Amy Adams Is Nearly Unrecognizable With Her Natural Hair Color (And No, It's Not Red)

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One of the first things we think of when we picture Amy Adams is her stunning red hair. She's worn a gorgeous, vibrant shade in many of her biggest acting roles, from Giselle in "Enchanted" to Sydney Prosser in "American Hustle," so it's pretty shocking to find out it's not her natural color. "It's kind of a strawberry blond," she told Vogue of her natural locks. "But like most blonds, the blond has gone kind of ashy, so I assist it with the red."

She really took that to heart to land a role in "Dr. Vegas" in 2004, more than two decades before red hair became the hottest hue of summer 2023. "I played a nurse and there was this beautiful blond, Sarah Lancaster, who was cast," Adams recalled to Backstage. "I'm in a room with her, and they said, 'Someone's going to have to change their hair color.' She's tan with these beautiful lioness green eyes and this mane of blond hair. And I looked at her and me, with my pale freckles, and thought, 'Gee, I wonder which one of us is going to go red!'" But after the star embraced the hair transformation, she started getting more gigs. "It really changed things up. People began to see me in a different way, for different roles," she said.

In 2003, we got a glimpse at Adams as a blond when she appeared at Endeavor's MTV Movie Awards Party – and she looked totally different without her signature shade. The talented actor was almost unrecognizable with lighter locks, which were a gorgeous, blond toffee color (which reminded us of looks from Nicole Kidman's hair transformation) cut into face framing layers.

During a 2008 appearance on "Late Night with Conan O'Brien," Amy Adams opened up about how much she loves her redhead status. "I'm a natural blond, but blonds don't get treated very well in our society, so I enjoy being a redhead much more," she said, admitting she noticed a difference in how people responded to her after dying her locks.

But Adams hasn't just stuck with one hue. She's experimented with multiple different reds, particularly for work. For 2013's "American Hustle," she turned her locks deep red at the request of director David O. Russell. "[He] saw [the character] being this darker red. He thought it was really powerful, like she just was on fire. He said, 'I want it to feel like a cape,' so I grew it out for quite some time," Adams recalled to Vogue.

Three years later, for "Nocturnal Animals," she dyed her mane copper (a hair color trend that defined fall 2023) with the help of L'Oréal Professionnel artist and balayage expert Nancy Braun. "Amy's hair is like a sunset — different tones and hues from golden to copper. It's not monochromatic," Bruan, who recommends L'Oréal Professionnel Absolut Repair Hair Mask, told BehindTheChair.com. Clearly, from fiery reds to warm blonds, Adams can pull off any shade.