True chameleons! Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the most amazing and convincing actor transformations.
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00:00What do you need, Peck?
00:02More like, what do you need less?
00:04Glasses?
00:06Welcome to WatchMojo
00:08and today we're counting down our
00:10picks for the most amazing
00:12and convincing actor transformations.
00:14We won't be including
00:16inhuman creatures or characters whose
00:18faces are intentionally obscured.
00:20What's your proposal?
00:22It's simple. We kill the Batman.
00:26Number 10.
00:28Nicolas Cage, Long Legs.
00:30The marketing team behind this has been
00:32brilliant and I think it's
00:34going to be very fun when people see
00:36what he looks like in this.
00:38One of the breakout films of 2024
00:40was Long Legs, a serial killer
00:42thriller unlike any other.
00:44Nicolas Cage plays the titular
00:46Long Legs, although you probably
00:48wouldn't know it without reading the credits.
00:50Cage dons a layer of powdery
00:52makeup, facial prosthetics, and
00:54a white wig to turn into the serial
00:56killer and the results are absolutely
00:58mesmerizing.
01:00And I walked into the room and there was
01:02Nick Cage and like, I mean
01:04it was f***ing crazy.
01:06Cage drew on his own memories
01:08of his mother for the role. In particular,
01:10he recalled a moment in his childhood
01:12when his mother accidentally scared him while
01:14wearing cold cream. The pale appearance
01:16of his mother stuck with him and he put
01:18those creeped out feelings into the creation
01:20of his character. I wanted to play a
01:22character that sounded nothing like myself.
01:24Number 9. Chris
01:26Hemsworth, Furiosa, A Mad Max
01:28Saga.
01:30Light the engines!
01:32Start your engines!
01:34It's amazing how
01:36much a fake nose and a beard can
01:38make someone unrecognizable.
01:40Chris Hemsworth went from hero to
01:42villain for Furiosa, playing the warlord
01:44Dementus. The actor told Variety
01:46that he spent four hours in the
01:48makeup chair every day. A
01:50process that included the fake beard,
01:52wig, and prosthetic nose.
01:54Everyone's saying they're being swindled and short-changed.
01:56Everyone's saying it's my fault.
01:58He even joked that the
02:00protracted time spent in the chair
02:02helped craft his character, as there was
02:04a nice amount of pent-up rage
02:06going into shooting. But the results
02:08were well worth it, transforming
02:10the very handsome actor into
02:12another person entirely.
02:14The question is...
02:16Do you have it in you to make it epic?
02:18Do you have it in you to make it epic?
02:20Do you have it in you to make it epic?
02:22Number 8. Nicole Kidman, The Hours.
02:24Someone has to die in order
02:26that the rest of us should value life more.
02:30It's contrast.
02:32If you'd told us this was some new up-and-coming
02:34actress, we would have believed you.
02:36But the actress in The Hours playing
02:38Virginia Woolf was none other than
02:40Nicole Kidman. She literally and
02:42figuratively disappears into the character
02:44and deservedly took home the Oscar
02:46for Best Actress.
02:48Kidman was made up to look like
02:50the late writer, which included the
02:52addition of a fake nose.
02:54The process took three hours a day,
02:56and according to Kidman, some people
02:58on set had no idea that it was her.
03:00She also claimed that test audiences
03:02sat through the entire movie without
03:04realizing that it starred Nicole Kidman.
03:06We don't blame them. That's
03:08Virginia Woolf, isn't it?
03:10If I were thinking clearly, Leonard,
03:12I would tell you
03:14that I would tell you
03:16Leonard, I would tell you
03:18that I wrestle alone
03:20in the dark, in the deep dark,
03:22and that only I can know.
03:26I like my
03:28cousin too. He's
03:30quiet, like a
03:32like a little moose,
03:34a tiny little moose.
03:36He doesn't scream like the others.
03:38This singer-slash-actor
03:40is no stranger to huge transformations
03:42or playing historical figures.
03:44Back in 2007, he
03:46gained 67 pounds to play John
03:48Lennon's killer Mark David Chapman.
03:50But perhaps his biggest transformation
03:52was when he turned into Paolo
03:54Gucci. To play the chief designer
03:56of the iconic fashion brand,
03:58Leto donned a bodysuit, facial
04:00prosthetics, and a bald cap.
04:02The effect was so convincing that it
04:04even fooled Leto's co-star
04:06Al Pacino. Yes, yes, yes,
04:08yes, I know, it's musical.
04:10Pacino had not seen Leto in
04:12hair and makeup, and when Leto approached Pacino
04:14in character, he was weirded out by
04:16this random guy calling him Papa.
04:18Someone had to tell Pacino that it was Leto,
04:20and he couldn't believe his eyes.
04:22Neither can we. I tried again,
04:24I said, Papa, it's me,
04:26Paolo, and he basically
04:28shuffled off again. He's like, who's this
04:30creep?
04:32Colin Farrell, the Batman
04:34Boy, I hear everything they say.
04:36Ain't you?
04:38I guess we both are.
04:40Penguin is one of Batman's most
04:42iconic foes, and in
04:442022, it was Colin Farrell's
04:46turn to don the tux. While we
04:48do love Danny DeVito's Penguin,
04:50there was something distinctly menacing about
04:52Colin Farrell's realistic and gritty portrayal,
04:54which was more actual mob boss
04:56and less, well, actual
04:58Penguin. You didn't invite me,
05:00so I crashed!
05:04Farrell's
05:06face was marked and scarred,
05:08and a bodysuit gave him a substantial amount
05:10of weight. The makeup artists also
05:12performed little touches to his face,
05:14like arching his eyebrows and pointing his nose,
05:16all to give him a more penguin-y
05:18appearance. Farrell claims that
05:20the first makeup test took about eight
05:22hours, and his co-stars didn't
05:24even recognize him when he said hello.
05:26Jeffrey Wright walked by me, and I said,
05:28morning, man, and he
05:30looked at me like he wanted me thrown off the
05:32set.
05:34Kate Blanchett, I'm Not There.
05:36People actually think I have some kind of
05:40fantastic imagination.
05:44I think it's very lonesome.
05:46Who knew that such a great casting choice
05:48for Bob Dylan would be Kate Blanchett?
05:50I'm Not There is an experimental
05:52biopic, telling its story
05:54non-chronologically and using six
05:56different actors to depict the various personalities
05:58of Bob Dylan. I didn't come out
06:00of some cereal box.
06:02There's no way out there
06:04it's ever going to be converted by a song.
06:06Blanchett plays Jude Quinn,
06:08the mid-60s Dylan who abandoned folk
06:10and went electric.
06:12Nothing is done to Blanchett's face,
06:14but it's amazing how much she embodies
06:16this era of Dylan-esque fashion.
06:18The curly Dylan wig and iconic sunglasses
06:20are all she needs to
06:22transform into the icon. Her brilliant
06:24acting does the rest.
06:26What if I said I never cared about, you know,
06:28folk music, about, you know,
06:30protest songs. It was all about jumping into a sea.
06:32Number four,
06:34Gary Oldman, Darkest Hour.
06:36I've never killed for bread.
06:40I believe I can boil an egg,
06:42but only because I've seen it done.
06:44This actor is
06:46well-known for being a chameleon, but
06:48in this case, he completely transformed
06:50into Winston Churchill.
06:52Darkest Hours depicts the Prime Minister's
06:54life during the early days of World War II,
06:56and it's like watching footage
06:58of the man himself.
07:00Evening lost. I received
07:02His Majesty's commission
07:04to form a new administration.
07:06The makeup team won an Oscar
07:08for turning Oldman into Churchill,
07:10a process which took just over three
07:12hours every day. Oldman required
07:14a bodysuit that changes proportions,
07:16and he essentially received a whole new face
07:18every day, including a
07:20fake nose, cheeks, chin, and
07:22even ears. It was obviously
07:24a lot of hard work, but
07:26it paid off beautifully.
07:28You're suggesting we're somehow winning.
07:30We're not.
07:32No, but
07:34it will inspire you.
07:36Number three, Tom
07:38Cruise, Tropic Thunder.
07:40Thank you, lad. Thank you. We have a good night.
07:42A nutless monkey could do your job.
07:44Good. Tom Cruise was originally supposed
07:46to play Rick Peck, a role that
07:48eventually went to Matthew McConaughey.
07:50It was Cruise who had the idea to play
07:52an obnoxious studio head, and he
07:54and Ben Stiller collaborated to create the character
07:56of Les Grossman. Cruise donned a
07:58bald cap, wore glasses, and
08:00climbed into a bodysuit. Edmund is a
08:02dying star, a white
08:04dwarf heading for a black
08:06hole. That's physics.
08:08It's inevitable. He also put on
08:10giant prosthetic hands, an idea
08:12that he pitched himself. Some speculated
08:14that the portrayal was meant to evoke
08:16notorious producers Scott Rudin and Harvey
08:18Weinstein. Cruise's appearance was one of the
08:20movie's greatest surprises. You
08:22want me to let my client
08:24of 15 years, one of my best
08:26friends, die in
08:28the jungle alone for some money
08:30and a G5?
08:32Yes. Number
08:34two, Christian Bale Weiss.
08:36You have authorization to
08:38shoot down any aircraft
08:40deemed a threat. The
08:42English actor Bale is known far
08:44and wide for his crazy body
08:46transformations, like when he shed
08:4862 pounds to play Trevor Resnick
08:50in The Machinist. But in this case,
08:52Christian Bale became another
08:54person, and that person is former
08:56Vice President Dick Cheney.
08:58Perhaps I could
09:00help you
09:02find the right running mate. The movie
09:04took home the Oscar for Best Makeup and
09:06Hairstyle, which is no surprise
09:08when you see Bale's metamorphosis. What
09:10makes this even more amazing is
09:12that the team had to create different looks for
09:14Cheney as he aged throughout the film.
09:16By the time he reaches his late 60s,
09:18Bale was in the makeup chair for
09:20four hours a day. The results are almost
09:22indistinguishable from real life.
09:24I can feel
09:26your recriminations
09:28and your judgment
09:30and I am
09:32fine with it.
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09:48Number
09:50one, Charlize Theron,
09:52Monster. This is okay, you know.
09:54It's pretty fine, but
09:56man, someday I'm gonna take you to some
09:58real top notch places in the Keys, like
10:00some real classy joints, you know.
10:02This is one of those shapeshifts
10:04that has to be some kind of black magic.
10:06Even knowing that this is
10:08Charlize Theron and knowing exactly
10:10how it was done, we still
10:12can't believe it. Theron plays
10:14Jane Wuornos, a real life serial
10:16killer who took the lives of seven men
10:18in the late 80s and early 90s.
10:24Theron gained 30 pounds
10:26for the role and the makeup team did extensive
10:28work on her face to make her look like the
10:30real Wuornos. They gave her skin
10:32a completely different complexion,
10:34shaved her eyebrows, popped in some dentures
10:36and provided contacts that changed
10:38her eyes from blue to brown.
10:40It's still the most mind-blowing transformation
10:42in movie history.
10:52Were you fooled by any of these
10:54transformations? Let us know in the comments below.