Johnny Depp shocked fans with his new face. Image: Getty.

It was with some controversy that Pirates of the Caribbean and 21 Jump Street star Johnny Depp was slated to take part in the recent Savage x Fenty campaign from Rihanna. Turned out those rumours were true. But recent photos of the actor circulating on Twitter reveal the actor’s appearance has undergone some shocking changes that beg the question – what has the actor done to his face?

The patchy beard gone and hair cut to a bob beneath a vintage hat, Depp is a far cry from his former self. While age does change the appearance of even the most attractive people – we know how nature works – but the new photos suggest Depp has undergone a few adjustments courtesy of cosmetic enhancements.

The patchy beard that has been his trademark look for years is now gone and the clean-shaven Depp is almost unrecognisable. At 59 years old, Depp’s skin is again surprisingly smoother and even fuller around the eyes and at the cheeks. The changes have people speculating that Depp, who for the past several years has faced allegations of domestic violence and abuse from former wife Amber Heard, has had fillers in an attempt to look younger.

According to one Twitter user, the actor “looks like a woman who used to be in a rock band in 1972 but she took a nap and awoke 50 years later to find the world around her had changed.”

Of course, there’s nothing wrong with a little fine tuning and it’s a rare Hollywood type that hasn’t had something done to their face at least once. Perhaps Depp felt the pressure to try and look younger after he appeared in the Savage x Fenty , where he still sported the goatee and his normal eyebrows,

This latter detail is one that still has many scratching their heads. Why would Rihanna, who herself has been a survivor of domestic violence, hire an actor with multiple allegations of abuse against him? Not just from his ex wife, but from members of the public who have taken the actor to court. And, according to some sources, make him the first male to headline the fashion show’s “star moment”? Depp took up all of 40 seconds in the show but still, it was as jarring as nails down a chalkboard.