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

Helmed by Darren Aronofsky, ‘Caught Stealing ‘tells the story of a former baseball prodigy, named Henry “Hank” Thompson, who now barely makes ends meet as a bartender in New York City. When his neighbour, Russ, asks him to pet-sit 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 with a criminal syndicate and has managed to piss off many factions in one go. With him now out of the picture, all eyes turn towards Hank, forcing him to run for his life or risk losing everything he cares for. Set at the turn of the century, this black comedy crime thriller is culturally attuned and particularly embraces the punk aesthetic. As such, Russ’s colorful mohawk cut, which is later shared by Hank himself, is among the movie’s many visual delights.

Matt Smith and Austin Butler Sported a Real Mohawk For Caught Stealing

For their roles in ‘Caught Stealing,’ both Matt Smith and Austin Butler shaved their head and adopted a mohawk haircut. Smith’s character, Russ, sports the colorful haircut for the entire movie, but in the case of Butler’s character, Hank, the hairdo is a later development. With modern-day advancements in hair styling and prosthetics, it is not necessary for artists to shave their heads for an authentic look. Still, both actors’ decision to go the extra mile speaks to their committment to the craft. Smith was first spotted with this now iconic haircut around September of 2024, instantly capturing fans’ imagination. In a later interview with Yahoo, the House of the Dragon actor confirmed that he loved the hairstyle to the point of keeping it even after filming concluded. He was particularly fascinated by how the new look changed how the world perceived him in an entirely new light, and vice versa.

While Matt Smith sports the mohawk with charm and confidence in the movie, styling it was a remarkable feat in and of itself. Smith praised the creative ways in which hairstylist John Carter achieved the desired effect. Initially, the team had to experiment for three days straight to get Smith’s thick hair to rearrange itself in a classic mohawk shape. Reportedly, a piece of his hair was threaded through the middle, following which the sides were carefully developed to achieve the perfect look. The crew also took inspiration from the 80s punk culture, and how people with mohawks used to glue and iron their hair till it sat upright. Although a significant amount of adhesives were used for Smith’s look, he joked that “if you’d have put a lighter to me I’d have taken off like an air balloon, I’m telling you.” Removing the styling substances after filming proved to be an equally demanding task, reportedly taking up to weeks at a time.

A New Hairdo Brought in a Breath of Fresh Air for Both Actors

While actor Austin Butler had previously donned a bald cap for his role as Feyd Rautha in ‘Dune: Part Two,’ he decided to go all out with a mohawk for his work in ‘Caught Stealing.’ Shaving his head was not an easy thing to do for Butler, as he detailed in a conversation with Entertainment Weekly, “At first, I felt reticence toward shaving my head into a mohawk because I had no idea what it would look like and my own feelings around what that was going to be.” After going through with it, however, he described it as a liberating process. He further went on to revel in the physical sensation of it, describing it as a wholly new and relaxing experience. This step also granted him the ability to truly immerse himself in the role and its many nuances, particularly by the time his changing hairstyles became a narratively important element.

As Butler’s scenes in that specific hairdo appear towards the end of the movie, he waited until the final leg of production to get the haircut. After wrapping up the production, Butler went on to go completely bald, which he described as a celebratory move. The actor added, “I shaved it all off, and Darren and I jumped in the ocean in Tulum. It was a symbolic way of ending. We floated in the ocean for a couple of hours.” This is similar to Butler’s decision to keep his new haircut, confirming that both actors cherished this new experience. All in all, both actors had their own take on their bold hairstyling, what it meant for the movie, and what it meant for themselves. The fact that both their characters are meant to sport identical hairstyles also has real-world implications, as it provides the audience with two entirely distinct experiences from the same story beat.

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