11 Times It Was Hard to Recognize the Actors Behind the Characters They Played

In certain cases, when an actor is chosen to play a role or a particular character, he has to change his appearance, and sometimes drastically. In addition to prosthetics, wigs and digital retouching, makeup professionals are largely responsible for bringing fantastic beings or popular culture personalities to the screen, bringing them to life.

We who do awesome.club, we are always surprised by cases of actors who have undergone major transformations. And as it couldn’t be otherwise, we’ve created a list of some of these unique characterizations. At the end of the article, a bonus awaits you showing visual changes that only technology could provide.

Jared Leto is one of those actors who really gets into the skin of the character. To bring Paolo Gucci, Maurizio’s plump, bald cousin to life, the actor had to rely on the prosthetic skills of make-up artist Göran Lundström.

To embody the villain of the post-apocalyptic drama, Tilda was inspired by a person who was present in her childhood, but was not to her liking. For this, the actress resorted to false teeth and large frame glasses. By putting the hair and the outfit together, she managed to give Minister Mason the desired somewhat unappealing look.

Before the character Yennefer de Vengerberg became a powerful sorceress, she appeared at the beginning of the series with a birth deformity, a characteristic that caused her to be discriminated against and mistreated by her family. To personify that version of Yennefer, Anya wore a prosthetic back to look like a hunchback, as well as a prominent jaw.

Michael Dorn played Worf, a Klingon created by humans. To fulfill the task, the actor spent two and a half hours on makeup so that the forehead prosthesis fit perfectly on his face. Thus, it was possible to obtain the appearance required by the character.

Actress Lily James stunned audiences with her physical transformation to play the iconic Pamela Anderson. Although the two actresses don’t have many similarities, Lily managed to embody Pamela spending three hours a day in the make-up chair. She also used wigs, false teeth, contact lenses, facial and body prostheses, spray tan and other resources to look as much like Pamela as possible.

Mrs. Doubtfire is one of the most remembered roles among those played by dear Robin Williams. The film partially shows the transformation of Daniel, Robin’s character in the plot, into the fun nanny, but in real life the process was even more exhausting. In order for the actor to turn into a lovely old lady, he needed to spend four hours in the care of makeup artists.

The elegant-featured actress had to shave half her head to get the rugged look of Cressida, the director in charge of Katniss’s war videos. To achieve the perfect design of the tattoo displayed by the character, the actress underwent several months of preparation. During this period, the person in charge of makeup and the director had to deliberate until they reached the ideal design.

For the return of the successful franchise, Elizabeth left aside her beautiful features to show on the big screen a new version of Rita Repulsa, the dangerous enemy of the Power Rangers. In addition to wearing an incredible costume, the actress needed to go through a process of more than four hours to get the look of the villain that we saw in the feature film.

In order to transform himself into Whitey Bulger, leader of a criminal gang, the actor worked with his trusted makeup artist, Joel Harlow. To make the film, the make-up team focused on giving Johnny cold, piercing blue eyes, paler skin, and stained teeth. In addition, the multifaceted actor used a silicone prosthesis on half of his face in which each strand of hair was inserted by hand, resulting in a more realistic appearance.

Margot is one of those actresses who stand out for their radiant beauty, but to bring Queen Elizabeth I to life, she had to go through a transformation that left her unrecognizable. The film shows a progressive change in Margot’s image until she has that iconic look of the monarch, obtained from white pasty makeup, thin eyebrows, wigs and a fake nose.

Ben Grimm, better known as Thing, is one of the most remembered characters among those lived by Michael Chiklis. But the job also brought several inconveniences, as the transformation into a superhero required the use of 27 kg of latex and hours sitting in the make-up chair. Not to mention the intense heat that the actor said he felt under the costume of the Thing.

To adapt the well-known Broadway musical to the big screen, the actors wore green costumes that allowed, in the post-production phase, their transformation into a kind of humanoid cats. That’s how Rebel Wilson became Jennyanydots without her acting details being compromised.

Doug Jones was notable for having played several non-human creatures. For the amphibian man’s body, the actor used a flexible suit that moved with its own muscles, while the movement of the gills was remotely controlled. To give that being a face, the responsible team combined prosthetics and make-up, but the post-production effects ensured the eye blinks and tiny expressions.

For the action film, Eiza embodied Nyssiana, an evil and sadistic cyborg who wants to destroy Alita. In order to look like a robot, the actress was made up by specialists in the field. The results were combined with the use of technology.

Can you think of any other actors who went through drastic transformations to play a role? How about mentioning more artists that could be on our list?