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Jared Leto In ‘House Of Gucci’
Fabio Lovino/MGM
No, your eyes aren’t playing tricks on you – that really is Jared Leto. The Oscar-winning actor transforms into Paolo Gucci in the Ridley Scott-directed drama about Patrizia Regianni’s (Lady Gaga) hired hit on ex-husband Maurizio Gucci (Adam Driver). “I love a physical transformation, but all of it is meaningless if you don't have the heart and the soul,” Leto told USA Today. “We were able to push the character to a place where people that I was working with didn't recognize me. And if they did, it was hard for them to see me.”
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Sebastian Stan And Lily James In ‘Pam & Tommy’
Twitter/Hulu
The Twitterverse was shocked when images of Sebastian Stan and Lily James as former lovers Tommy Lee and Pamela Anderson were released online. Bearing an uncanny resemblance to their real-life counterparts, James even nailed Anderson’s signature “Baywatch” red bathing suit look in the trailer. the comedic limited series “Pam & Tommy” will delve into the release of their sex tape – the first ever viral tape of its kind.
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Sarah Paulson In ‘American Crime Story: Impeachment’
FX
There’s no way a Ryan Murphy production could not cast Sarah Paulson. The Emmy-winning actress goes undercover as Linda Tripp, the former White House employee who recorded hours of conversations with Monica Lewinsky (Beanie Feldstein) and the villain of the series. Not only did Paulson put on 30 pounds for the part, she also donned a fat suit, wig, false teeth, as well as a neck and nose prosthetic. She also captured Tripp’s walk and imposing height, choosing to wear four-inch heels in every scene.
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Colin Farrell In ‘The Batman’
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Fans were shook when pics of Colin Farrell filming “The Batman” were released. The normally handsome Farrell was unrecognizable as the villainous Penguin behind the extra padding and prosthetics which had the internet joking he looked more like actor Richard Kind than himself.
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Tilda Swinton In ‘Suspiria’
Amazon Studios
Sure, Tilda Swinton looks like her normal self as the leader of a satanic dance studio but it’s the role of 82-year-old therapist Josef Klemperer in which she completely disappears. The actress began her works with the prosthetics creators 18 months before filming began and practised the hunched shuffle of an octogenarian. To complete the transformation, Swinton requested a faux penis for her costume. He role as Dr. Klemperer was kept under wraps with the production maintaining the role was played by newcomer Lutz Ebersdorf.
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Christian Bale In ‘Vice’
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One of this generation's great chameleons, Christian Bale has no problem dropping weight for roles like “The Machinist” or bulking up to play Batman, or slipping seamlessly into Dick Cheney in “Vice". His transformation comes not just thanks to weight gain and prosthetics, but a full character transformation that nails Cheney’s quirks, tics, speech patterns, and gait.
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Meryl Streep In ‘Angels In America’
HBO
There’s no doubt about Meryl Streep’s formidable acting skills. Transforming into an elderly Jewish rabbi in the 2003 miniseries “Angels In America”, Streep not only won a Golden Globe, an Emmy and a SAGAward for her performance, she so completely disappeared into the role that she surprised people on set. Director Mike Nichols recalled the moment a scene between a trio of rabbis played by Streep, playwright Tony Kushner and Maurice Sendak ended.
“At the end of the day, when we said, ‘It’s a wrap!’ Maurice Sendak almost fainted when the “old Jewish man” beside him stood up, grew a foot taller, and spoke in the voice of a lovely woman. He had spent all day with an old Jewish man, only to find at the end of the day that the old man was Meryl Streep,” he told The Hollywood Reporter.
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Ewan McGregor In ‘Fargo’
FX
What’s better than one Ewan McGregor? Two, of course, even if it means trading his normally handsome Scottish looks for the dual role of twin brothers in season 3 of the FX series. With thinning hair, a moustache and extra pounds to play parole officer Ray Stussy and his curly haired brother, parking lot magnate Emmit Stussy, the actor had two different looks and voices to master.
McGregor told USA Today that it took two hours to transform into Ray every day. But it was worth it: “There was not one paparazzi shot, not one fan shot that ended up online. Because no one knew it was me. That’s amazing. I didn’t want anyone to know until they were ready to reveal Ray, I didn’t want anyone to spoil it.”
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Sean Penn In ‘Carlito’s Way’
CP Images
Sean Penn was known for his bad-boy good looks in the late 1980s, but in 1993’s “Carlito’s Way”, he showcased his major thespian skills. Proving he wasn’t tied to his looks, Penn went full "1970s" by shaving back his hairline and getting a perm to play a lawyer. While Penn looked like a new person on-screen, famed criminal lawyer Alan Dershowitz thought he looked a little too similar to himself and threatened the production with a lawsuit.
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Tom Hardy In ‘Bronson’
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Tom Hardy packed on the pounds and the muscles to play notorious British prisoner Charles Bronson in 2008. The 31-year-old Hardy is nearly unrecognizable in this, his first movie role, as the bald criminal, gaining 35 lbs in five weeks and bulking up his arms and neck. Describing his binge eating and training as "fun,” Hardy later said the fat was hard to shake: “I was a mess after Bronson. I got really fat. I was a real road crash.”
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Charlize Theron In ‘Monster’
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Charlize Theron’s Oscar-winning turn in “Monster” had the blonde beauty and former South African model darken her hair, gain weight and rough up her skin with makeup and prosthetic teeth to play serial killer Aileen Wuornos.
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Tom Cruise In ‘Tropic Thunder’
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What Tom Cruise wants, Tom Cruise gets. His surprise cameo as Hollywood studio exec Les Grossman in the comedy was the actor’s own creation. During an appearance with Conan O’Brien at Comic-Con, Cruise revealed he had been taking comedy workshops and dance classes and really wanted an opportunity to put his new skills to work on film. He had input in Grossman’s overall look, right down to his fat fingers.
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Glenn Close In ‘Hook’
Tristar Pictures
Glenn Close transformed into a bearded male pirate Gutlass in the Steven Spielberg family flick “Hook”. In the Peter Pan tale, Close has a small but memorable role as a pirate locked in the “boo box” by Dustin Hoffman’s Captain Hook. Close would later transform herself in “Albert Nobbs” to play a 19th-century Irishman who concealed his identity as a woman to work as a butler in a posh hotel.
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Gary Oldman In ‘Darkest Hour’
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Overweight, balding, cigar-chomping Winston Churchill is a larger-than-life figure in “Darkest Hour”, thanks in part to Gary Oldman's portrayal of the former British prime minister. Oldman was under no illusion he looked anything like Churchill and made his concerns known when he was cast and requested makeup artist Kazuhiro Tsuji come out of retirement to help his transformation. With every hand-painted skin blotch and figure-filling prosthetic, Oldman said he had a tough time convincing people he didn’t actually pack on the pounds for the part – it was all Tsuji’s work.
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Rooney Mara In ‘The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo’
Sony Pictures
Rooney Mara landed the most high-profile role of her career in David Fincher’s English-language adaptation of “The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo”. Beating out hundreds of actresses in a gruelling casting search, Mara dyed her hair black and got a severe haircut, bleached her eyebrows and got four new ear piercings and a nipple piercing for the part of Lisbeth Salander. While reshoots may have meant Mara had to keep her Lisbeth look for much longer than anticipated, the actress earned an Oscar nomination for her performance.
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