5 Times Actors Went Unrecognizable for the Role
Actors will go the extra mile to make us believe what's happening on screen. Here are five of Hollywood's most astonishing transformations that will make you do a double take.
Some actors do much more than memorize their lines. They spend countless hours in makeup chairs to completely erase themselves. While many performers claim they'd “do anything for the right role,” the following 5 actors actually proved it.
1. Doug Jones in ‘Pan's Labyrinth’
Roles: Fauno, Pale Man.
The prosthetics for the Fauno character took five hours to apply. For the Pale Man, Jones had to peer through nostril holes since the character's eyes were positioned in his hands.
“The Fawn from Pan's Labyrinth, that was a five-hour makeup transformation. The Pale Man from Pan's Labyrinth, with my eyeballs in my hands — I did play that character as well — that was a six-hour transformation,” Jones said to NPR.
2. Eddie Murphy in ‘Coming to America’
Roles: Prince Akeem, Clarence, Saul, Randy Watson.
Coming to America is a true classic in which Murphy transformed himself into multiple characters. The makeup is so convincing that some viewers don't realize that all of these characters are played by the same person.
“It's the same exact, long, drawn out, five hours in the makeup chair process. It's the same thing. That didn't get any easier.” Murphy explained about filming the sequel to Yahoo! Entertainment.
3. Charlize Theron in ‘Monster’
Role: Aileen Wuornos
Theron completely disappeared into her role as serial killer Aileen Wuornos. With facial prosthetics, makeup and a 30-pound weight gain, she became unrecognizable. The transformation paid off: Theron won an Oscar for her performance.
“I will never do it again,” Theron told Allure about the weight gain. “When I was 27, I did Monster. I lost 30 pounds, like, overnight. I missed three meals and I was back to my normal weight.”
4. Nicole Kidman in ‘The Hours’
Role: Virginia Woolf
Kidman rocked a fake nose and wig to become Virginia Woolf in The Hours. Rather than just focusing on looking like Woolf, she worked from the inside out.
“[I] try to create who she is through just being her rather than trying to change physically, even though I wore the nose, even though all of those things. They were the next layer, whereas the first thing was inside,” Kidman told LA Times.
5. Gary Oldman in ‘Darkest Hour’
Role: Winston Churchill
Oldman basically lived as Churchill during the Darkest Hour production. He wore a foam suit, tons of makeup and spent over 3 hours getting ready each day.
“It took three hours, 15 minutes and then getting into the costume and everything, it was just under four hours, 48 days consecutively... They [the crew] did not see me as Gary for three months for the entire shooting because I was always in my makeup,” Oldman explained to ABC News.
