Movie villains often look monstrously inhuman, but in general, the actors who
play them are in fact bona fide human beings. Let's take a look behind all of
the makeup and prosthetics to get a good view of the folks who bring those baddies to life.
Danny DeVito makes a great villain, though in our hearts he's absolutely
anything but. He unforgettably demonstrated his penchant for evil in 1992's Batman Returns,
in which he played classic Batman foe The Penguin. His real name is Oswald Cobblepot,
which sounds a bit like a fake name that DeVito's It's Always Sunny in
Philadelphia character Frank Reynolds might come up with.
DeVito is a pretty physically distinct individual,
so plenty of his fans probably recognized him in Batman Returns even underneath all the makeup.
But the criminal gang leader who was raised by a family of sewer penguins doesn't really
look anything like the actor we know and love. Designing the character involved experimenting
with multiple nose shapes and many different makeup hues. In the end,
DeVito's face was painted a pasty white, his teeth were made to look rotten, and his eyes
were heavily shadowed. And most disgustingly of all, the Penguin drools black saliva.
"It would just kind of ooze out, you know, and drip down."
Believe it or not, actor Doug Jones' eyes aren't really located in the palms of his hands,
like how they are when he plays the Pale Man in the 2006 fantasy film Pan's Labyrinth.
In real life, his bodily features are where you'd expect them to be, except when he's utilizing his
contortionist skills. But on screen, he can often be seen playing otherworldly creatures.
If you're a film buff, you've probably seen plenty of his work, but chances are you wouldn't
recognize him on the street, as his roles nearly always require heavy make-up and prosthetics.
Jones is a very lean 6 foot 3 inches tall, which makes him perfect for a wide variety of
non-human roles, like Billy in Hocus Pocus or the Amphibian Man in The Shape of Water. It's fitting
and unsurprising then that he collaborates often with director Guillermodel Toro,
who's known for his distinct and elaborate visuals. Del Toro directed Pan's Labyrinth,
in which Jones played both the Pale Man and the Faun. In real life, Jones is a genial man who
describes himself as a "dyed-in-the-wool Christian from the Midwest." Adorably,
he recently recreated his engagement photo with his college sweetheart-turned-wife
on their 35th anniversary and posted the result on Twitter.
Hugo Weaving is so unrecognizable as the Red Skull in Captain America: The First Avenger that
some fans might not have even noticed that he was replaced by another actor in Avengers: Infinity
War and Endgame. The new Red Skull was brought to life by Ross Marquand , in a part largely
created with CGI. Things were a lot more physical for Weaving, as he sat in the makeup chair for
hours on set while the design team worked their magic with seven pieces of overlapping silicone .
The difference between these two Red Skulls is actually what led to Weaving turning down
the opportunity to return to the role. As he revealed to Time Out in 2020,
Marvel backed away from the contracts that they'd originally agreed upon by attempting to pay
Weaving less for the new movies than for The First Avenger. Weaving recounted,
"They said: 'It’s just a voice job, it’s not a big deal.' I actually found negotiating with them
through my agent impossible. And I didn’t really wanna do it that much. But I would have done it."
While you probably won't see Weaving in any future Avengers films, you can certainly
see him in plenty of other high-profile movies. He played the revolutionary masked
main character in V for Vendetta, and his real face became easily recognizable after
he played Agent Smith in the Matrix movies and Elrond in The Lord of the Rings trilogy.
Jim Carrey's notoriously expressive face can render him unrecognizable from one
moment to the next. The versatile actor has played many roles that
have utilized his chameleonic nature. He was cartoonishly transformed for 1994's The Mask,
he sported bright red hair and a green mask as the Riddler in 1995's Batman Forever,
and then in 2000 he wore head-to-toe green fur in How the Grinch Stole Christmas.
You might call all of those roles a series of fortunate events, as they made Carrey famous and
earned him plenty of dough. But the coincidences that plague the Baudelaire siblings in 2004's
Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events, in which Carrey played Count Olaf,
aren't nearly so whimsical. Portraying Olaf was no walk in the park either, as Carrey reportedly
had to spend three hours in the makeup chair each day to play the villain who stalks and
tortures the Baudelaires. But it wasn't all bad, as he's admitted that he had a, quote, "childlike
fascination" with the transformational powers of makeup that he experienced in that film. It's safe
to say that his fans share the fascination and love him no matter what form his features take.
Villainy and makeup go hand-in-hand with horror movie clowns, as demonstrated clearly
by Pennywise, the terrifying jester played by Bill Skarsgård in both 2017's It and 2019's It Chapter
Two. The Swedish actor got into his clown makeup early, asking his girlfriend to prepare his face
for an audition that just required some simple whiteface. Of course, he ultimately landed the
role and fully transformed into the Pennywise we know and fear. But Skarsgård's real transformation
occurred on the inside. He's called Pennywise his most exhausting role ever, on both a physical and
psychological level, and he wasn't even talking about the two and a half hours it took to complete
the look. The part required an enormous amount of energy from the actor, and he also had to
deal with the fact that his performance made at least one child actor cry real tears.
"I'll feast on your flesh as I feed on your fear."
Skarsgård comes from a family of actors, all of them quite handsome. His father Stellan has
also been physically transformed for roles like Bootstrap Bill Turner in the Pirates
of the Caribbean films. It's a testimony to the power of makeup that you'd never look at
Pennywise and the barnacle-faced Bill and realize they're actually father and son!
Darth Maul, the vermilion villain from the Star Wars universe, was played by Ray Park,
a martial artist and actor who got his start as a stunt double in 1997's Mortal Kombat:
Annihilation. Since then, he's appeared in a number of action-oriented parts, with Maul
being the most famous. Park loved playing him, one reason being that becoming the character through
the magic of makeup gave him a real rush. The Sith Lord's appearance instantly communicates that he's
a formidable presence and a major menace. His unique look, combined with Park's particular
set of skills, resulted in a villain who truly terrified every Star Wars fan in the world. During
a 2019 interview with SyFy Wire, Park recalled a directive he received from producer Rick McCallum:
"From Rick, it was like, 'Now, Ray, I want you to be mean. I want you to scare
every child in America and around the world. You're gonna be bad.'"
This turned out to be an inspired casting choice, as Park was able to use his martial
arts background to battle in a lightsaber fight grounded in very little script direction.
His face might not be recognizable in this role, but his moves definitely are.
When Daveigh Chase isn't climbing out of the TV as she did in the 2002 horror classic The Ring,
she's a considerably less terrifying figure. In fact, she's even worked as a model. Her TV and
movie parts have definitely been on the darker side, though. Her first major live-action role
was the 2001 psychological thriller Donnie Darko as the title character's little sister, and then
starting in 2006, she played the sociopathic Rhonda Volmer on the HBO series Big Love.
In The Ring, Chase played Samara , whose fiendish powers have created a cursed videotape that
kills people seven days after they've watched it. While Samara is mostly seen with long black hair,
a haggard face, and a white gown, we do briefly get to see her without ghoulish makeup in one
scene. During a recording of a psychiatric session watched by Naomi Watts' character,
Samara discusses her inability to control her psychic powers. Chase was only 12 years old when
the film came out, so you might not recognize her nowadays if you see her on the street both
because she's probably not wearing all that villain makeup and because she's all grown up.
"I'm sorry. It won't stop."
With his performance as the Joker in 2008's The Dark Knight, the late Heath Ledger gave
the world perhaps the most iconic portrayal of the Clown Prince of Crime. Though he was rendered
unrecognizable by makeup, stringy green hair, and a devilish sneer, his name has become synonymous
with the role. That's in large part because Ledger didn't just become the Joker when he put
on the makeup. His commitment ran much deeper than that. Throughout production on the film,
he kept a diary full of playing cards, quotes from the movie, and excerpts from the comics
that reflect the neuroses of the character. He locked himself away in apartments and hotel
rooms to work on the diary, allowing himself to perfect his portrayal of the terrifying criminal.
"See, I'm not a monster. I'm just ahead of the curve."
Underneath the Joker makeup, Ledger was a handsome man with dirty blonde hair.
He also had plenty of other talents and hobbies besides acting, as he was both a former chess
champion and an avid photographer. His acting work ranged from the 1999 teen rom-com 10 Things
I Hate About You to wrenching dramas like 2005's Brokeback Mountain. The Joker was just one of his
many triumphs on screen, but it's one that fans of his will always remember with awe.
The greatest mystery of Rebecca Romijn's Mystique, who first appears on screen in 2000's X-Men,
is how her blue makeup was able to stick to her. It wasn't easy, as her first screen test required
a jaw-dropping 12 hours in the makeup chair, which was cut down to a still-staggering nine for the
second movie, 2003's X2: X-Men United, and finally down to seven for 2006's X-Men: The Last Stand.
That all sounds particularly grueling, even by Hollywood standards. In fact,
it seems like it would require mutant powers for an actor to get through it,
especially when you consider that Romijn had to be made-up and on set at 9:00 AM.
As for the rest of her career, she's had plenty of other roles that don't require quite so much
detailed preparation. You may have seen her, for example, as Number One on Star Trek: Discovery,
or as Alexis Meade on Ugly Betty. And she's also hosted Skin Wars, a competition show that centers
around insane body painting challenges. She certainly knows something about that!
It's not just the bald head and the missing nose that make Ralph Fiennes
so unrecognizable as Harry Potter nemesis' Lord Voldemort. It's also the fact that
the actor is rather striking in real life. And you don't have to look far for proof,
as he's appeared in a number of films in which his natural face is fully visible.
Though Voldemort's visage is decidedly different from Fiennes', the transformational process wasn't
as complicated as you might expect. Temporary tattoos, false teeth, and fake fingernails were
all it took to turn this talented thespian into the most despised villain in the wizarding world.
Over in the muggle world, you've probably seen Fiennes in a variety of flicks. In 1993,
he infamously played war criminal Amon Göth in Schindler's List, which earned him an Oscar
nomination for Best Supporting Actor. Then 1996's The English Patient led to another
round of accolades. And more recently, he's appeared in the likes of Clash of the Titans,
The Grand Budapest Hotel, and the James Bond franchise, starting with 2012's Skyfall.
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