Movie magic isn’t just a saying, it’s a real thing!
I mean, where else but a movie set can you enter as yourself and come out a completely
different person or even creature!
Actor transformations are a thing to behold, especially in the case of…
#13.
Charlize Theron in Monster Ever wonder what the stunning Charlize Theron
would look like if she were a man-hunting murderer?
Well, this 2003 flick will show ya!
Along with Theron’s Oscar-winning performance, her makeup, prosthetics, and dedication to
the art of acting completely transformed her into the late serial killer Aileen Wuornos.
The actress donned a pair of crooked teeth and freckles and even put on weight for the
role!
Audiences were floored by her transformation, and Stephen Holden of the New York Times said,
“Charlize Theron pulls off the year’s most astounding screen makeover…”
And I’d have to agree with him on that one!
#12.
Cate Blanchett in Manifesto Actress Cate Blanchett blew movie-goers away
in 2015 with her performances in Manifesto.
Yes, performances, that’s plural.
In the film, she portrayed a whopping 13 personas!
In one role, she rocks a beanie and disheveled facial hair, and in another, she’s covered
in tattoos and wears a short, chic brunette wig.
And knowing how beautiful and poised Blanchett is in real life, it’s pretty shocking to
see her as a scruffy dude and other rough-around-the-edges types of characters.
Then again, as a truly gifted Oscar-winning actress, I’m not too surprised Blanchett
could handle all these roles!
#11.
Bill Skarsgård in It Ah, yes, the 2017 horror flick that managed
to stir up that intense fear of clowns we all thought we’d finally gotten over 27
years after watching the 1990 version.
No, just me?
Anyway, who would’ve thought that the actor who was transformed into the nightmare-inducing
children-eating clown is actually a nice-looking young Swedish man by the name of Bill Skarsgård!
But along with the red wig and creepy yet colorful makeup, Pennywise’s scariest feature
was his smile.
To create it, Skarsgård explained that he’d do a thing with his lip along with an off-putting
movement in his lazy eye to make “as much of a weird disturbing performance as possible”.
And he definitely succeeded at that!
Almost makes you feel bad for all those birthday party clowns that couldn’t get any work
after everyone had seen Skarsgård’s performance!
Yeah, almost…
#10.
Dan Stevens in Beauty and the Beast Actor Dan Stevens is anything but a beast
in real life.
But with some good makeup artists and prosthetics, even someone as handsome as Stevens can morph
into a giant, broken-hearted, hairy creature stuck in a castle!
But makeup wasn’t the only magic present in this 2017 film.
CGI is what took the Beast’s look to the next level.
During filming, Stevens had to wear a heavy, bulky motion-capture suit to make him look
much bigger than he actually was.
The actor told USA Today, “It’s an ordeal for my calf muscles alone!”
But along with full-body shots in the suit, the actor also had to go into the special-effects
studio and recreate the same scenes but with just his facial features.
These facial-capture sessions would get close up on the actor’s face, studying how he
spoke and even slurped soup!
But that hard work was obviously worth it, right?
#9.
Jacob Tremblay in Wonder At the time the movie Wonder was being made,
11-year-old actor Jacob Tremblay was already enduring what most grown-up actors consider
unbearable.
That is, hours in the makeup chair!
Being that the 2017 film is about a boy named Auggie who struggles to fit into the world
while dealing with the effects of Treacher Collins syndrome, the makeup and hair team
had a big job to do on set.
FX artist Arjen Tuiten (who, by the way, was also the talent behind Angelina Jolie’s
Maleficent and some creatures in Pan’s Labyrinth) worked his magic on Tremblay, completely transforming
him into Auggie.
In fact, Tremblay would endure an hour and a half in the makeup chair every morning.
But before the final look came to be, Tuiten and his team spent months testing and re-sculpting
the perfect look for the actor, including the hair, makeup and prosthetics.
#8.
Richard Brake in Game of Thrones If you were to put actor Richard Brake’s
picture next to The Night King from the Game of Thrones, you’d bet money on them being
completely different people.
And that’s why it’s not all that surprising to learn that it took about 6 hours to transform
Brake into the creepy white walker.
Add another 3 hours to take it all off after shooting is complete, and that’s 9 hours
just on FX makeup!
Man, and I thought I take forever to get ready every day…
#7.
Gary Oldman in Darkest Hour Do period dramas tend to make you fall asleep?
Well, that probably isn’t the case in Darkest Hour, a 2017 biopic about Winston Churchill
featuring respected actor Gary Oldman.
You have to give it to the makeup team because they took an actor who really didn’t resemble
the famous British prime minister and made Oldman look EXACTLY like Churchill!
According to Darkest Hour’s twitter, it took an incredible amount of time for artist
Kazuhiro Tsuji to achieve the transformation.
That included 13 makeup tests, 48 consecutive shooting days, and 200 hours of Oldman sitting
in the makeup chair!
Geeze, I feel tired just hearing about all that work!
#6.
Margot Robbie in Suicide Squad Who would’ve thought that such a sweet face
could turn into one of the most kooky, demented characters in the Suicide Squad!
If you recall, Margot Robbie was rocking bright-colored makeup and even brighter pigtails to play
the role of Harley Quinn in the 2016 film.
In an interview with The Washington Post’s Comic Riffs, Robbie explained how tiring it
was to wear the costume on set every day.
She explained that the wig and the costume were hard to deal with, but her gold bangles
were actually the most uncomfortable since the spikes on them would stab her during action
scenes!
Whoa, talk about hazards of the job!
#5.
Daniel Radcliffe in Horns Wait, are you sure that’s the same Daniel
Radcliffe we all know as the boy wizard in the Harry Potter series?
Whoa…
Well, as the 2013 film’s title suggests, Radcliffe got to boast his own pair of horns
when he took on the role of Ig.
The actor explained to Entertainment Weekly that this was a “horrific transformation”
but it was “very, very exciting”.
He had to sit for several hours in the makeup chair before coming on set in order to get
his makeup, hair, and prosthetics just right.
I mean, be honest, just looking at this horned beast, would you have ever guessed that it
was Daniel Radcliffe under all that?
Incredible!
#4.
Nicholas Hoult in Mad Max: Fury Road Nicholas Hoult’s transformation in 2015’s
Mad Max: Fury Road was nothing short of jaw-dropping.
With that bald head, black eyes, and skin covered in scars and tumors, you’d never
guess that it was the same handsome English actor we saw in movies like X-Men and Jack
the Giant Slayer.
Hoult’s transformation into the terminally ill Nux apparently took two hours of makeup
every day of shooting.
#3.
Halle Berry in Cloud Atlas The makeup artists for 2012’s Cloud Atlas
managed to pull off the impossible: they turned the stunning Halle Barry into a wrinkly old
man.
Applause everyone!
According to Entertainment Weekly, Berry worked with costume designer Pierre-Yves and hair
and makeup artist Daniel Parker to rock the look of this elderly Korean man.
Parker explained that when creating an old face like he did on Berry, it was important
to keep his strokes light so that the features would be more subtle.
Well, I was anything but subtly surprised by this transformation!
#2.
Joel Edgerton in Bright With a 2017 film about a universe in which
humans, elves, fairies, and orcs all coexist, it’s not surprising that some seriously
awesome makeup and special effects would be involved.
To transform actor Joel Edgerton into an orc cop by the name of Nick Jakoby, artists worked
on him for around 3 hours a day every time he was on set.
But while this sounds pretty taxing, the actor admitted that the process was actually a bit
freeing since he didn’t have to think about vanity anymore.
Ah, the troubles of being gorgeous!
#1.
Doug Jones in The Shape of Water Latex, latex, latex!
Actor Doug Jones got very familiar with this material during his time on set for the 2017
hit film The Shape of Water.
According to indiewire.com, the actor couldn’t text on his phone or even turn a doorknob
while in his head-to-toe (er, “fin”) costume.
For this transformation, Jones had to sit still in a chair as 4 people squeezed him
into a body suit made of latex, foam, and rubber.
He also wore web-fingered gloves and a fiberglass helmet complete with buzzing mechanics that
controlled his gills.
And this was all before he’d have to hang from a hip harness, bob in water, and attempt
scuba-diving-inspired moves.
Well done, Doug Jones, well done.
Can you add any more mind-blowing actor transformations to the list?
Leave them in the comment section down below!
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