The President’s New Face
Apr 12
If you’ve been watching season 4 of Battlestar Galactica then you may have noticed things have changed since last season, and not for the better. No, I’m not talking about the 4 new Cylon models or Lee abandoning the cockpit of his trusty viper. I’m talking about what Laura Roslin, or more correctly, Mary McDonnell has done to her once lovely face.
After watching last night’s episode and then doing a quick image search of the actress for comparison, I think it’s safe to say Mary has caved to Hollywood pressure and “had work done”. You can see in the comparison image that her cheek bones, jaw line and most noticeably her lips have all been altered since last year. The tell-tale mark is the up-turned crease at the edge of her mouth which seems to give her a permanent smile. Unfortunately it reminds me of the butchering that actress Rose McGowan gave herself in early 2007.
It’s sad because I happen to think Ms. McDonnell was one of the most beautiful women in Hollywood. She certainly didn’t need to prove anything to us or the establishment by altering her face. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly back in March of 2007, she confesses she had thought about getting a face lift for a long time, but that her husband managed to talk her out of it. Evidently his powers of persuasion aren’t what they used to be because when she appears on BSG now, all I can think is “When the hell did they get a plastic surgeon in space?” Hopefully she’ll turn out to be the final cylon, download and revert to the beautiful Laura we all know and love.
R.
April 13th, 2008 at 1:55 am
Yeah, I noticed her face was looking markedly altered during the second episode of the season as well. I didn’t notice it as much during the season premiere (which, incidentally, was frakking awesome, in my humble opinion — I mean, how brain-meltingly cool was that sequence where the Cylon Raider made “eye contact” with Samuel Anders?) because there weren’t as many tight shots of her.
krystyn
April 13th, 2008 at 9:17 am
Funny, in the 2007 comparison image, there’s clearly Photoshop work done on her wrinkles!
But I do see the difference in her mouth — her nose seems higher too. Compare to this image:
http://www.imdb.com/media/rm1938069504/nm0001521
Although, could just be they’re giving her better lighting… or as Jen suggested… cancer treatment is making her puffy.
Beth
April 13th, 2008 at 12:30 pm
Seems like botox in the upper lip. Her nose is the same as always, you can see that in the scene where she cries. Also, in recent pics, the botox seems to be wearing off, and I hope she never repeats it. She’s just too lovely as she naturally is.
Battlestar Galactica » Blog Archive » Battlestar Galactica Quicklinks for April 14, 2008
April 14th, 2008 at 1:33 am
[…] Mary McDonnell had plastic surgery? Gedblog reports, you decide. Special thanks to this blog for the screencap from “Six of One,” I […]
Dave Brasgalla
April 15th, 2008 at 9:24 am
The 2007 photo of McDonnell you’ve used for comparison is a Sci-Fi Channel promotional photo - one that is often used for autographing, amongst other things. I don’t know if it’s a good idea to use it for any kind of comparison, as I’d be quite surprised if it hasn’t been retouched.
Also worth noting: Rose McGowan was seriously injured in a car accident in 2007. She apparently had her eyeglasses driven into her face, and afterwards underwent reconstructive surgery.
Ged
April 15th, 2008 at 9:34 am
Dave, Re: the promo image, yeah you are right. Thought about that after I posted it but the basic shape of her face is unchanged compared to this image.
Didn’t know that about Rose McGowan! That would explain a great deal.
Tina
April 16th, 2008 at 11:22 am
Looks to me like Mary McDonnell had botox and it wore off. Not a face lift. It was temporary and last I saw her…during the SCIFI Q&A, after the Letterman appearance…she was back to her normal, beautiful self.
Ged
April 16th, 2008 at 11:26 am
Tina, if true, that’s very good news! Considering the episodes we’re seeing now were probably completed some six months ago, it’s a very real possibility. I’ll have to go look at the Letterman top 10 video again to take a closer look. Thanks!
May
April 16th, 2008 at 11:31 am
To be honest, who gives a flying frak what she looks like, she’s one of the best actress’s period.
Nothing else to say apart from give her a break, stop looking in her face for imperfections and watch her acting instead. It’s disgusting people have nothing better to do that wonder who’s had surgery or not, there’s so much more to life than skin.
Tina
April 16th, 2008 at 11:32 am
No problem Ged. Here’s a pic to prove it:
http://i164.photobucket.com/albums/u29/AdamaRoslinLoveChild/BeautifulTWO.jpg
Tina
April 16th, 2008 at 11:33 am
May! Bravo! *hugs*
Tina
April 16th, 2008 at 11:35 am
I believe the National Concensus is this:
MARY MCDONNELL IS HAWT!
-Tina
Ged
April 16th, 2008 at 11:36 am
May, sounds like you’re lecturing the wrong person. Try sending that diatribe to Mary instead of me. Like you, I don’t care one frakking bit if she’s got wrinkles or crow’s feet, which was the reason for my post.
Evidently SHE does and hence the botox, etc.
I think she’s beautiful just as she has always been and her acting is the real star of the show. I’ve loved her since Sneakers and Grand Canyon to name a few. So just chill a bit, thanks!
Teresa
April 16th, 2008 at 12:20 pm
Whatever she did in her faces is gone if you see her last pictures (or even the promo pics). I was noticed seeing Grand Canyon about it:
look:
Mary in 1992
http://i31.tinypic.com/14caeu0.jpg
Mary in November 2007 (when promo pics were taken)
http://i29.tinypic.com/m9×9uu.jpg
nothing weird or change in her face (maybe only the lips)
May
April 16th, 2008 at 12:40 pm
It wasn’t a lecture, it was an opinion, just like the one you expressed.
The only thing is, if you think she’s beautiful, why add the speculation of surgery/botox/whatever?
She deserves a personal life without people poking holes in every move she makes.
If she decided to change her appearence, thats her decision, I just don’t understand why people speculate like this? What are you trying to accomplish?
May
April 16th, 2008 at 12:40 pm
*High fives Tina!*
krystyn
April 16th, 2008 at 1:14 pm
@May:
I don’t know if you listened to the podcast Ged posted, but he (along with me, Jen and Dave) analyze, speculate, and obsess over nearly every detail of the show.
“Kara’s hair is different! Apollo’s been buffing up more! Baltar looks like Jesus! Six has a new outift! Thank gods Adama shaved his mustache off!”
I don’t think Ged was trying to poke holes or invade her private life or accomplish anything in particular. He’s just a fan of the show, thinks Mary is beautiful without any enhancements, and wanted to throw it out there for discussion.
May
April 16th, 2008 at 1:44 pm
Having watched my sister and friends decend into an eating disorder hell because of people speculating and talking about the way celebrities look, I find it disturbing how much people obsess over the superficial.
I’m not having a go, or trying to be holier than thou or anything like that, I too am expressing an opinion that perhaps if people paid less attention to things that don’t matter like that, and more attention to the important things, perhaps I wouldn’t be watching my sister dissapear literally before my eyes because she thinks she needs to be as perfect as the people we see on the screen, in magazines etc.
I understand he thinks Mary is beautiful etc, but I just don’t understand the point of the subject or discussion. I’m not having a go at Ged, any fan of Mary is cool in my eyes honestly, I just hate coming online, or watching tv, or opening a paper and seeing endless discussions and opnions about what people look like.
krystyn
April 16th, 2008 at 7:23 pm
May, I wholeheartedly agree with everything you’ve said here.
In this case, I’m disappointed that Mary caved into that pressure. I think this was the point behind Ged’s post as well. The podcast I mentioned was edited down for time, but I can say that during our recording he expressed a sincere disappointment because Mary is beautiful without any superficial enhancements.
Ged
April 16th, 2008 at 7:54 pm
May, I totally respect your opinion about Mary and the idea that it’s not how she looks that matters. In fact, I’m with you 100% about that and I’m sorry if the post was upsetting.
What bothers me is that the pressure in Hollywood to stay “young looking” or beautiful is so overwhelming, even for a woman of McDonnell’s obvious maturity and wisdom. In that EW interview I linked to she quotes an interesting bit from her husband that makes total sense. He asked her why she would want to have work done when she’s built a career on playing the “every woman” role so effectively. This made sense to her and she stayed off the surgery and face treatments.
Even after all that however, something must have changed because she did have something done. Other commenters have linked to evidence here that whatever she did, it was temporary, which I think is great. Seems like she experimented but didn’t take the “big plunge”. Good for her, we loved her just the way she was.
Hope you can see where I was coming from.
Carrie
April 16th, 2008 at 9:19 pm
I don’t even know if this theory would even work. But the first thing I thought is that she did it for the show…b/c she’s supposed to have cancer and a lil botox might make her a lil more cancer-strikener (yeah, I made that word up…whatever…). Some actors and actresses go to great lengths for their craft (and I don’t mean to be able to play someone younger…) and that’s just the first thing that popped into my head.
Also, let me just say that I think she’s awesome and awesomely hott no matter what and is the most amazingly talented actress I’ve ever watched.
(How you like dem adjectives?!…okay, I should also admit I’m a totally dork…)