… what had changed?

Those 18 months in which she couldn’t book to save her life? She was getting Botox injections. She basically killed off the part of her scrunchy forehead that made her a booking machine! And as soon as she stopped paralyzing it, she was hot again.

Amazing.

I flipped past Sleepless in Seattle in my hotel room while on tour last month. I actually had a conversation with myself about whether that could possibly be Meg Ryan. Truly. I had this whole inner dialogue that went, “No. That’s not her. That’s… what’s her name? Oh, shoot. I totally remember seeing this movie in the theater when I was a teenager in Atlanta. Who IS that? It’s Meg Ryan, right? No. That’s not right. It’s… dammit! I need to check IMDb.”

Sure, sure, I’m over 40 and I have to check IMDb to be sure someone who is so totally, completely, absolutely for sure the star of a movie I’ve seen a zillion times is in that movie, ha ha ha. But the bigger point is that her brand has now shifted in my mind. She’s not just an older version of “America’s sweetheart,” which was her previous brand, but now she’s different. She has “pulled a Jennifer Grey.” Her face is not the same.

So, I guess what I’m begging folks to do, if they’re considering nipping, tucking, fixing, whatever… is to get some outside opinions. Not from other actors, not from agents or managers, not from producers, not from anyone in the industry, but from civilians. I’m not saying that core decisions need to be made based on surveys taken from outside one’s self (heavens, no!) ever, but perhaps, if there are folks begging you NOT to go under the knife, you should give it a minute.

What happens if you’ve spent tens of thousands of dollars, gone through excruciating pain, changed your face, eroded your brand, and now you cannot get cast? Then what? Ouch. Please, just think it through.

Bonnie Gillespie is living her dreams by helping others figure out how to live theirs. Wanna work with Bon? Start here. Thanks!

Originally published by Actors Access at http://more.showfax.com/columns/avoice/archives/001419.html. Please support the many wonderful resources provided by the Breakdown Services family. This posting is the author’s personal archive.