Past Cover Stars Then and Now (PHOTOS) – ryan

Michelle Pfeiffer: Then

Most Beautiful 1990: Being named one of the World’s Most Beautiful celebrities in 1990 came as something of a shock to Pfeiffer. the actress told PEOPLE. “It’s the way my mouth sort of curls up, or my nose tilts up.” Landing on the cover – again – nine years later, Pfeiffer told PEOPLE of her younger self, “I did nothing beauty-wise. People were horrified by how I treated my skin.”

Michelle Pfeiffer: Now

Now: The actress, now 66, sees the upside to aging. “(Part) of feeling sexy is feeling comfortable in your own skin, and less inhibited,” she told InStyle, “and that goes along with getting older.”

Jodie Foster: Then

Most Beautiful 1992: “My face must have dropped in the last five years,” joked the then 29-year-old beauty, who had just earned a Best Actress Oscar for The Silence of the Lambs and won raves for Little Man Tate, her directorial debut. “Suddenly I got bones that I never had before. Now I really enjoy putting care into my clothes, my makeup, my appearance.”

Jodie Foster: Now

Now: At the 2025 Golden Globes (seen here), Foster, now 62, said she was at the “most contented moment in my career,” following her win for best female actor in a limited or anthology series.

“I’m excited about what’s left of my life and who I’ve become that I can bring to the table,” she shared. “So for me, this is the most contented moment in my career, and I never would’ve known that. I just never would’ve known that. But something happened the day I turned 60.”

Cindy Crawford: Then

Most Beautiful 1993: The 27-year-old supermodel was on a roll that year: She was the face of Revlon, had a hosting gig on MTV’s House of Style and was married to future Sexiest Man Alive Richard Gere (he earned that distinction in 1999).

Cindy Crawford: Now

Now: In the decades following her Most Beautiful cover, Crawford got divorced from Gere (she’s been married to Rande Gerber since 1998), launched successful home furnishing, fashion and skincare lines. She also developed a good attitude about getting older. “I take care of myself, but I don’t want to be obsessive,” the mom of two told Allure. “I’m all for fighting the good fight, but I don’t care how much you work out or how much cream you put on – things change.”

Meg Ryan: Then

Most Beautiful 1994: When handed the title, the actress said, “Beauty is a very oddball subject to talk about in terms of yourself.” Her Sleepless in Seattle costars happily did it for her, though, with Rosie O’Donnell calling her “completely adorable” and Tom Hanks saying she’s a “formidable presence.” Voted “cutest” by her classmates at her Connecticut high school, she told PEOPLE, “I’ve never thought of myself that way.”

Meg Ryan: Now

Now: Though she kept her résumé packed through the 1980s and ’90s, Ryan retreated from the spotlight following her split from Dennis Quaid, moving to New York, scaling back on projects and interviews and quietly adopting a daughter, Daisy, in 2006, while raising her now-adult son Jack Quaid. The now 63-year-old has since stepped back in front of the camera on various occasions — including a When Harry Met Sally reunion for a 2025 Super Bowl ad — though she says being a mom is her “true joy.”

Courteney Cox: Then

Most Beautiful 1995: Back in the ’90s, the Friends star admitted to being a facial product fanatic. “I have 150 cleansers in my bathroom,” Cox said. But she was low-key about the rest of her beauty regimen. “I only have to do three things to look halfway decent: Curl my eyelashes, fill in my eyebrows and put some lipstick on,” she shared.

Courteney Cox: Now

Now: Following her 60th birthday, the actress, admitted she didn’t “love the number” — “but look, we have no choice. You just gotta do the best you can,” she said in a video posted to Instagram where she shows off some of her fitness routine.

Cox, who is mom to daughter Coco Arquette, shared in 2023 that she regretted her previous use of facial fillers.

“Thinking I was getting older when I was really young, that’s just a bummer, a waste of time; it’s a domino effect,” she said, later adding: “You don’t realize what it looks like to the outside person. Doing too many fillers and having to have them removed, which, thank God they are removable … I think I messed up a lot and now luckily I can, I was able to reverse most of that, now I’m actually just older.”

Julia Roberts: Then

Most Beautiful 2000: With her girl-next-door looks and laid-back charm, it’s no surprise that the Georgia belle graced five World’s Most Beautiful covers (1991, 2000, 2005, 2010 and 2017) – a PEOPLE record. In 1993, The New York Times gushed about the Pretty Woman star, writing, “Her skin is as clear as one of those High Sierra streams where the rare golden trout still swim.”

Julia Roberts: Now

Now: How does the actress, now 57, keep her famous smile healthy and bright? With baking soda! In general, the busy mom of three has little time for a more complicated beauty routine. “I’m happy if I have on moisturizer and ChapStick,” she told InStyle.

Catherine Zeta-Jones: Then

Most Beautiful 2001: Zeta-Jones has made no secret that looking good takes effort. “I think beauty is a gift that you have to make the most of,” she said. “I’ve worked hard at trying to look my best.” She had a little help: night moisturizer. “Sometimes I look like a seal because I’m so lathered in the stuff.”

Catherine Zeta-Jones: Now

Now: At 55, Zeta-Jones is still a stunner, thanks to a beauty regimen that includes the honey and sugar she uses to moisturize and exfoliate her entire body. “You wash it off and your skin is gorgeous,” she said.

Nicole Kidman: Then

Most Beautiful 2002: “I was the plain one,” proclaimed Kidman, talking about growing up with a younger, brunette sister. By the time the Oscar winner graced PEOPLE’s cover, she knew her porcelain skin was an asset. “Nicole won’t even cross the road without a hat,” said pal Naomi Watts. “She’s really disciplined about that and it pays off. Her skin is like a perfect china cup.”

Nicole Kidman: Now

Now: Happily married since 2006 to country star Keith Urban, with whom she has two girls, the actress, now 57, still makes suncare a priority. “It is the worst thing in terms of aging,” she told Marie Claire, “so I wear a lot of sunscreen, and I never go in the sun.”

Halle Berry: Then

Most Beautiful 2003: The star, who’d made history the year before as the first Black woman to win the Best Actress Oscar (for Monster’s Ball), described herself as “very imperfect but okay with my imperfections.”

Halle Berry: Now

Now: When does the 58-year-old mom of two think she looks her best? “I feel the most beautiful whenever I’m doing things that I love,” she told PEOPLE. “I love work, I love being around children, I love reading.”

Angelina Jolie: Then

Most Beautiful 2006: When she was featured on PEOPLE’s cover, Jolie had already distinguished herself as a humanitarian who regularly went on missions to developing countries, distributing food to the hungry, even sleeping on frozen ground after a hard day’s work. Her beauty regimen was just as un-diva-like: a little face powder, mascara and a dab of Vaseline on her lips.

Angelina Jolie: Now

Now: For years Jolie, now 49, traveled the world as a special envoy of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and has also been advocating for victims of domestic abuse.

In March 2025, she visited Alabama to support her daughter Zahara Jolie-Pitt, who is following in mom’s advocacy footsteps, and was giving a speech to raise awareness for period poverty.

Drew Barrymore: Then

Most Beautiful 2007: Saying she felt most beautiful “right after I’ve worked out and I’m sweating all over the place,” the former child star described the happy results: “I feel like I’ve changed the shape of my body temporarily into something more flexible and strong.”

Drew Barrymore: Now

Now: The actress, 50, who’s mom to daughters Olive and Frankie, has added even more titles to her credits: businesswoman and talk show host. Ahead of her 50th birthday, Barrymore told PEOPLE she was “so excited” about the milestone: ” I have no issues with aging — this is the happiest I’ve been in my life.”

Christina Applegate: Then

Most Beautiful 2009: After being diagnosed with breast cancer and undergoing a double mastectomy a year earlier, the actress was learning to appreciate her new body: “I don’t have to wear a bra!” she said. “And the gals look good in tank tops.” Helping her heal: then-boyfriend Martyn LeNoble, who made her feel “beautiful.”

Christina Applegate: Now

Now: Applegate, 53, who once told Cosmopolitan, “I never looked in the mirror and thought I was a pretty girl,” married LeNoble (with whom she has daughter, Sadie) in February 2013. Also in 2013, she returned to the big screen in Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues. Her series Dead to Me was her latest hit, though following her diagnosis of MS in 2021, she said that she’s “probably not going to work on-camera again.” In 2024, Applegate shared she was in the midst of working on a memoir.

Jennifer Lopez: Then

Most Beautiful 2011: Then a judge on American Idol, Lopez said she was “at my happiest” when home with her then-husband Marc Anthony and their toddler twins. “Just being able to touch my face and rub my eyes and put my fingers in my hair and not having to worry about messing it up. It’s so much better.” She also reminded readers that looking good is “part of my job,” saying the maintaining the workouts, portion control and beauty regimen could be tough: “I don’t want anybody thinking it’s easy. It does take time and it’s hard work. HDTV wide-screen is nobody’s friend!”

Jennifer Lopez: Now

Now: Lopez, whose “toddlers” are now full-blown teens, is as busy as ever as a producer and actress with recent projects like Atlas, Unstoppable and Kiss of the Spider Woman. She is set to star in an upcoming film adaptation of The Last Mrs. Parrish and will host the 2025 American Music Awards in May. While celebrating the premiere of Kiss of the Spider Woman at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival, Lopez shared that she had been “waiting for this moment my whole life.”

Beyoncé: Then

Most Beautiful 2012: “I feel more beautiful than I’ve ever felt because I’ve given birth,” Beyoncé, then a new mom to daughter Blue Ivy, told PEOPLE. “I have never felt so connected, never felt like I had such a purpose on this earth.”

Beyoncé: Now

Now: Beyoncé, now a mom of three, is gearing up to kick off her Cowboy Carter tour later this month — a tour celebrating the album of the same name that won her her first-ever album of the year Grammy at this year’s ceremony.

“I just feel very full and very honored. It’s been many, many years,” she said as she accepted the award.

Gwyneth Paltrow: Then

Most Beautiful 2013: That year, Paltrow was promoting her new cookbook, It’s All Good, her new film, Iron Man 3, and her partnership with trainer Tracy Anderson. The mom-of-two (and then-wife of Coldplay’s Chris Martin) was also feeling happy and healthy. “I’m more in proportion now than I was when I was 20, so I feel better in a bathing suit now than I did before I had kids,” she said. “But I think one of the most beautiful things about growing up is this self-acceptance that starts to happen.” Her tips for staying beautiful included taking a nightly bath and washing her face with a hot washcloth.

Gwyneth Paltrow: Now

Now: Paltrow has majorly grown her footprint in the lifestyle space thanks to her website and newsletter Goop, which has expanded into a skincare line and beyond. Though she split from Martin, the two remain some of Hollywood’s friendliest exes and co-parents, and in 2014, she began dating her now-husband Brad Falchuk. She also continues to induce #FOMO with her Instagram account, which chronicles her travels — and delicious meals.

Lupita Nyong’o: Then

Most Beautiful 2014: She stunned on red carpet after red carpet during awards season, leading up to the night she won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for 12 Years a Slave. Being named World’s Most Beautiful, Nyong’o hoped she would help to challenge antiquated perceptions of beauty. “It was exciting and just a major, major compliment,” she said of the title. “I was happy for all the girls who would see me on (the cover) and feel a little more seen.”

Lupita Nyong’o: Now

Now: Her career is still going strong The 42-year-old is a part of the Star Wars resurgence, starring in The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi and entered the Marvel universe in 2018 with her role in Black Panther. She’s also lent her voice to the live action adaption of The Jungle Book and 2024’s The Wild Robot. In 2016, she made her Broadway debut in the play Eclipsed.

Sandra Bullock: Then

Most Beautiful 2015: When she was named PEOPLE’s Most Beautiful Woman in 2015, the actress simply laughed. “No, really. I just said, ‘That’s ridiculous,’” she told PEOPLE. What really makes Bullock feel beautiful is her role as mother to her son, Louis. “What is beautiful is the honor of being Louis’ mother,” she said.

Sandra Bullock: Now

Now: Bullock later welcomed a sibling for son Louis in 2015: her daughter Laila: “When I look at Laila, there’s no doubt in my mind that she was supposed to be here,” the now-60-year-old told PEOPLE of her daughter. She returned to the big screen in The Lost City in 2022 before announcing she’d be taking a little break to spend more time with her kids.

Following her 60th birthday, Bullock called the milestone “pretty awesome.”

Jennifer Aniston: Then

Most Beautiful 2004 & 2016: Aniston, who’d just wrapped up her wildly successful sitcom Friends when she landed on the cover of PEOPLE as the WMB for the first time, confessed to plastering on makeup in her younger, more insecure days. When she finally stopped, “I’d have people say, ‘God, you look so much better.’”

When she was honored with the title for the second time in 2016, Aniston defined beauty as: “Inner confidence. Peace. Kindness. Honesty. A life well-lived. Taking on challenges and not feeling shame for things that haven’t gone the way you felt they should have. And not feeling like a failure or allowing people to critique your life and make you feel like you’ve failed at something. That’s just toxic noise.”

Jennifer Aniston: Now

Now: Aniston has returned to the small screen in the Apple TV+ hit, The Morning Show, and reunited with her best Friends on an HBO Max special about the series. “I’m in a really peaceful place. I have a job that I love, I have people in my life who are everything to me, and I have beautiful dogs,” Aniston told PEOPLE in 2021. “I’m just a very fortunate and blessed human being.”

Pink: Then

Beautiful Issue 2018: Pink — and her two kids, Willow, 6, and Jameson, 16 months — graced the cover of PEOPLE’s newly renamed “The Beautiful Issue” in 2018. Her key to the happiness that she radiates? “Try not to take life too terribly seriously,” she said. “We laugh a lot. It’s all about our family unit and time spent together, and much less about external stuff.”

Pink: Now

Now: In November 2024, Pink wrapped up her Summer Carnival and Trustfall Tour after about 17 months and 131 shows.

“This show tested me in every way; my body, mind, and soul,” she wrote on Instagram. “It’s the most physically, mentally and spiritually ambitious show I’ve ever put on. It’s been really, really hard, but every moment has been worth it for the memories we’ve created together.”

Her kids now, 13 and 8, appear to be following in mom’s footsteps with Willow wanting to pursue theater (and later become a trauma surgeon) and little Jameson joining mom on stage behind the drum set.

Jennifer Garner: Then

Beautiful Issue 2019: The actress opened up about the beauty in motherhood — her favorite job — and her time with kids Violet, Seraphina and Samuel with ex Ben Affleck. “I’m starting to get to the point where I realize this job is not going to be forever,” she said. “Not in the all-encompassing every meal, every moment, every day way that I have loved for the last thirteen years. It’s going to shift. But there’s beauty in how it works in episodes.”

Jennifer Garner: Now

Now: An Instagram favorite, Garner spoke to PEOPLE in 2021 about continuing to come into her own. “I’ve learned that I’m pretty sturdy,” she said. “I’m okay when I’m in the house by myself. I’m okay when it’s just the kids and me. I’m okay when they fall apart. I mean I have my moments, but pretty much, I’m really okay.”

Kate Hudson and Goldie Hawn: Then

Most Beautiful 2008 (Kate) and Beautiful Issue 2020: Natural beauty Hudson confessed to PEOPLE at the time of her first cover, “I don’t even remember the last time I got a manicure.” Her priority: spending free time with then-5-year-old son Ryder rather than in a salon. Still, when she did get a facial or leg waxing, “I always think, ‘I should do this more often.’”

In 2020, she graced the cover again, this time with mom Goldie Hawn and tot daughter Rani Rose, whom she shares with fiancé Danny Fujikawa. “My mom gave me the floor to be able to feel confident enough to go out and feel like my life could be my own,” said Kate. “Mom was my greatest cheerleader. And it just made me think about Rani…going, ‘I hope I give her that kind of confidence,’ you know?”

Kate Hudson and Goldie Hawn: Now

Now: The women are closer than ever, frequently posting about each other on Instagram and watching Rani grow. “We all need to have an open mind and feel good about what we’re doing and let other people live the way they want to live,” Hudson told PEOPLE of motherhood.

Chrissy Teigen: Then

Beautiful Issue 2021: Teigen followed the family trend by posing with her kids, Luna and Miles Stephens, with husband John Legend, and doing a second cover with her mom, Vilailuck. “It’s more important for me to enjoy things as they come. I put my mind and spirit over body. If it’s going to make me happy and make me feel good, then I indulge in it,” she told PEOPLE. “I’ve spent too many years counting calories and scheduling way too many workouts and trying to figure out what my term for wellness was for myself. Now I know it’s on the ground playing with my kids or going to a park or an aquarium.”

Helen Mirren: Then

Beautiful Issue 2022: When Dame Helen Mirren learned she’d been chosen as the cover star of PEOPLE’s 2022 Beautiful Issue, “I was absolutely sort of gobstruck, as we say in England. I never considered myself ‘beautiful.’ And (at) my age! So I was amazed,” the Oscar winner, 76, said. “Most of us are not beautiful. We have other stuff, which is just as powerful as beauty. And I would like to see us celebrate those things … I love the word swagger because I think swagger means I’m confident in myself, I’m presenting myself to the world, I’m enjoying the world around me. I think what is called the beauty industry should be called the swagger industry. We’re giving people swagger.”

Helen Mirren: Now

Now: In the past few years, the actress has stayed booked and busy, starring in 1923, Shazam! Fury of the Gods, filming for L’Oréal Paris with Andie MacDowell and most recently, MobLand with Pierce Brosnan.

In 2024, she opened up to PEOPLE about the “issue” she has with the word “beauty” after 10 years as an ambassador for L’Oréal.

“I’ve always had this issue with the word beauty because it assumes that you’re looking to be beautiful in an exterior way,” she told PEOPLE exclusively.  “Of course, there are many, many different kinds of beauty in the world; it’s a very broad term. Being an ambassador for a beauty products company, I always wanted to say, ‘We’re not trying to be beautiful, we’re trying to be authentically and genuinely and happily and positively ourselves, whether that’s beautiful or not.’” 

Melissa McCarthy: Then

Beautiful Issue 2023: Famously funny Melissa McCarthy joked, “Did my mom and my dad have the two main votes?” once she learned that she’d be on the cover of the 2023 issue.

“I thought the younger version of myself or everybody out there who isn’t the youngest or whatever… I felt like it was saying something really lovely to my younger self, to my 20-year-old self,” the mom of two said. “And maybe to other people, too.”

Melissa McCarthy: Now

Now: Just after the 2023 cover hit newstands, McCarthy appeared in the live-action remake of The Little Mermaid as Ursula and later appeared in Netflix’s Unfrosted and on an episode of Only Murders in the Building. In 2024, she also marked 19 years of marriage with husband Ben Falcone. “I’m grateful every day,” she wrote.

Sofía Vergara: Then

Beautiful Issue 2024: When asked how she defined the word beauty for the 2024 cover story, Sofía Vergara shared: “I think because I’m Latin, we always grow up thinking about looking good, doing your hair, your makeup. It’s something that makes you feel good. I love beauty products. I love makeup, I love clothes. And I think now that I’m older, it’s great, because you know exactly what you like, what looks good on you, what doesn’t look good on you. I don’t do what is in fashion. I just do what feels good, makes me feel confident and beautiful.”

The Modern Family alum’s seven-year marriage to fellow actor Joe Manganiello had ended less than a year prior to her cover shoot and was playing coy when asked if she’d gotten back into dating. When explaining what she would be looking for in a relationship, the mom of one shared, “Health. Money. Fun. With kids. That’s it. That’s all I want.”

Sofía Vergara: Now

Now: Vergara continues to serve as a judge on America’s Got Talent  — a gig she’s had since 2020. As the temperatures started warming up in April 2025, Vergara jumped on Instagram to share a photo of herself sunbathing — and promote her suncare line Toty, which she launched in 2023, in the process.

At the 2025 Golden Globe Awards Vergara was asked what her goals for the new year were to which she answered: “Health, money, a boyfriend… or a lover, maybe.”