Why actress Joey King shaved her head for the third time
Dedicated actress Joey King really loves getting into a role, especially if it means shaving her head for it.
The 19-year-old is preparing for the new series "The Act," where she is set to portray Gypsy Rose Blanchard. She posted a video and pictures to Instagram of her once again chopping off her hair for the project and it's actually the third time she's done this in her young, but bright career.
"My name for the next 4 months, is Gypsy Rose Blanchard," she wrote. "This story is very disturbing and I am honored to be able to portray it. What a wild ride this will be on 'The Act' @hulu Link in my bio for the exclusive interview I gave with @allure talking about the decision to shave my head for a 3rd time for a project I’m so ready to take on."
In "The Act," King will play Blanchard, who with the aid of her then boyfriend, killed her mother in 2015.
For much of her life, Blanchard was confined to a wheelchair and allegedly sick with ailments like leukemia and muscular dystrophy. After the mother's death, it was found out that Blanchard never had any of the ailments she and her mother had claimed her entire life.
While Blanchard took a plea deal and received 10 years in prison, her boyfriend, Nicholas Godejohn, has pleaded not guilty and is expected to go to trial later this year.
But King's transformation into Blanchard isn't the first time she's shaved her head and committed fully for a role like this.
She did so in 2012's "The Dark Knight Rises" and again in 2014's "Wish I Was Here" opposite Zach Braff and Kate Hudson.
"I've never really had an attachment to my hair. I couldn't care less what happens to it," King told Allure magazine about preparing for this new role. "No part of me was nervous or was second-guessing it."
And these drastic changes may be for roles in films and shows, but King is using it as a lighting rod to inspire other women to be free of the shackles of what as perceived as beauty.
"I know this sounds crazy, and not a lot of people will agree with me, but I think every woman should shave her head at least once in her life. It's not like they're going to regret it 10 years down the line when their hair is long again. It's something that's very freeing, really fun, and really empowering," she added to Allure.
She says this philosophy has spilled over to when her hair does grow back, throwing caution to the wind and fully enjoying change.
"A little bit over a month ago, I decided, 'Screw it, I'm going to go blonde,' ... And then after I was blonde for a little while, before I shaved my head, I got this crazy idea and I just went to the store, got a box of blue hair dye, and my sister dyed my hair blue for me," she added.
