For several years actors have changed their facial hair in an attempt to possibly be viewed as more serious. The Oscar Beard is grown out by actors not just so they could win awards but showing they would like to be viewed as more serious, or more prestigious. It marks that the actor is doing something different. Even if he/she is playing the same god damn role, it still seems as if they are doing something different. It can be viewed as purely an Indie movie thing but mainstream players sometimes do this in mainstream movies as well.
Sometimes the actors don’t grow the beard for the sake of Awards or respect in Hollywood because they have already garnered both. Body of Lies was a movie where both Russell Crowe and Leonardo DiCaprio went through physical changes. Leonardo DiCaprio grew out a beard that was extremely long and extremely unattractive. He wanted to stray from looking good in this movie because he was trying to display a rough and course field agent instead of his typical role of attractive guy. I normally appreciate DiCaprio’s work and although I wasn’t a fan of his work in this movie. I truly admire his choice in the Oscar Beard.
The Oscar Beard doesn’t always end in success on the awards front but it does do well in regards to garnering respect. Steve Carrel was always thought of as just some fake news anchor underneath Jon Stewart until he came into his own on The Office. But even then he never really received much respect from Hollywood. Until he grew out a beard for Little Miss Sunshine, I personally think his performance was wonderful and so did many others. Was it because of the beard? The world may never know. We could just ask Paul Giamatti who grew a beard for Sideways and was robbed, some people (including me) believe criminally, from even an Oscar nomination, but he still made some ripples playing the depressed wine connoisseur. However, a year later he shaves the beard and lands an Oscar nomination for Cinderella Man. Some could make this an argument against the Oscar beard…but would he have even gotten that role if it wasn’t for his stubble in Sideways? Think about that.
Ryan Gosling jumped into the indie world full blast with Half Nelson, a fantastic movie with a heartbreaking performance from a supremely gifted young actor. The beard might have nothing to do with this one but he happened to be donning one when he received an Oscar nomination for his work. Through this performance (and possibly because of the beard) he has made a name for himself from the goofy kid in Remember the Titans, to the heartthrob of The Notebook, to a serious actor that will be going places in the future.
The Oscar Beard can sometimes be an epic failure and not becuase of the beard but becuase of the downright shitty performance. In this case, it doesn't matter if the actor wears a beard or not but he does look more pathetic with the beard becuase you recognize his failure at trying to become a serious actor is more recognizable. The most prominent example is Dane Cook in Mr. Brooks. An actor that is way too much of an amateur to handle drama in a movie that was grossly mis-cast and far from perfect.
The two most famous Oscar Beards were worn by people that have already made big names for themselves in Hollywood. Robin Williams was regarded as a successful comedian for many years before Good Will Hunting. He was even given several different nominations for past comedic roles. But he went serious, by growing a beard and playing a more subdued and beautiful character then his typical persona. The role, performance, and beard won him the Oscar for best supporting actor. George Clooney was already voted the sexiest man alive before he won his Oscar and had quite a bit of star power under him with already several movies under his belt. But it was when he wore the beard in Syriana that he received his Oscar for best supporting actor nine years later, which shows that the academy still loves when actors grow facial hair.
We cannot give all credit to the beard. Many of these performances are actually rather good and deserve recognition. I even think that John Krasinki, someone that normally doesn’t wow me, looks like he is going to deliver. But perhaps the reason they are given attention is because the actor looks slightly different and therefore we pay more attention to that performance. So while the beard isn’t the performance, it sure illuminates it. 
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