Celebrities have it all, right? Good looks, fame, money – sometimes, they just seem in a league above everyone else.
Tom Hardy is just pure perfection right? No deformities here, surely?
Believe it or not, though, celebrities are mere mortals just like the rest of us.
They have the same problems, the same woes and – sometimes – the same wonky toes.
Multi-coloured eyes, missing fingers, third (and sometimes fourth) nipples.
Celebs have their own abnormalities that, thanks to airbrushing and careful on-screen lighting, you may never have even noticed.
So prepare yourselves to be amazed as you uncover the quirky deformities that make each of our favourite celebrities unique…
29. Denzel Washington – crooked little finger
Even the wonderful and eternal heartthrob Denzel Washington, 62, comes with a tiny little flaw.
See how his finger bends?
The actor, who has won two Academy Awards, has a damaged pinky finger on his right hand from playing sport as a younger man.
The injury is so noticeable that Denzel chatted about his crooked digit on The Graham Norton Show back in 2014.
It’s more noticeable in this picture
“I went up for a pass playing American football and dislocated it,” Washington told Norton. “I had it rebuilt…but it’s like a gummy bear in there”.
The finger never set correctly. It is still crooked to this day, bent at the bottom knuckle and a full 45 degrees outwards from Washington’s other fingers. Ouch.
Here he is collecting an award
Still, Denzel’s cool about it now: today he calls the crooked pinky his ‘magic finger’. It’s certainly brought him a lot of luck.
28. Elizabeth Berkley – multi-coloured eyes
Look closely, and you’ll see there’s something a little different about Saved by the Bell and Showgirls actress Elizabeth Berkley. Have you spotted it yet?
See how one eyes is different to the other?
Berkley has sectoral heterochromia. What’s that I hear you cry? It’s a condition where a person has two different colours in one iris.
In Berkley’s case, her left eye is all green, her right eye is half green and half brown. Cool right?
We think it looks beautiful
Berkley also has a mole on her forehead. She has managed to cover this with camouflage makeup her entire career.
The actress began covering it up after she was bullied for it as a child, and has done ever since. You should be proud of your imperfections!
Here she is when she was younger
Berkley is far from alone in having Sectoral Heterochromia. Several celebs have it, including Christopher Walken, Mila Kunis and Henry Cavill. This means even Superman himself has his imperfections.
27. Billy Corgan – port-wine stain
He is one of the premier alternative rock stars of the 90s, and he might also be the most famous person with prominent nevus flammeus. We’re talking Billy Corgan.
What’s ‘nevus flammeus?’
In simple terms, this means the Smashing Pumpkins frontman has some unusual colouring to his skin in the form of a bright pink birthmark.
Corgan’s birthmark, which is also known as a firemark, is the result of what’s known as a vascular anomaly.
It’s a type of birth mark
The defect leads to dilated capillaries in the skin, resulting in a reddish to purplish discolouration in the affected area.
The distinctive colour is why the mark is most commonly referred to as a ‘port-wine stain’. Because it looks like wine. Get it?
It looks like a wine stain
Other well-known people with a firemark include Mikhail Gorbachev (forehead) and Tina Turner (right shoulder, back). Do you have one?
26. David Bowie – permanently dilated pupil
It was a prominent disfigurement that only added to the late David Bowie’s (one of the best singers of all time) extraterrestrial mystique.
Bowie already has a striking look
Bowie’s right eye, from when he was aged just 15, had a permanently dilated pupil.
During a fight with school friend George Underwood (it started over a girl they both liked, natch), Bowie took a life-altering punch (luckily not a life-ending punch).
It adds to his uniqueness
After Underwood’s fingernail clipped Bowie’s eye, the Starman was put in hospital for four months. FOUR MONTHS! That’s a long time for one punch.
Several operations repaired some of the damage, but Bowie was still left with faulty depth perception and the dilated pupil that would become a trademark.
The way it happened sounds painful
Amazingly, Bowie and Underwood stayed friends, and Underwood even went on to design the iconic covers for Bowie’s Hunky Dory and Ziggy Stardust albums. Some things you just have to put behind you…
25. Jonah Hill – scarred arm
He might be one of Hollywood’s most popular funnymen, but there’s one thing Jonah Hill doesn’t ever joke about.
His scar is no joke
Keep a close eye on Hill in the likes of Superbad and Maniac, and you’ll see on his right arm is an unmistakable scar.
The scar is the result of a teenage misadventure, which viewed from afar, looks like a burn.
It happened in a car accident
When he was fifteen years old, Hill took to acting out, which culminated in he and a friend joyriding around LA in an SUV.
As the teenager stuck his arm out of the window, the car crashed. It dragged Hill’s arm along the road and leaving it horrifically damaged.
They were going to amputate his arm
Hill woke up to doctors discussing whether or not to amputate. Thankfully for him, they decided they could save the arm. He today calls the scar “One of the biggest things ever in my life”, and a constant visual reminder to work hard and be successful.
24. Joaquin Phoenix – lip scar
You’ve probably noticed Joaquin Phoenix’s prominent scar before, just above his lips, but you probably don’t know how he got it.
The actor has a noticeable scar
This kind of scar is usually the result of an operation for a cleft palate; however, Joaq’s may be a bit different.
According to is own admission, his lip scar is simply a birth mark, and not the consequence of surgery.
He has had it from birth
Phoenix has instead claimed in interviews that his mother, during pregnancy, felt a sharp pain while carrying Joaquin. Sounds like a made up story to us.
Says Phoenix, the scar was already there at birth (though the claim may be best taken with a pinch of salt, considering how much the actor likes to screw with the media).
It adds a grizzly appearance
Other notable actors with a ‘lip scar’ that resulted from cleft palate surgery include Tom Burke, Jason Robards and Stacy Keach. Joaquin isn’t alone!
23. Megan Fox – clubbed thumbs
With her near perfect looks, it’s easy to miss Megan Fox’s thumbs – unless you’re one of those people who has become obsessed with them, in which case you’ll know all about them.
Megan Fox is a beautiful actress
Megan Fox is one of many to have ‘clubbed thumbs’, more technically known as brachydactyly of the thumb. Clubbed thumbs is easier for everyone to say.
This is a genetic condition, characterised by one or both of the thumb nails being clubbed and the thumb being fat and round.
Her deformity isn’t really noticeable
Typically, the distal phalanx – or, the ‘end bit’ – of the thumb for people with clubbed thumbs is two-thirds the normal size.
The condition is sometimes known as murderer’s thumb, a name originally coined by gypsy fortune tellers.
The condition has a grizzly nickname
To Megan Fox’s online haters, however, the condition has come to be known simply as ‘toe thumbs’. This is a less glamorous name for the condition.
22. Daryl Hannah – missing fingertip
In 2010, Daryl Hannah told the Daily Mail: “When I was three years old, I had an accident that still influences my attitude.”
This one isn’t very noticeable either
The accident Hannah was referring to occurred when she was at her grandma’s house in Chicago as a nipper.
Hannah was playing on her grandmother’s stairlift when the device trapped the index finger on her left hand.
It’s pretty clear in this pic
After the accident, Hannah’s index finger was left missing two joints – not that you’d know it from watching her movies.
Often, Hannah’s absent half-a-digit has been obscured in films or even disguised by a prosthetic.
It has been covered up in films
The actress doesn’t want to hide it in real life, though. She says “It was terrifying, but could have been so much worse – and it has bestowed on me an ability to be a more compassionate person.”
21. George Takei – deformed foot
Unfortunately for Mr Sulu, one of his feet boldly went where no foot has gone before – and never returned.
Look at how the toe is bent
According to Star Trek star and LGBT activist George Takei, one foot is now permanently cramped.
And, says Takei, the responsibility lies with one well-intentioned but ultimately life-changing fan. Go on, we’re listening…
It all began as a nice gesture from a fan
Years ago – we’re talking back in the 70s – Takei received a pair of running shoes from a fan that the actor subsequently wore on a 10k run.
After the run, Takei’s right foot “got the most horrific cramp and all the muscle on my right side cramped up”.
He tried to have it fixed
Takei had surgery to correct the damage, but after a short while the foot returned to its (now permanently) curved state.
Gary Burghoff – Poland Syndrome
Through the 1970s and 80s, MASH was one of the biggest and most popular shows on the air. Gary Burghoff was one of its biggest stars.
You might spot the deformity in the picture below
Even if you were a fan of the show, however, you may not have noticed Burghoff’s unique appendage. Not unless you paused in exactly the right place.
If you take another look at Burghoff’s left hand, you’ll notice the fingers appear much smaller than those on his right.
One finger is much smaller than the others
This is because Burghoff, who starred as Radar from season one to season eight of MASH, has Poland syndrome. And no, that doesn’t mean he only speaks Polish.
It means that Burghoff’s fingers (excepting his thumb and pinky) are shorter than the average.
He still manages to hold his cuppa ok
It did Burghoff’s career no harm, mind, what with MASH being the most watched TV show ever made.
19. Padma Lakshmi – scarred arm
Padma Lakshmi is a media multi-hyphenate. Not only is she a world famous model and TV host, she’s also a successful author, actress and columnist to boot. That’s quite a CV.
Padma’s scar is very noticeable
What’s most amazing is that Lakshmi managed to cultivate such a healthy career in an image-obsessed industry despite a blatant physical flaw.
You will see that on Lakshmi’s right arm, there is a seven-inch scar that she’s had since she was a teen.
She is a famous actress and TV host
Lakshmi got the scar when she was only 14 years old, after the family car crashed 40ft off the freeway.
The crash shattered Lakshmi’s right arm and left her with a surgery scar, measuring 7 inches long and half an inch wide. Sounds extremely painful.
She got the scar from a car crash
Lakshmi has categorically refused to hide it, though, telling reporters “My body is a blueprint of my life, of every tragedy – emotional or physical.”
18. Seal – facial scars
Second to his incredible voice and banging tunes, Seal is probably best recognised for his distinctive facial features…
Seal’s face is covered in scars
Seal, who’s real name is Henry Olusegun Adeola Samuel, was left with what look like deep pock marks in his nose and cheeks after a battle with an illness as a youngster.
The prominent scars are a result of a condition called discoid lupus erythematosus. It affects the skin above the neck.
It’s a type of medical condition
Usually only a problem for young people, the auto-immune disease causes intense inflammation that develops in the skin.
If the condition is left untreated for too long, scarring can occur, particularly in sun-exposed areas.
Scarring occurs in sun-exposed areas
The scars have not impacted Seal’s career too much: they’ve become a defining feature. It never held him back from marrying supermodel Heidi Klum anyway!
17. Martin Sheen – short left arm
Martin Sheen’s deformity is so subtle, you’ve probably never noticed it despite the actor having graced our screens for close to 50 years now. We must say, we never noticed it before writing this post.
Martin has one arm shorter than the other
In the actor’s own words, he’s “got this deformed left arm, three inches shorter than the right, can’t do a thing with it”.
Unfortunately, it has been that way for Sheen since the day that he was born, some 78 years ago. And it has never caused him a problem.
Sheen was born with the ‘deformity’
It does sound painful how it happened though, but mainly for his mother. During a difficult birth, Sheen was brought into the world with forceps, which crushed his left arm.
This gave Sheen’s arm limited lateral movement, and by adulthood the arm was three inches shorter than Sheen’s right. And about Sheen’s claim that he “can’t do a thing with it”? Well, West Wing fans know that Jed Bartlet found a way to make it work.
It clearly hasn’t affected his career
And about Sheen’s claim that he “can’t do a thing with it”? Well, West Wing fans know that Jed Bartlet found a way to make it work. You go Sheen!
16. Britney Spears – psoriasis
She was the 90s and 00s queen of squeaky-clean pop, but Britney Spears has never been entirely blemish-free. I mean, look at her meltdown phase.
Hit me baby one more time
Spears, like 125 million people worldwide (or 2-3% of the global population), is said to suffer from psoriasis.
Psoriasis is a skin condition characterised by scaly red patches that can flare up when the sufferer is under pressure.
The condition causes scaly red patched on the skin
It’s understandable that Spears would suffer a breakout from time to time: as everyone knows, Spears, more than most celebs, has been under enormous pressure almost her entire adult life. Spears more than most understands this.
Areas that are commonly affected include the scalp, knees and elbows, but the feet – where Britney has previously been affected – can get it too.
Britney has it near her feet
Spears isn’t the only one. Kim Kardashian, LeAnn Rimes and legendary folk singer Art Garfunkel have all suffered from psoriasis from time to time. Even the rich can’t control nature.
15. Tom Hardy – permanently curled finger
On-screen, Hardy is famed for his fearsome performances, but the actor’s off-screen reputation for intensity isn’t entirely unearned, either.
How could Tom Hardy possibly be imperfect?
When he was young, Hardy was a hellraiser, being arrested for joyriding and gun possession in his youth and almost losing his life to drug addiction.
One incident in his early days also left him with a deformity that he carries to this day.
Well it’s our imperfections that make us…you guessed it…perfect
A little accident with a chopping board and a kitchen knife saw Hardy stab through the little finger on his right hand, severing a tendon.
The injury required three operations to allow Hardy to make a fist, but the actor’s finger now remains permanently bent.
It is caused by a severed tendon
He also has a scar on his face. Hardy got when he “fell off a chair superbly doing a dance class in contemporary ballet”. Take note: dance can be dangerous, kids.
14. Jennifer Garner – crooked toe
The answer’s most likely a ‘no’, but reader, have you ever taken a good look at Jennifer Garner’s feet? Like, a really good look.
You need to take a good look to notice this
If you had, you’d notice that the Alias star and former Batfleck wife is packing a ‘floating toe’ on her right foot.
Garner has a condition called brachymetatarsia, but which is more commonly referred to as floating toe, owing to how the digit hovers above the others.
The condition is known as ‘floating toe’
Though we’re not quite sure how Garner got the bent pinky, it’s probably the result of a genetic condition.
More commonly, brachymetatarsia happens when one of the bones in the foot is too short, leaving the toe to overlap. Oosh.
One toe ‘floats’ above the other
The condition is most commonly found in women, so Garner can take comfort in knowing she’s far from alone.
13. Kesha – tail
When it comes to Kesha, the weird doesn’t stop at her claims that she once had sex with a ghost. Sex with a ghost! Just imagine that.
Now this is a weird one
Kesha (or Ke$ha, if you prefer) has also made the very bold claim of being born with an extra body part. Now we’re interested…
In 2013, Kesha told Heat magazine that she had a tail at birth: “It was a tiny tail, about a quarter of an inch”.
Kesha was born with a tail
“They chopped it off and stole my tail when I was little”, the pop star continued. “I’m really sad about that story.”
As it turns out, it’s not all that strange. When inside the womb, everyone develops a ‘tail’, an echo of our primate roots. Hmmm, maybe she’s telling the truth.
They’re an echo of our primate roots
This eventually dies off for most people in the womb, but some are still born with a vestigial tail, which are commonly removed.
12. Lily Allen – third nipple
Lily Allen is not known for being the most reserved British celebrity. In 2007, she did something pretty outrageous.
What’s better than two nipples?
Live on British television, the singer elected to raise her top and reveal a nipple.
It’s something that might have caused more outrage, however, if the body part Allen was actually exposing hadn’t been superfluous.
That’s right! It’s three nipples!
The Smile and Not Fair singer hasn’t been shy about the fact that she was born with a third nipple.
Allen has taken it out and showed it off on television on more than one occasion.
Lily loves showing off her extra asset
According to research, there are many people have more than two nipples, but in most cases these are mistaken for birthmarks.
11. Mark Wahlberg – third nipple
Lily Allen isn’t the only celeb who was loud-and-proud born with a third nipple. Actor Mark Wahlberg is more than happy to talk about his.
It seems like everyone has them
Along with Allen, Zac Efron and Tilda Swinton – the former Marky Mark is also a member of the esteemed trip-nip club.
“It’s actually the size of an infant’s nipple, it didn’t grow,” Wahlberg said after he confirmed the rumour.
Look at how hunky he is!
In Wahlberg’s early days, the nipple was always getting airbrushed out, but when recently asked if he’d ever consider getting it removed, Wahlberg said no way.
Third nipples in humans are surprisingly common; it’s thought that 1 in every 18 people has one.
We want one
Wahlberg now refers to his tiny spec of an additional nipple as his “prized possession”.
10. Forest Whitaker – lazy eye
Forest Whitaker’s most distinctive feature is so familiar – his face has regularly been on our screens since the 80s – that you might not even register it anymore.
You may have noticed Forest’s lazy eye
The Black Panther and Last King Of Scotland actor was, however, born with a drooping eye.
Whitaker’s ptosis, which affects his left eye, is hereditary – his father suffered from it as well.
It’s called ptosis
Though Whitaker has considered getting surgery to correct his ptosis – not because of the way it looks, but because it “impairs my vision” – he’s otherwise pretty zen about it.
Whitaker knows that the eye “informs” the way some people see him, but he doesn’t “think it makes me look bad or anything. It just is”.
It affects his left eye
After almost four decades, it would be difficult to imagine Whitaker without the droop; hell, some critics have even said it adds to his performances.
9. Dan Aykroyd – webbed feet
Busting may make him feel good, but Dan Aykroyd might not feel quite as positive about his feet.
Dan Aykroyd starred in Ghost Busters
You wouldn’t know it, because he very rarely allows his feet to be seen on camera, but Aykroyd has syndactyly.
More commonly, you’ll know syndactyly as webbed toes, which is characterised by the fusion of two or more digits.
He has some pretty ghoulish feet
For Aykroyd, having syndactyly means two digits apiece being fused together on both of his feet.
At birth, human beings have a one in 2,000 chance of having the condition. There is no known cause.
Ashton Kutcher has it too
Aykroyd isn’t the only celebrity with the condition, either: Ashton Kutcher has a less severe form of syndactyly in his own feet.
8. Karolína Kurková – missing bellybutton
Czech model and actress Karolína Kurková is proof that you don’t need to be flawless to make it in showbusiness.
Karolína is a supermodel
Kurková, best known as a former Victoria’s Secret Angel and Vogue cover star, has also appeared in films including GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra.
Anna Wintour, notorious editor of the biggest magazine in the world: American Vogue, even called Kurková the “next supermodel”.
She is favoured by Anna Wintour
All this, in a famously perfectionist (and depressing) industry, despite Kurková having an obvious physical imperfection.
Kurková has a smooth indentation where her belly button should be, though nobody knows for sure why.
She doesn’t have a belly button as such
The BBC does, however, speculate that Kurková has no belly button “as a result of the surgery needed to correct abdominal problems at birth”.
7. Kate Bosworth – different-coloured eyes
Superman Returns actress Kate Bosworth’s ethereal beauty may be even more otherworldly than you’d noticed.
This is another case of heterochromia
Bosworth has a condition called heterochromia iridum, which in plain English means she has two different coloured eyes.
This is distinct from the sectoral heterochromia that the likes of Elizabeth Berkley and Henry Cavill have.
Both eyes are a different colour
Unlike sectoral heterochromia, where a part of the iris is a different colour from the main, heterochromia iridum involves one eye being a wholly different colour.
For Kate Bosworth, while her right eye is almost entirely hazel, her left is entirely blue.
It’s a beautiful thing
Bosworth isn’t the only celeb to have this condition. Simon Pegg and Dan Aykroyd both have it, too.
6. Andy Garcia – conjoined twin scar
Cuban-American smoothie Andy Garcia entered the world in far stranger circumstances than many people know.
Andy Garcia was born with a conjoined twin
Born in Havana, Cuba at a time when Fidel Castro reigned with an iron fist – the family not long after fled to Miami – Garcia’s unusual birth made things even more eventful.
The Untouchables and Ocean’s Eleven actor wasn’t born alone: he had a twin, attached to Garcia by the shoulder.
They were attacked by the shoulder
This conjoined twin, though, arrived malformed. About the size of a softball, it was soon removed.
A scar on Garcia’s shoulder is all that the actor has to remind him of his strange beginnings today.
The twin was removed
Conjoined twins are extremely rare. It’s estimated that between only 1 in 49,000 births and 1 in 189,000 births see the phenomenon occur.
5. Harry Styles – extra nipples
Perhaps the most successful solo performer from the now disbanded One Direction, Harry Styles certainly has his former bandmates beat in the nipple department.
Harry, like Mark and Lily, has a third nipple
The hunk beats even Lily Allen and Mark Wahlberg in that area: Styles doesn’t have one extra nipple, but two.
He confirmed as much in an interview with Chelsea Handler last year, pointing out the two small, dark spots below his “usual” nipples.
It’s not noticeable amongst his tattoos
Styles jokingly tried to explain away his polythelia – that’s the technical term for having one or more extra nipples – in 2013.
“I think I must have been a twin, but then the other one went away and left its nipples behind.”
We’re drooling
He’s OK with it, though: Styles called his extra nips his best trait in a radio interview with Nick Grimshaw last year.
4. Halle Berry – extra toes(?)
It’s been the subject of internet debate for years: does Catwoman have a couple of extra digits about her paws?
This would help being Catwoman
For years, photos have circulated of what some believe shows an extra, partially formed pair of digits next to Berry’s little toes.
In medical circles, a person born with an extra finger or toe is said to have polydactyly.
Can you spot it?
It’s often genetic, passed down from generation to generation, and is usually a mere cosmetic deformity.
Additional ‘digits’ tend to be just soft tissue minus any joints. They’re more often than not simply removed.
She’s proud of showing it
Whether Berry has partial polydacytly is still a matter of speculation, but it sure looks like something ain’t right.
3. Gemma Arterton – extra fingers
Unlike Halle Berry, this one’s been confirmed by the star herself: Gemma Arterton 100% has polydactyly.
This is quite the opposite
Actually, make that had: though she was born with extra digits, Arterton hasn’t been a polydactyl for a while.
It was in a 2008 interview that Arterton first revealed that she had been born with an extra finger on each hand.
Gemma Aterton had an extra finger
“It’s my little oddity that I’m really proud of. People are really interested but repulsed at the same time”.
The fingers were removed shortly after Arterton was born, however – you can still see the small scars – as there was no bone in the actual digits.
It was removed not long after she was born
The actress thinks it’s just the beginning for the human race, though: “My dad had them, and my grandad. I feel like we’re one step ahead – a sign of things to come”.
2. Vince Vaughn – partially severed thumb
Vince Vaughn may have been luckier than Daryl Hannah, but the result of his own accident as a young man has left him with no less freakish a digit.
Someone else with hand problems
When he was 17, Vaughn got into a car accident, luckily walking away with his life but – less fortunately – not all of his body parts.
The crash left Vaughn with the end of his thumb missing, derailing the future funnyman’s ambitions of being a pro sportsman.
Vince Vaughn has the end of his thumb missing
At the time of the accident, Vaughn was a passionate polo player. However, after the accident, doctors advised him to give it up.
Vaughn has embraced the accident with predictable humour, though: he calls his mangled thumb a “penis with a fingernail”.
You can see it in this picture
The accident was also a blessing in disguise. No longer being able to play polo, Vaughn invested more time into another of his passions: theatre. And that, as they say, was that.
1. Matthew Perry – partially severed middle finger
Even the stars of Friends have their little quirks. Here, we look at Matthew Perry, aka Chandler.
Matthew Perry has a partially severed middle finger
It might not appear obvious, but Matthew Perry is missing part of his little finger.
It all apparently occurred as the result of an accident, back when Perry was much younger.
It should look longer than the others
His grandad accidentally shut a car door on Perry’s hand when he was little. Ouch.
He must have felt so guilty. The accident meant that Perry lost part of his finger.
It’s noticeably shorter
Ironically, in Friends, he misses part of his little pinky when Monica drops a knife on it by accident.
