Nice beard! Nick Jonas debuts a DRASTIC image transformation

So now we know why Nick Jonas favours a clean-shaven face.

The singer is branching out from music with a new role on Scream Queens alongside Lea Michele and Emma Roberts, but he's had to make a few changes to get into character.

Nick stepped out on set in Los Angeles this week looking nothing like his usual self – and it definitely wasn't a change for the better.

With a scruffy beard, goatee and shaggy haircut, the 23-year-old could have been mistaken for someone twenty years his senior.

Of course his outfit didn't help: belted chinos, a striped polo shirt and a green padded gilet.

Thankfully though, the facial hair at least was revealed to be fake, as Nick was seen minutes later beard-free. Phew…

Nick – who rose to fame playing alongside his siblings Joe and Kevin in The Jonas Brothers – has been trying his hand at the world of acting lately, and this is his biggest role yet.

The former pop star will play a frat boy named Boone on the new horror-comedy show, but his character certainly doesn't sound likeable.

"[My character] touches on the prick side. It’s very fun to play,” he told the Huffington Post, saying the show was an "exciting new journey" for him.

Prior to his Scream Queens role, Nick starred in a short-lived teen show with his brothers called Jonas, as well as appearing in Smash, Hawaii Five-O and Kingdom. 

He's had plenty of time to focus on his acting career of late, having split from his long-term girlfriend Olivia Culpo over the summer.

Since the break-up, Nick has been linked to model Kendall Jenner, though he swears there's nothing going on.

"Kendall is great and naturally with her being good friends with Gigi [Hadid] and with Joe [Jonas] and Gigi dating, there are times we’ll be in the same place and we all hang out," he explained, while insisting the pair were "not dating."

Well, he certainly won't be wooing any new ladies with that awful goatee…