Actress Chops Off Hair, Tells of Own Childhood Cancer

When Nashville star Clare Bowen debuted her new pixie cut on Facebook, several reactions were along this line: "NO!!!!!!!" After she shared the reason behind the move, however, warm reactions are pouring in. Bowen explains she was diagnosed with end-stage nephroblastoma as a child and lost her hair as a result of chemotherapy, E! reports. "And then I got really lucky. I survived, my hair grew back, and I got strong again. I look relatively normal on the outside, but on the inside, I am still the same stitched back together little creature, in a world where people are judged so harshly for the way they look."

Bowen continues: "I heard a story about a little girl who said she couldn't be a princess because she didn't have long hair, and I wanted her, and others like her to know that's not what makes a princess, or a warrior, or a superhero. It's not what makes you beautiful either. It's your insides that count ... even if you happen to be missing half of them." She goes on to thank ABC and the creator of Nashville for allowing her to go forward with the image-altering move. "Guess that the voice of an angel really is coming from one," reads one comment. (More actress stories.)