Curly Hair Celebrities Who Made Curls Iconic

If you've got curly hair, you know the struggle. Humidity, frizz, that one curl that refuses to cooperate. But you also know the payoff: when curls are having a good day, nothing beats them.

For years, Hollywood mostly pushed sleek, straight hair as the red carpet ideal. Plenty of these stars spent their early careers blowing out their curls, then decided they were done hiding them. Now they're some of the most copied hairstyles out there.

Here are 12 celebrities with curly hair, from the iconic ringlets of the 90s to the natural coils redefining red carpet beauty today.

Iconic Curls and Ringlets

Julia Roberts

Those big, bouncy red curls in Pretty Woman? Hair history. Julia Roberts' volume had everyone reaching for a diffuser in 1990, and her natural texture still shows up whenever she skips the blowout.

Sarah Jessica Parker

You can't picture Carrie Bradshaw without those blonde ringlets. Sarah Jessica Parker kept her curls front and center through six seasons of Sex and the City and later in And Just Like That, and they've basically become her trademark off screen too.

Keri Russell

Keri Russell's curls were such a big deal on Felicity that when she cut them short in season two, it became a TV controversy and the network blamed it for a ratings dip. She's since starred in The Americans and The Diplomat, but fans still talk about those curls.

Nicole Kidman

Before the sleek blonde look she's known for now, Nicole Kidman had a mane of natural strawberry curls, which you can see in early films like Days of Thunder and Far and Away. She's one of our famous blonde actresses today, but her curly era still has a cult following.

Andie MacDowell

Andie MacDowell has always had curls, but she made headlines when she stopped dyeing her hair and walked the Cannes red carpet with silver curls in 2021. A longtime L'Oréal Paris ambassador, she's become a role model for anyone embracing gray hair.

Shakira

Shakira's golden curls have been part of her look since the early 2000s. Whether they're tousled for a Super Bowl halftime show or swept into a red carpet updo, they move almost as much as her hips.

Natural Curls and Coils

Tracee Ellis Ross

Tracee Ellis Ross has been celebrating her big, natural curls since her Girlfriends days. She loved them so much she founded Pattern Beauty in 2019, a haircare line made specifically for curly, coily and tight-textured hair.

Viola Davis

At the 2012 Oscars, Viola Davis took off her wig and walked the red carpet with her short natural hair, a moment many women still talk about. She's since won an Oscar for Fences and become one of the few stars to earn an EGOT.

Lupita Nyong'o

Lupita Nyong'o has made her short, natural coils part of her signature since winning an Oscar for 12 Years a Slave. In 2017 she called out a magazine for editing out part of her hair on its cover, sparking a bigger conversation about how natural hair is shown in fashion media.

Yara Shahidi

Yara Shahidi grew up on screen in Black-ish and Grown-ish, graduated from Harvard, and later played Tinker Bell in Disney's Peter Pan & Wendy. Her big, voluminous curls are pretty much always on point.

Zendaya

Zendaya switches up her hair constantly, from sleek bobs to dramatic updos, but her natural curls are still some of her most loved looks. Whenever she wears them out on a press tour, fans flood social media asking for her routine.

Issa Rae

Issa Rae created and starred in HBO's Insecure, where her character's natural hairstyles became a major talking point. From twist-outs to defined curls, she showed off just how versatile natural hair can be.

Final Thoughts

From Carrie Bradshaw's ringlets to Viola Davis's natural Oscars moment, these celebrities proved curls don't need taming. They just need a little love, a good diffuser and the confidence to let them do their thing.

Looking for more hair inspo? Zendaya, Selena Gomez and Penélope Cruz all made our list of 20 famous brunette actresses, grouped by age from their 20s to their 50s.