George Clooney has revealed he suffered from paralyzing Bell’s Palsy when he was a teenager.

The muscle-weakening disorder left him with a temporary disfigured face, but Clooney has always had the perfect response for people who poke fun at his odd high school photos. He says, “People bring it up and they go, ‘Look how goofy you looked,’ and I go, ‘I had Bell’s Palsy; you feel bad now.’”

And in a new interview with U.S. TV news show The Insider, the grey-haired movie hunk offered another big surprise from his past: “I was a blond.”

WENN