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?
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