Red-headed actress Debra Messing has refused to return to her natural hair color - because casting directors ignored her as a brunette. The former Will and Grace star blended in with the legions of struggling actresses desperate for work in Hollywood before she was cast in her first feature film in 1995.

And she is convinced a botched attempt to dye her hair blonde for the role is what really launched her career.

She says, "My first movie was A Walk in the Clouds with Keanu Reeves and they wanted me to be a 1940s harlot and they said, 'We want you to be blonde.' And I said, 'OK, I'm an Eastern-European Jew - if you make me blonde, I will look like a heroin addict...' (The colorist) poured this bright Tahitian red color... I started getting working immediately. I could not get a job as a brunette."

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(This news article provided by World Entertainment News Network)