No Shave November Special

It is No Shave November and because of that facial hair is a big topic of conversation, especially on social media.

If the average guy decided to grow a beard in today’s world, he’d blend in with the hipster crowd. He’d seem like another guy who wanted to be different by being the same.

But when men of action grow a beard, it takes them to another level. For example…

Without the beard Chuck Norris is still a highly skilled martial artist and a guy you wouldn’t want to have an altercation with. But with the beard, Chuck Norris can stop invading nations, rescue prisoners of war and possibly some of the other mythological things that have been written about him and his beard. I am confident when I say that without the beard there’d have never been “Chuck Norris Facts”.

Now Sylvester Stallone had already established himself as a tough guy in the iconic role that made him a superstar, Rocky Balboa. But in 1981, with two Rocky films under his championship belt, Stallone wanted to go in a different direction and to help him pull off the role of tough New York City cop, Deke DaSilva, he grew a beard. This decision was likely so people didn’t see Rocky Balboa as a cop and because Stallone was going to be working along side the always mustachioed Billy Dee Williams… and for Billy Dee, the mustache worked every time! Right ladies?

And speaking of mustaches, that brings me to my next example…

Charles Bronson. Without the mustache, just a regular guy. With the mustache, a killing machine. Bronson knew the power of his facial hair too. When Director Don Siegel asked Bronson to shave off his mustache for the movie Telefon, Bronson’s reply was quite simple… “No mustache, no Bronson.”  Early in his career, Bronson was able to get away with it, but once he got on that rocket ship called Death Wish and he became a superstar, he was not going to jinx his success by shaving off his trademark mustache.

You could see the in-ring talent that Steve Austin possessed almost immediately when his pro wrestling career began, but without the goatee (and shaved head), the odds that Steve Austin would have gone on to become the biggest star in professional wrestling history are not good. And without the notoriety he gained and money he made as Stone Cold Steve Austin in the WWE, it is even more of a long shot that he’d ever have been given the opportunity to become an action star.

My final example of the power of facial hair takes a guy who would ordinarily be type cast as the “pretty boy” and opens up the realm of casting possibilities…

Even with a perfect coating of stubble, Casper Van Dien looks less like a male model and more like a tough guy. When he goes all out and grows the full beard, you’d believe he was a mountain man and that folks is a real example of the power of facial hair.