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Some roles require more than just acting — they require total transformation.
Welcome to WatchMojo.world, where we’re counting down the 10 most shocking physical and emotional transformations actors underwent for a movie role. From drastic weight changes to intense makeup and method acting, these roles pushed performers to their limits.
Which transformation impressed you the most? Let us know in the comments.
Welcome to WatchMojo.world, where we’re counting down the 10 most shocking physical and emotional transformations actors underwent for a movie role. From drastic weight changes to intense makeup and method acting, these roles pushed performers to their limits.
Which transformation impressed you the most? Let us know in the comments.
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Short filmTranscript
00:00Welcome to WatchMojo and today we're counting down our picks for the most amazing and convincing
00:12actor transformations. We won't be including inhuman creatures or characters whose faces
00:18are intentionally obscured.
00:20What's your proposal? It's simple, we kill the Batman.
00:37One of the breakout films of 2024 was Long Legs, a serial killer thriller unlike any other.
00:43Nicolas Cage plays the titular Long Legs, although you probably wouldn't know it without
00:48reading the credits. Cage dons a layer of powdery makeup, facial prosthetics, and a white wig
00:54to turn into the serial killer, and the results are absolutely mesmerizing.
01:06Cage drew on his own memories of his mother for the role. In particular, he recalled a moment
01:11in his childhood when his mother accidentally scared him while wearing cold cream. The pale
01:15appearance of his mother stuck with him, and he put those creeped out feelings into the
01:19creation of his character.
01:21I wanted to play a character that sounded nothing like myself.
01:24Number 9. Chris Hemsworth, Furiosa, A Mad Max Saga
01:29Bloody engines! Start your engines!
01:35It's amazing how much a fake nose and a beard can make someone unrecognizable. Chris Hemsworth
01:40went from hero to villain for Furiosa, playing the warlord Dementis. The actor told Variety
01:46that he spent four hours in the makeup chair every day, a process that included the fake
01:51beard, wig, and prosthetic nose.
01:53Everyone's saying they've been swindled and shortchanged. Everyone's saying it's my fault.
01:58He even joked that the protracted time spent in the chair helped craft his character, as
02:03there was a nice amount of pent-up rage going into shooting. But the results were well worth
02:09it, transforming the very handsome actor into another person entirely.
02:13The question is, do you have it in you to make it epic?
02:21Number 8. Nicole Kidman, The Hours.
02:24Someone has to die in order that the rest of us should value life more. It's contrast.
02:31If you'd told us this was some new up-and-coming actress, we would have believed you. But the
02:36actress in The Hours playing Virginia Woolf was none other than Nicole Kidman. She literally
02:41and figuratively disappears into the character and deservedly took home the Oscar for Best Actress.
02:47I am attended by doctors everywhere. I am attended by doctors who inform me of my own interest.
02:54Kidman was made up to look like the late writer, which included the addition of a fake nose. The
02:59process took three hours a day. And according to Kidman, some people on set had no idea that it was her.
03:05She also claimed that test audiences sat through the entire movie without realizing that it starred
03:09Nicole Kidman. We don't blame them. That's Virginia Woolf, isn't it?
03:14If I were thinking clearly, Leonard, I would tell you that I wrestle alone in the dark,
03:20in the deep dark, and that only I can know.
03:23Number 7. Jared Leto, House of Gucci.
03:27I like my cousin too. He's quiet, like a little moose. A tiny little moose. He doesn't scream like the others.
03:38This singer-slash-actor is no stranger to huge transformations or playing historical figures.
03:44Back in 2007, he gained 67 pounds to play John Lennon's killer, Mark David Chapman. But perhaps his
03:50biggest transformation was when he turned into Paolo Gucci. To play the chief designer of the
03:56iconic fashion brand, Leto donned a bodysuit, facial prosthetics, and a bald cap.
04:01The effect was so convincing that it even fooled Leto's co-star Al Pacino.
04:06Pacino had not seen Leto in hair and makeup, and when Leto approached Pacino in character,
04:14he was weirded out by this random guy calling him Papa. Someone had to tell Pacino that it was Leto,
04:20and he couldn't believe his eyes. Neither can we.
04:23I tried again, I said, Papa, it's me, Paolo. And he basically shuffled off again, like, who's this creep?
04:30Number 6. Colin Farrow, The Batman.
04:34Boy, I hear everything they say, ain't you? I guess we both are.
04:40Penguin is one of Batman's most iconic foes, and in 2022, it was Colin Farrow's turn to don the tux.
04:47While we do love Danny DeVito's Penguin, there was something distinctly menacing about Colin Farrow's
04:52realistic and gritty portrayal, which was more actual mob boss and less, well, actual Penguin.
04:58You didn't invite me, so I crashed!
05:04Farrow's face was marked and scarred, and a bodysuit gave him a substantial amount of weight.
05:10The makeup artist also performed little touches to his face, like arching his eyebrows and pointing
05:15his nose, all to give him a more Penguin-y appearance. Farrow claims that the first makeup
05:20test took about eight hours, and his co-stars didn't even recognize him when he said hello.
05:25Jeffery Wright walked by me and I said, I said, morning, man. And he looked at me like he wanted
05:31me thrown off the set.
05:31Number 5. Cate Blanchett, I'm Not There.
05:35People actually think I have some kind of fantastic imagination.
05:44I think it's very loomsome.
05:46Who knew that such a great casting choice for Bob Dylan would be Cate Blanchett? I'm Not There
05:51is an experimental biopic telling its story non-chronologically and using six different
05:56actors to depict the various personalities of Bob Dylan.
05:59I didn't come out of some cereal box. There's no one out there who's ever going to be converted by a
06:05song.
06:06Blanchett plays Jude Quinn, the mid-60s Dylan who abandoned folk and went electric. Nothing
06:12is done to Blanchett's face, but it's amazing how much she embodies this era of Dylan-esque fashion.
06:17The curly Dylan wig and iconic sunglasses are all she needs to transform into the icon. Her brilliant
06:23acting does the rest. What if I said I never cared about folk music, about protest songs. It was all
06:31about jumping into a scene.
06:32Number 4. Gary Oldman, Darkest Hour.
06:36I've never killed for bread. I believe I can boil an egg, but only because I've seen it done.
06:45This actor is well known for being a chameleon, but in this case he completely transformed into
06:50Winston Churchill. Darkest Hour depicts the Prime Minister's life during the early days of World
06:55War II, and it's like watching footage of the man himself.
06:59Evening last, I received His Majesty's commission to form a new administration.
07:06The makeup team won an Oscar for turning Oldman into Churchill, a process which took just over three
07:11hours every day. Oldman required a bodysuit to change his proportions, and he essentially received
07:17a whole new face every day, including a fake nose, cheeks, chin, and even ears. It was obviously a
07:24lot of hard work, but it paid off beautifully.
07:27You're suggesting we're somehow winning. We're not.
07:32No, but it will inspire me.
07:36Number 3. Tom Cruise, Tropic Thunder.
07:39Thank you, Les. Thank you. We have a good night.
07:41But seriously, a nutless monkey could do your job.
07:43Good.
07:44Tom Cruise was originally supposed to play Rick Peck, a role that eventually went to
07:48Matthew McConaughey. It was Cruise who had the idea to play an obnoxious studio head,
07:53and he and Ben Stiller collaborated to create the character of Les Grossman.
07:56Cruise donned a bald cap, wore glasses, and climbed into a bodysuit.
08:00He also put on giant prosthetic hands, an idea that he pitched himself. Some speculated that
08:14the portrayal was meant to evoke notorious producers Scott Rudin and Harvey Weinstein.
08:18Cruise's appearance was one of the movie's greatest surprises.
08:21You want me to let my client of 15 years, one of my best friends, die in the jungle alone,
08:29pour some money in a G5? Yes.
08:33Number 2. Christian Bell Vice.
08:36You have authorization to shoot down any aircraft deemed a threat.
08:41The English actor Bell is known far and wide for his crazy body transformations,
08:46like when he shed 62 pounds to play Trevor Resnick in The Machinist.
08:51But in this case, Christian Bell became another person, and that person is former Vice President
08:56Dick Cheney. Perhaps I could help you find the right running mate.
09:03The movie took home the Oscar for best makeup and hairstyle, which is no surprise when you see
09:08Bell's metamorphosis. What makes this even more amazing is that the team had to create different
09:13looks for Cheney as he aged throughout the film. By the time he reaches his late 60s,
09:18Bell was in the makeup chair for four hours a day. The results are almost indistinguishable from real
09:23life. I can feel your incriminations and your judgment, and I am fine with it.
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09:49Number 1. Charlize Theron. Monster.
09:52This is one of those shapeshifts that has to be some kind of black magic. Even knowing that this
10:07is Charlize Theron and knowing exactly how it was done, we still can't believe it. Theron plays Eileen
10:14Wuornos, a real-life serial killer who took the lives of seven men in the late 80s and early 90s.
10:24Theron gained 30 pounds for the role, and the makeup team did extensive work on her face to
10:29make her look like the real Wuornos. They gave her skin a completely different complexion, shaved
10:34her eyebrows, popped in some dentures, and provided contacts that changed her eyes from blue to brown.
10:39It's still the most mind-blowing transformation in movie history.
10:43But I knew they didn't have any money, you know? I was having a hook anyway,
10:47so I just always made sure they had new clothes and cigarettes and stuff like that.
10:52Were you fooled by any of these transformations? Let us know in the comments below.
10:57What do we have here?
10:58Did you enjoy this video? Check out these other clips from WatchMojo.
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