Top 10 Best 2009 vs 2019 Transformations

While Brie Larson has definitely been acting for more than a decade, she really only came onto our radars in more recent years. This actress is now an Academy Award winner, but back in 2009 she was still an up and coming starlet who hadn’t quite found her niche yet. In this hilarious side by side, she posted a photo of herself all dressed up in a pretty over the top get-up looking quite thin, as well as a recent photo where she’s downing a slice of pizza. We definitely prefer pizza-eating Brie!

While some posters stuck to the 10 year parameters of this challenge, posting a photo from 2009 and then 2019, others decided to take some more creative liberties when choosing a photo in order to show a more dramatic transformation. The picture that Janet Jackson shared was from some time in the early ‘90s, and features her with Keshia Knight Pulliam. The more recent photo features the two women in a similar pose, with Jackson looking better than ever, even decades later. Does this woman even age at all?

Some celebrities took this as an opportunity to share a funny older photo of themselves or be self- deprecating, but we know exactly what the intention of this post is. Nicki Minaj wanted to remind everyone of her glow up, and show us just how incredible she looks now. The transformation is a major one, and while she didn’t share any comments with the post, she did add two emojis, which can be interpreted at your discretion. Some may speculate that they point to the plastic surgery she employed to get her new look.

Doesn’t it seem like some celebrities just seem to look better and better as they age? Jessica Biel may look like your standard blonde Hollywood starlet in this “before” picture, but in the more current photo you can tell that she has really come into her own and has the confidence to prove it. She doesn’t throw any shade at her lighter hued look though, saying along with the post, “I do still have a lot of love for my tan lines, hoops and blonde days”. We think she looks incredible in both!

This actor decided to turn the 10 Year Challenge into the 50 Year Challenge, showing us all just how long far he has come. Samuel L. Jackson’s first photo is from 1969, around the time when he was staging political protests at Morehouse College rather than acting in major award winning films. While he did start acting not long after, he didn’t get his big break until almost two decades later. Along with the post, Jackson posted a hashtag reading “life was good then and still is”, which feels like a fresh burst of positivity.

If you wanted proof that people really can change, then this is it. Most people probably remember Snooki, now Nicole LaValle, as she is in this before snapshot, which was taken from the time she was arrested for public intoxication at the beach while shooting “Jersey Shore”. That incident took place in 2010, and now almost a decade later the Guidette is married with two kids and a third on the way. The more recent photo shows her snuggling up with her little ones wearing no visible makeup and seeming happier than ever. Her “Jersey Shore” co stars JWOWW and The Situation also shared great posts!

If you were on MySpace before Facebook was a thing, you definitely remember Jeffree Star looking like this. Back in 2009, he was a major social media personality, but he wasn’t exactly the type of figure your parents would be familiar with. Today, he’s one of the biggest YouTubers around, and has his own very successful cosmetics line. He added a comment with the post saying, “from punk rock to CEO”, but he doesn’t need to remind us; we know just how far he has come in the last decade.

Another major YouTuber to participate in this challenge was Shane Dawson, who shared a hilarious post with the caption, “both tragic”. While Dawson doesn’t look like he has aged much between these two photos, the marked difference is his pin straight hair, which we kind of forgot was a trend for dudes in 2009. We’re not sure if we want to know what’s in his hand in the second photo. A decade ago, Dawson was still creating YouTube videos, but they had slightly fewer views than the ones he produces today. It just goes to show that some things really never change.

While there are probably plenty of funny or embarrassing photos that Busy Phillips could share from her earlier days, she chose an adorable photo of her and her daughter, showing just how much a decade can change a child. The pair look cute together in both photos, although the more recent pic definitely shows how much all of our photography skills have improved since 2009! The mother-daughter duo may look more put together and stylish in photo number two, but they’re adorable in the first one too!

Before we reveal our number one pick, here are a few honorable mentions.
Trisha Paytas

Side Eyeing Chloe

Ryan Seacrest

Tyra Banks

Kevin Smith

Wait, what? One theme that was pervasive among celebrity posts was that they in fact hadn’t aged a bit in the last decade, but no one pulled it off better than Pharrell. His side by side photos show virtually no difference- there’s not a new wrinkle in sight in the newer photo. For all we know, he could have taken two selfies on the very same day and posted them together. In fact, he might even look younger in the 2019 photo? Pharrell, can you give us the directions to the fountain of youth? Thanks so much!