Did Matt Smith and Austin Butler Shave Their Head For Caught Stealing?

Directed by Darren Aronofsky, ‘Caught Stealing’ tells the story of a former baseball genius named Henry “Hank” Thompson, who now barely makes ends meet as a bartender in New York City. When his neighbor, Russ, asks him to babysit his cat, Bud, for a few days, Hank reluctantly agrees, not knowing that he has signed up for a rollercoaster ride through the criminal underbelly of the Big Apple. As it turns out, Russ is involved in a criminal syndicate and has managed to anger several factions at once. Now that he’s out of the picture, all eyes turn to Hank, forcing him to run for his life or risk losing everything he cares about. Set at the turn of the century, this black comedy crime thriller is culturally adapted and notably adopts a punk aesthetic. Thus, Russ’s colorful Mohawk cut, later shared by Hank himself, is one of the film’s many visual pleasures.

Matt Smith and Austin Butler wore real Mohawks to get caught stealing

For their roles in ‘Caught Stealing’, Matt Smith and Austin Butler both shaved their heads and adopted Mohawk haircuts. Smith’s character, Russ, has a colorful hairstyle for the entire film, but in the case of Butler’s character, Hank, the hairstyle is later developed. With modern advances in hair styling and prosthetics, it is no longer necessary for performers to shave their heads for an authentic look. Still, both actors’ decision to put in the extra effort shows their commitment to the craft. Smith was first seen with this iconic haircut around September 2024, which instantly caught fans’ imagination. In a later interview with Yahoo, the House of the Dragon actor confirmed that he liked the hairstyle so much that he kept it in place even after filming ended. He was particularly fascinated by how the new look changed how the world saw him in a completely new light, and vice versa.

While Matt Smith sports the Mohawk with charm and confidence in the film, styling it was a remarkable feat in itself. Smith praised the creative ways in which hair stylist John Carter achieved the desired effect. Initially, the team had to experiment for three days in a row to rearrange Smith’s thick hair into the classic Mohawk shape. Reportedly, a piece of her hair was parted in the middle, after which the edges were carefully developed to get the perfect look. The crew also took inspiration from 80s punk culture and how people with Mohawks would stick and iron their hair until it was straight. Although large amounts of adhesive were used for Smith’s look, he joked that “If you held a lighter to me I’d go up like an air balloon, I’m telling you.” Removing the styling substances after filming proved to be an equally demanding task, reportedly taking weeks at a time.

A new hairstyle brought a breath of fresh air for both the actors

While actor Austin Butler previously wore a bald cap for his role as Fayed Routha in ‘Dune: Part Two’, he decided to go with a mohawk for his work in ‘Caught Stealing’. Shaving her head was no easy thing for Butler, as she detailed in a conversation with Entertainment Weekly, “At first, I felt hesitant to shave my head into a Mohawk because I didn’t know what it would look like and I had my own feelings about what it was going to be.” However, after going through it, he described it as a liberating process. He enjoyed the physical feel of it, describing it as a completely new and relaxing experience. This move gave him the ability to truly immerse himself in the role and its many nuances, especially when his changing hairstyle became a narratively important element.

Since scenes of Butler with that distinctive hairstyle appear at the end of the film, he waited until the final stages of production to get the haircut. After finishing production, Butler went completely bald, which he described as a celebratory move. The actor continued, “I cleaned it all up and Darren and I jumped into the ocean in Tulum. It was a symbolic way to end. We swam in the ocean for a couple of hours.” This is similar to Butler’s decision to get his new haircut, confirming that both actors cherished this new experience. Overall, both actors had their own opinions on their bold hairstyle, what it meant for the film and what it meant to them. The fact that both of their characters have the same hairstyle also has an impact on the real world, as it gives the audience two completely different experiences of the same story.

Read more: Is Caught Stealing Based on a True Story?