Same like us, regular people, celebrities often use tattoos as a means of self-expression, making them an integral part of their image, or even paying homage to a person or an event with their body art. Fans have always had a genuine interest in their idols’ tattoos. And though some celebrities try not to show them off, considering them a very intimate thing, others don’t hold back, talking openly about their importance.

Carey Mulligan

A miniature seagull tattoo once helped the actress land a role in Steve McQueen’s Shame. During her audition for the role of Sissy, Mulligan said she saw some similarities between this character, and the character in the play The Seagull, Nina, who she played in a Broadway production in 2008.

The star also mentioned that she wants to get a tattoo in the shape of a seagull in honour of Nina. The director was so taken with the idea, that he ended up giving Mulligan the role. Plans for the tattoo, also, soon came to fruition

Dax Shepard

Instead of a wedding ring, the actor got a bell-shaped tattoo on his ring finger in honour of wife Kristen Bell. “I don’t like wearing jewelry, but I felt obliged to warn all the men that I’m taken,” Shepard joked on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. “I thought a tattoo would be fitting. And her last name, conveniently, is an object I could tattoo.” The bell also features the letters K, L and D — the initials of the actor’s wife and daughters Lincoln and Delta.

Chrissy Teigen

Last year, Chrissy Teigen and John Legend’s daughter graduated from pre-school. To mark the occasion, the model decided to get a tattoo of the pattern Luna drew that day. “Luna drew this butterfly on me today and it seemed fitting to make it permanent. A little imperfect, a little messy, but hell she’s here to stay,” revealed the model.