19 Actors Who Actually Got Tattoos To Honor Their Movie And TV Roles
Tom Holland has a Spider-Man tattoo on the bottom of his foot.
1. First, five of the original six Avengers got matching tattoos after wrapping Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame, which marked the end of a lot of their journeys in the MCU.
Robert Downey Jr. told Entertainment Weekly that it was Scarlett Johansson's idea to get matching tattoos, and she and Chris Evans got them first. Then, Jeremy Renner and Robert got them and they "bullied [Chris] Hemsworth into doing it, and he got it." The only OG Avenger who doesn't have one is Mark Ruffalo. The symbol represents each of their Marvel characters — Iron Man, Captain America, Black Widow, Thor, Hawkeye, and Hulk.
2. After starring on Game of Thrones for eight seasons, Emilia Clarke honored her time as Daenerys by getting a tattoo of three small dragons on her wrist.
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Emilia shared this photo on Instagram with the caption "Mod 4 Lyfe," and she thanked tattoo artist Dr. Woo, who "made sure this mamma ain't NEVER forgetting her babies."
3. Meanwhile, Maisie Williams and Sophie Turner got matching tattoos together while on a break from filming Game of Thrones.
Sophie told Elle UK, "We always said that we wanted them, so we got the date '07. 08. 09' on our arms because that's the date that both of us found out we'd got our roles in Game of Thrones."
4. Sophie Turner also got a direwolf and the phrase "The pack survives" after filming wrapped on the final season of Game of Thrones.
5. The Suicide Squad cast iconically tattooed "SKWAD" on each other after finishing the film in 2015.
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Joel Kinnaman hilariously captioned this Instagram photo with "Will [Smith] has many many talents, tattooing is not one of them. It was like watching a drunk baby fly a helicopter."
#skwad
Margot Robbie explained that everyone on set wanted to get one. She said, "Everyone got it. People, honestly, in between lighting setups would just pop into the trailer and get one." And if you're wondering where Margot's "SKWAD" tattoo is, it's on the inside of her left foot, and she even did it herself.
6. While promoting Spider-Man: Homecoming in 2017, Tom Holland shared that he got a Spider-Man tattoo on the bottom of his foot.
Tom explained, "It hurt SO much! I always wanted to get that Spider-Man symbol on the bottom of my foot, but I just never thought that I would ever get it done, but the opportunity came about. I actually had to have it done three times, though, because on the bottom of your foot, it fades away."
7. Jared Padalecki, Jensen Ackles, and Jeffrey Dean Morgan got matching ink to celebrate their time on Supernatural. In fact, they actually had their tattoos done at Jeffrey and Hilarie Burton's wedding in 2019.
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Jensen explained the night they got their tattoos, saying, "It’s what happens when you go to your father's wedding." Jensen said he was looking at a little crown tattoo and Jeffrey wanted to get it too. Then, they roped Jared in so they could all match. Jensen said they now call themselves "the three kings," but upside down it also looks like a "'W' for Winchester."
8. China Anne McClain, Thomas Doherty, Dylan Playfair, and some of the dancers from the Descendants films all got anchors to commemorate Uma's pirate crew.
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China posted this pic of all their different anchor tattoos with the caption "#ItsAPiratesLifeForUs." China, Thomas, and Dylan starred as Uma, Harry, and Gil in Descendants 2 and Descendants 3, while Kristie Sita, Justin Lopes, and Castle Rock were all dancers.
9. Lady Gaga honored her time in A Star Is Born by getting "La Vie en Rose" and a rose tattooed on her back.
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10. Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul got tattoos after starring on Breaking Bad as Walter White and Jesse Pinkman for five seasons.
In an interview with GQ, Bryan revealed that one of the set decorators on Breaking Bad was a tattoo artist and he had the idea to give anyone from the production a tattoo if they wanted one. So, Bryan got the Breaking Bad elements logo, while Aaron got "No half measures" on his bicep.
11. Sophie Turner added to her ink collection after filming X-Men: Dark Phoenix in 2019.
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Sophie got a small flame on her finger to honor her character Jean Grey, whose powers include being able to start fires and manipulate them.
12. Selena Gomez, Tommy Dorfman, Alisha Boe, Brandon Flynn, and other 13 Reasons Why cast members got matching semicolon tattoos after Season 1 premiered on Netflix.
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Alisha posted this pic of her, Tommy, and Selena — who produced 13 Reasons Why — getting the tattoos and explained their meaning. She wrote, "Project semicolon is a movement dedicated to presenting hope for those suffering from depression, thoughts of suicide, addiction, and self-injury."
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Brandon also shared his semicolon tattoo, saying, "As a pledge of love and hope for people who deal with suicidal thoughts, depression, addiction, and self injury...be the author of your own story and allow your story to continue because it could help others and change the world."
13. Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Zoë Kravitz, Riley Keough, Abbey Lee, and Courtney Eaton all got matching tattoos after filming Mad Max: Fury Road.
In an interview, Riley revealed that they all got "matching dot tattoos" to honor their time playing The Splendid Angharad, Toast the Knowing, Capable, The Dag, and Cheedo the Fragile, respectively. Meanwhile, Courtney Eaton told Vanity Fair that they all have "three little dots and a triangle."
14. Before wrapping the Lord of the Rings trilogy, the cast and crew actually got matching tattoos to celebrate the movies and their characters.
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Sean Astin recalled the moment this photo was taken, saying, "Elijah [Wood], I think it was his original idea. He and Viggo Mortensen had sorted out a tattoo artist, and he opened up shop one Sunday morning and we all showed up there."
Josh Gad reunited the Lord of the Rings cast and director Peter Jackson in 2020 for a fundraiser, and they all showed off where they have their tattoos. And, in another interview, Ian McKellen revealed that he held Elijah Wood's hand while he got his tattoo. Ian also said their tattoos are Elvish for "nine," the number of members of the Fellowship of the Ring.
15. Kaley Cuoco, Zosia Mamet, and members of The Flight Attendant crew all got matching paper airplane tattoos while filming Season 1.
In her Instagram post, Kaley said, "A special little tribute to our wonderful little show."
16. Troian Bellisario, Ashley Benson, Shay Mitchell, Sasha Pieterse, Lucy Hale, and Janel Parrish all got tattoos after Pretty Little Liars ended in 2016.
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Janel posted this photo with the caption "We got the Shhhhhhh immortalized," which is a nod to Aria's iconic "Shhhh" moment in the Pretty Little Liars opening credits. The "Shhhh" moment was also used on several PLL posters during the show's seven-season run.
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On all of their index fingers on their right hands, they each got the first letter of their character's name.
17. When A Series of Unfortunate Events was picked up for Season 2 on Netflix, Neil Patrick Harris celebrated by getting the V.F.D. eye symbol on his ankle.
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The V.F.D. symbol is an important part of the A Series of Unfortunate Events books and show. It's the official insignia for the V.F.D., a secret and mysterious organization that is important to Violet, Klaus, Sunny, and Count Olaf. This was actually Neil's first tattoo, too.
18. Katherine McNamara revealed that the Shadowhunters cast got matching angel rune tattoos to honor their time on the show.
Katherine told Seventeen, "It's the first tattoo that Shadowhunters usually get in their training. It's a symbol of strength and means 'blessing,' and this show has meant all of those things to me."
19. And finally, Carrie Fisher had a galaxy tattoo on her ankle because she loved the moon and stars, and to honor her role as Princess Leia — "the ultimate space princess" — in the Star Wars films. Then, Billie Lourd got a similar tattoo done in 2017 to honor her mom.
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Billie explained she and Carrie often referred to Carrie's tattoo as "a bruise galaxy" because of all the colors, which were added in later. Billie said, "I got a version of that that’s classier." Billie actually went with her mom when she was 8 years old to get Carrie's tattoo.