Better with a beard

You wouldn’t think so since he’s almost never bearded, but Jim Carrey can grow a mean beard. 

When Jackie C. wrote me to suggest Kurt Russell, I was sure I had already featured him.  Kurt Russell’s beard in The Thing is arguably the greatest cinematic beard of all time.  Clearly, this post is long overdue.

No contest.  Not that Ryan Gosling looks bad without the beard, but just as bacon can enhance any food, so too can a beard enhance any face.

Martin Freeman (who can currently be seen beardless as Bilbo Baggins in The Hobbit) doesn’t have the most impressive beard, but it is still a beard, and he looks better with it.

Oh beards, is there any face you can’t improve?

I randomly decided to type “Bruce Willis beard” into Google, thinking I’d come up empty - lo and behold, there was Bruce Willis with a surprisingly voluminous beard. Good times.

Arnold Schwarzenegger — who has a new movie coming out in mere weeks (!!!) — obviously looks better with a beard.  Obviously. 

I had to bring this tumblr out of hibernation if only to include Mandy Patinkin.  Why?  Because LOOK AT THAT BEARD, that’s why.

Like his Big Bang Theory co-star Johnny Galecki, Simon Helberg is clearly better with a beard. [Thanks, Thibault L.]

Bearded Ian McShane is looking pretty happy.  You want to know why?  Look at that beard, that’s why.

Hugo Weaving’s beard is serious business. [Thanks, Andrew S.]

That’s pretty close to beard perfection, so I have to say that I’m baffled that David Duchovny is so infrequently bearded. 

Sean Bean is currently rocking a pretty sweet beard on Game of Thrones.  Sure, the man looks fine without a beard, but just because something is fine doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try to improve it.

Do I even need to say anything here?  That beard speaks for itself.

Like his fellow Star Trek alumni Jonathan Frakes and Alexander Siddig, the improvement here is unmistakable.  Definitely better with a beard.

While watching Animal Kingdom (which you probably haven’t seen, and should) I was struck by the greatness of Joel Edgerton’s beard.  That is a hall of fame beard.  A beard like that validates the continued existence of this blog.

That’s a nice beard.  This is definitely yet another case where the improvement is so obvious, you’d have to be blind not to see it.

James Gandolfini appears to have put on a few pounds.  He can console himself by looking at the mirror and admiring his glorious beard.

Was he a brutal dictator?  Sure.  But more importantly, did he look better with a beard?  I think the pictures speak for themselves.

No, not exactly an outstanding beard.  This one’s borderline, but I’m still going to say he looks better with a beard.  Not every man can be Robin Williams.  [Thanks, Andrés M.]