Celebrities With Very Visible Scars Explain The Reason Why They Have Them

They say every scar has a story... and some of these are pretty crazy stories

Ariana

• Published in Film & TV
• May 24, 2020

They say every scar has a story... and some of these are pretty crazy stories! We all have scars, and for most of us they can be attributed to a childhood accident, scratching chicken pox blisters or running into something (probably drunk).

These stories aren't very interesting, but like most things, when it comes to celebrities, scar stories are suddenly a little more intriguing. It's often said that, 'nobody is ugly, just poor'.

And it seems that many celebrities can fix just about anything they don't like about themselves (wrinkles, breast size, freckles... the list goes on). One thing they can't fix however, is scarring. Sometimes, no matter how much money you have, your scars are still with you for life.

Imgur user Cheesemenolike recently compiled a list of famous celebrities and their scars.

Tommy Flanagan - facial scar from being robbed!

"He has a facial scar that is known as a Glasgow Smile. He grew up in Glasgow, Scotland, in a rough part of the city. As he left a pub one night after a dj gig, a group of people tried to rob him. He fought back and was stabbed. They slashed his face from ear to ear."

Jason Momoa - facial scar from a glass attack

"Momoa got the scar running across his left eyebrow back in 2008. He was at a Hollywood bar when a man attacked him with a broken pint glass and cut him.

The actor had to get 140 stitches during reconstructive surgery! Meanwhile, Momoa's attacker was sentenced to 5 years in prison."

Sean Bean - facial scar caused by HARRISON FORD!!!

"Bean got the scar on his face when Harrison Ford accidentally hit him with a boat hook. They were shooting Bean's death scene in the 1992 movie Patriot Games.

However, there is an upside to all of this. Bean's scar meant that he looked much more rugged than before and landed him a role in Sharpe's Rifles. The scar also gave Bean's characters Boromir in The Lord of the Rings and Odysseus in Troy more depth and a certain world-weariness."

Tina Fey - attacked with a knife by an unknown man at 5-years-old!

"Tina has a thin scar running underneath her lips, to the left side of her face. A violent attacker assaulted her with a knife when she was just 5 years old. The man was never found.

Seal - facial scarring from a childhood illness.

"There have been a lot of rumors about Seal's scars. Some thought that they're tribal ritual scars. While others believed that they were the result of some horrible accident.

However, none of those rumors are correct. The singer-songwriter has scars on his face because he suffered from Discoid Lupus Erythematosus as a child.

DLE is a skin disease that causes inflammation, lesions, scarring, and permanent hair loss."

Keanu Reeves - abdominal scar from a motorbike accident.

"Keanu got his abdominal scar when he wrecked his motorcycle in Topanga Canyon. He was on a so-called 'demon ride (which means having no headlights on at night) when he crashed into the side of a mountain. He was hospitalized for a week with broken ribs and a ruptured spleen.

Keanu talked about how he got his scar with Chris Heath of Rolling Stone magazine. "I call that a demon ride," Keanu told him. "That’s when things are going badly. But there’s other times when you go fast, or too fast, out of exhilaration. I remember saying in my head, 'I’m going to die.'" Keanu spent half an hour lying on the pavement before help arrived.

"I remember calling out for help. And someone answering out of the darkness, and then the flashing lights of an ambulance coming down. This was after a truck ran over my helmet. I took it off because I couldn’t breathe, and a truck came down. I got out of the way, and it ran over my helmet," the actor shared.

Keanu says that this is the lesson that he learned: "Now I know that if I want to take a demon ride and I don’t want to die . . . then I shouldn’t take it." He added that had to get a couple more 'demon rides' out of his system and "probably" has a couple more left."

Andy Warhol - chest scar from a gunshot wound!

"Warhol was an American artist and a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art. He was shot and seriously wounded by an attack in 1968 and barely survived: surgeons had to open his chest and massage his heart to help stimulate it.

Warhol's attacker was Valerie Solanas who was a radical feminist writer and advocated the elimination of men. In fact, she actually appeared in one of his films, 'I, a Man' (1968).

Solanas' bullet damaged both of Warhol's lungs and he had to wear a surgical corset for the rest of his life."

J. R. Martinez - scars to the body from burns

"Actor and motivational speaker Martinez sustained severe burns to over 34 percent of his body in 2003 while serving as an Army infantryman in Iraq.

He was driving a Humvee when its left front tire hit an IED. Martinez was evacuated to the Ramstein air base in Germany for immediate care. Later, he was transferred to the Army Institute of Surgical Research Burn Center at the Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, Texas.

Martinez spent 34 months there and underwent 33 plastic surgery and skin graft surgeries. Since recovering, he has traveled around the US speaking about his experiences to corporations, veterans groups, schools, and other organizations.

Steve Buscemi - face and neck scars from a bar brawl (with Vince Vaughan).

"Buscemi got his scar in 2001 while filming the movie Domestic Disturbance, in North Carolina. One day, Buscemi, actor Vince Vaughn, and screenwriter Scott Rosenberg went out to a bar called the Firebelly Lounge.

After a woman started chatting to Vaughn, a fight broke out with her boyfriend. Buscemi rushed to his friend's aid and that's when 21-year-old Timothy Fogerty stabbed him above the eye, in the jaw, in the throat, and in the arm. Buscemi could have died from his wounds. Luckily, he survived. The police had to use pepper spray to put an end to the brawl."

Jonah Hill - arm scars from a car accident at 15

"He was 15 when it all came to a head. He and a friend snuck out one night in an SUV. Hill stuck his elbow out the open window as they headed into the night, and his friend started turning the wheel back and forth, joking around. The car flipped over, skidded along the road and dragged Hill’s arm with it. Hill woke up in the hospital, and he heard two doctors discussing whether or not to amputate his arm."

Harrison Ford - chin scar from a boring car acciden

"Out of all of these stories, Ford's is probably the most mundane. He got the scar on his chin back in 1964 when he moved to LA to pursue a career in Hollywood.

He was driving to his job at Bullock's department store one morning when he realized that he forgot to put his seat belt.

While Ford was fumbling for it, he veered off the road and crashed the car into a telephone pole. The crash was so powerful that Ford slammed his chin on the steering wheel and then flew through the windshield."

Michael K. Williams - facial scarring from a bar fight in NYC

"Actor Williams got his scar on his 25th birthday during a bar fight on Jamaica Avenue in New York City.

He drank too much, got in an argument with other men at a bar and they cut him with a razor blade from the top of his head to his neck. He nearly died.

Since that night, Williams' scar has become his signature feature and helped him get offers to perform as a thug in music videos and gave him modeling opportunities with known photographers like David LaChapelle." 

Sharon Stone - neck scarring from a very scary horse riding accident.

"Stone got the scar on her neck when she was a child: she was riding on a horse and ran into a taut cord. Stone's scar is concealed in a lot of publicity photos using make-up and airbrushing.

Her neck scar sparked a lot rumors, one of which that it's supposedly related to a facelift."

Queen Latifah - a head scar from a childhood injury

"She has a two-inch scar just under her hairline. When she was 3, she was playing tag with her brother. She tripped and hit her head on the corner of the bathroom wall. After getting three stitches, she fell and busted it open again"

Padma Lakshmi - a huge scar on her arm from a car accident.

"...She was injured in a car accident in Malibu, California, which left her with a fractured right hip and a shattered right upper arm. The arm injury required surgery, which left her with a seven-inch scar between her elbow and shoulder."

Joaquin Phoenix - a facial scar that he was born with

"Phoenix was born with a scar between his lip and nose: it's most likely a microform cleft which is the mildest form of cleft lip and usually appears as a scar or a small notch. Around 6.8k babies born in the US each year have some form of cleft lip or cleft palate.

The actor said in interviews that he thinks it's a birthmark that was a the result of an "act of God." He said: "While pregnant with me, my mother felt a sharp pain one day, and I was born with a mark on my lip."

Kaley Cuoco - a bad leg scar from a horse-riding accident.

"She completely crushed the bottom of her leg during a horseback riding incident."

Charlie Puth - facial scarring from a childhood dog attack

"Fans have speculated that singer Charlie Puth shaves his eyebrow, he actually was bitten by a dog when he was two."

Sandra Bullock - facial scarring from a childhood accident

"She has a tiny scar near her left eye. She's reportedly had it since she was little, as she fell into a lake once and hit her head on a rock."

Prince William - facial scar from a golf accident

"The Prince was accidentally hit with a golf club when he was 13."

Ed Sheeran - a drunken accident caused a head scar

"He did not get his face cut when Princes Beatrice accidentally hit him with a ceremonial sword. That was the story he and James Blunt fabricated. Sheeran was just drunk, fooling around and he cut himself."

Miles Teller - body scarring from a serious car accident

"He was in a car accident that almost took his life."

Kate Middleton - head scarring from surgery

"he has a three-inch scar in her hairline from a 'childhood operation'."

Adrian Pasdar - facial and neck scarring from a car accident

"In his freshman year at the college he got into a bad car accident which left scars on his cheeks and chin."

Joe Jonas - facial scarring from running into a wall

"Joe got the scar right between his eyebrows when he ran into a wall while he was filming a YouTube video with his brothers."

Kylie Jenner - famous leg scar from a childhood accident

"The scar she sustained on her leg as a result of an accident while climbing a pole when she was five."

Ariana