Bella Hadid is no stranger to spectacle, but her latest appearance marks a decisive shift from the runway to the screen. The supermodel makes her acting debut in The Beauty, a new Hulu series that uses body horror and satire to interrogate modern beauty culture like obsession with physical perfection to the quiet violence of wellness extremes.
Created under the watchful eye of Ryan Murphy, the series is adapted from the novel of the same name. The Beauty imagines a world overtaken by a mysterious condition that grants extreme physical perfection, at a devastating cost. It is a deliberately exaggerated premise, designed less as science fiction than social commentary, reflecting how beauty has become both currency and compulsion.
Hadid appears as Ruby, an international supermodel at the height of her fame. Her introduction is immediate and confrontational. The series opens at a Paris fashion show, where Ruby’s carefully controlled exterior begins to fracture in public. What starts as a familiar runway moment quickly unravels into chaos, with Hadid portraying a character visibly overwhelmed by physical distress, scrutiny, and an escalating loss of control. It is a demanding first role, heavy on physicality and intensity, and one that positions Hadid not as a cameo, but as the emotional ignition point of the series.
The casting is perfect. Few public figures embody contemporary beauty culture as visibly as Hadid, whose career has unfolded alongside social media’s relentless fixation on faces, bodies, and transformation. In The Beauty, that proximity becomes part of the narrative tension. Ruby is admired, pursued, photographed, and consumed, until the very thing that elevates her becomes unsustainable. The performance reads as self-aware without being self-referential, allowing Hadid to step into fiction while still reflecting a reality audiences recognize.
Beyond Hadid’s opening arc, the series follows two federal investigators, played by Rebecca Hall and Evan Peters, as they trace the spread of the condition through fashion, media, and corporate power. Along the way, The Beauty widens its scope, taking aim at a culture shaped by cosmetic intervention, pharmaceutical shortcuts, and the promise of effortless perfection. The parallels to today’s Ozempic-fueled beauty economy are unmistakable, even when left unstated.
Visually, the show leans into excess. Glossy surfaces give way to graphic consequences, reinforcing its central thesis: that the pursuit of flawlessness often ignores the human cost. Murphy’s familiar tonal mix is present here too, balancing shock with dark humor, spectacle with critique. It is provocative, sometimes uncomfortable, and intentionally so.
Hadid’s role may be brief in screen time, but its impact lingers. As Ruby, she becomes both symbol and warning, a figure through which the series announces its intent. For a first acting appearance, it is a bold choice, rejecting safety in favor of something more confrontational. It also signals a broader evolution for Hadid, one that expands her public image beyond fashion into storytelling that challenges the systems she once helped define.
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