10 Bearded Celebs Who Perfected the Silver Fox Look

The term “silver fox” brings a certain image immediately to mind, the dashing, debonair older gentleman who’s still breaking hearts even in his later years. Perfectly groomed though slightly grayed, these men give the younger generation hope that age does not have to take our good looks away from us. The ten names you see here are the cream of the silver crop, ten Hollywood names that have leaned into their gray hair instead of shying away from it. Use these men as a guide to how salty scruff can be just as majestic as a fully-colored chin.

George Clooney

The man has always been a template for the good-looking guy, but George Clooney’s older years have brought out the best in him thanks to his manly grey mane. The grayed out chinstrap look is perfectly suited on his face, and the goatee adds a bit of shape to make the look even better. More importantly it doesn’t matter whether it’s grown out long or freshly groomed; we’ve seen both versions, and Clooney’s gray beard is a beautiful sight regardless. As if we men didn’t have enough to be jealous of, George keeps changing the game with every passing year.

Pierce Brosnan

Pierce Brosnan’s grizzled chin is a thing of beauty, though slightly jarring considering just how fresh-faced he was in the James Bond films of the mid-90s. He’s pulled off multiple looks too, from the shortly stubbly five o’clock shadow to a full-on Van Dyke look that brings tears of joy to our eyes. The longer the beard has gotten, the more amazing it’s become. Check out The Son if you don’t believe us, that beard is a Hall of Famer for sure. We don’t know who first told him to grow his facial hair out, but whoever you are we thank you for your service to the cause.

Taika Waititi

When it comes to the salt and pepper bearded look, New Zealand actor and director Taika Waititi (Jojo Rabbit, Thor Ragnarok) can do no wrong. We’ve seen short stubble, we’ve seen full beards, we’ve seen long mustaches with short chin hair, all of it is amazing. No matter how the man chooses to direct the beard on its face, it always turns out like his movies: insanely well crafted and deservedly acclaimed. There’s no beard on Earth that Waititi couldn’t pull off, we are convinced, and we challenge him to prove us wrong. Give us the waist-length Waititi wizard beard we all deserve.

Idris Elba

Have you ever been out at a restaurant or club and saw someone just steal the attention of the entire room once he walked in? We imagine that’s what happens to Idris Elba on the regular, because that man oozes charisma just by standing still. His well-groomed beard certainly helps him cut that figure, as the tinges of gray sprinkled across his chin and goatee create a look that’s hard to top. Every time he’s on our screens we can’t help but marvel at the impressive beard he’s cultivated through the years, and hopefully someday we’ll be able to emulate it ourselves.

Jeff Goldblum

It’s sometimes hard for us to envision Jeff Goldblum with a beard, due to his roles in Jurassic Park and Independence Day burning that clean-shaven face into our minds, but wow does Mr. Goldblum pull off the silver scruff magnificently. It’s like he evolved from that geeky fresh-faced look to a suave silver-chinned stud instantaneously, his “salt on the chin, pepper on the mustache” mixed look being one of our favorites. Just look at that manly mane and tell us it’s not something to aspire to, you’d be crazy to think it’s not. Sometimes the beard just, uh, finds a way.

Jeffrey Dean Morgan

Look, we know Jeffrey Dean Morgan has been a bearded badass for a long time. It’s no secret that he’s rocked all kinds of excellent facial hair, but the greatness he’s sporting now on The Walking Dead is his best look yet. Negan is terrifying enough on his own, but Morgan cranks that scariness up to 11 with his full-faced beard of grey. While the beard has also changed during Morgan’s run as Negan -- particularly in this new season where it’s more groomed than before, every iteration has been brilliant. Lucille gave him strength alright, it’s just all in his beard.

Oscar Isaac

At 41, Isaac is the youngest silver fox on our list and it's only in the last year or so that we've really seen him rock the flecked chin. A true chameleon actor, Oscar Isaac often uses facial hair to disappear into a role. For Inside Llewyn Davis he sported a rich, full chinstrap. For period thriller A Most Violent Year he rocked a pristine pencil mustache. In acclaimed sci-fi drama Ex Machina, it was a shaved head and full bushy beard. Isaac's graying isn't as front and center as others on the list, but that makes its development more intriguing. This particular silver fox is just coming into his prime.

Steve Carell

Perhaps the most astounding transformation on this list belongs to Steve Carell, who like Jeff Goldblum rose to fame with a clean shaven face, particularly in movies like Bruce Almighty and TV classic, The Office. When he debuted this bearded look for indie drama Beautiful Boy in 2018, the internet went wild as women (and men) everywhere wrestled with the crazy notion that the man best known as corporate doofus Michael Scott was...kinda hot? This amazing black-and-gray beard not only gives him a more mature look, it gives anyone who can’t grow a beard now hope for the future. It’s a simple beard, the full beard template that many have worn before him, but he just nails this look.

Brad Pitt

Can there be a list of best-looking anything that doesn’t feature Brad Pitt? No, of course not, because every picture the man takes is instant gold, and his bearded looks are no exception. Pitt has long experimented with beards on-screen, from the shaggy slacker growths of 90s cult favorites such as Kalifornia and True Romance, to well-groomed full beards and goatees in recent dramas like Babel and Killing Them Softly. As he's grown older, the silver has crept in and made his chiselled features even more distinguished. No matter what look he tries, Brad Pitt can always turn heads.

Joe Manganiello

Rugged is the first word that comes to mind when we look at Manganiello’s handsome beard, its even covering of bristles contouring his chin. Manganiello’s beard has always been this way, but the sprinkling of gray that’s begun to spread from the cheekbones only makes the beard look better. There’s an air of sophistication, even when his beard is grown out and messy, that other beards struggle to compete with. While it wasn’t quite enough to earn him a place on our main list, the man can do no wrong with that beard of his, and all we can do is sit back and marvel at it. Maybe next time, Joe.

Honorable Mention: Keanu Reeves

One of those actors who remains strangely ageless, 55-year-old Keanu Reeves still convinces as both action hero and romantic lead so we're thrilled to see him wearing his graying beard with pride in recent years. Reeves is no stranger to beards, particularly the patchy look with long hair on the cheeks, chin, and mustache. However, as time has passed and the jet black beard has started to show some gray, that chin of his has only gotten better. Granted, Keanu is still coming into his own with the silver look, his beard’s natural darkness is still holding strong, but the gray highlights we’ve seen give him a, dare we say, breathtaking look that will only get better with time. Even the Wyldest of Stallyns looks better with age, and we’re glad Keanu has kept up the look for this long.