Should botox be banned from Hollywood?

Actress Rachel Wiesz takes a stand against the frozen forehead

Published July 10, 2009 1:11PM (EDT)

In her review of "Australia," Salon critic Stephanie Zacharek could not help pointing out the obvious about star Nicole Kidman: "What about that forehead?" she wrote. "The colleague next to me asked me what I thought it was made of. I said it might be Melamine -- whatever it is, you could break an egg against it with no trouble. "

Kidman is an actress of no small gifts, but it was that immovable forehead, that swath of skin dive-bombed by botox, that stole the show. This topic is nothing new in Hollywood, of course. But it's always interesting when actresses choose to speak out about it -- whether to own up to their own nips and tucks or to try to sandbag the idea that squirting poison between your eyes is an A-list job requirement. And so we have Rachel Weisz -- Oscar-winning star of "The Constant Gardener," partner to director Darren Aronofsky (love her, by the way) -- recently speaking out against the practice in an interview with Harper's Bazaar UK (the interview has been picked up by gossip sites but has yet to go online):

"It should be banned for actors, as steroids are for sportsmen ... Acting is all about expression; why would you want to iron out a frown?"

Wiesz is a healthy 38, by the way. And she can rock a pair of those over-the-knee "hooker boots." But I digress. Should we ban botox? Or just, you know, strongly discourage it? Regardless, we've said before, we'll say again: It's supremely sucky when an actress, trying so desperately to keep herself in the game, robs herself of the expressiveness that got her there in the first place. 


By Sarah Hepola

Sarah Hepola is the author of the New York Times bestselling memoir, "Blackout: Remembering the Things I Drank to Forget."

MORE FROM Sarah Hepola


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