Several actors have gone through extreme transformations to play a role. Stars have had to put on weight, drastically slim down, and have had to sit in a makeup chair for hours to have facial prosthetics put on just to look like the character in their film. However, the dedication and patience to look nothing like themselves paid off, and many stars went on to win it big at major award shows.
The Hollywood stars below have undergone drastic transformations to play their roles. For 2013's Dallas Buyer's Club, Matthew McConaughey had to lose a whopping 50 pounds and in 2018's movie Vice, Christian Bale had to change his entire physical appearance to look like 46th vice president Dick Cheney. These stars took their roles seriously and they wound up being some of their best roles to date.
10 Emma Thompson - 'Nanny McPhee'
In the 2005 film Nanny McPhee, actress Emma Thompson plays the titular character and looks nothing like herself. The movie is based on a hideous nanny who is the 18th governess employed by the Brown family. She must take care of seven children raised by a widower named Cedric Brown and uses her mystical powers to instill discipline in them.
Thompson wrote and starred in the film and decided to make the tough nanny as unappealing as she could. The Oscar-winning actress sat in a makeup chair for two hours to have a prosthetic nose glued to her face while she also wore dentures to complete the nanny look.
9 John Leguizamo - 'Spawn'
Actor John Leguizamo starred as the Violator in the 1997 superhero film Spawn, but while he enjoyed starring as the clown, he was not a fan of sitting in a makeup chair for hours to look like the character.
After becoming the Violator for his past work, he admitted that he would never go through the process again, however, when he received a role in ABC's Arabian Nights, he had to sit in that agonizing makeup chair yet again. "I got on the [Arabian Nights] set and I realized, 'Oh, my God, what did I just do to myself?'" He shared.
8 Tom Cruise - 'Tropic Thunder'
For the comedy Tropic Thunder, Tom Cruise created the character Les Grossman himself and requested that he have "fat hands" and that he had to dance, according to CinemaBlend. Grossman represented the "worst of Hollywood" in the film and Cruise did a fantastic job with the role.
Ben Stiller, who also stars in the film, wanted Cruise to play himself in the role, but it wasn't enough for Top Gun star. Cruise told BBC Radio 1 that he did a makeup test for the character and while in his Grossman role, danced for Stiller who apparently loved every minute of the character.
7 Tilda Swinton - 'Trainwreck'
Tilda Swinton looked completely unrecognizable in the film Trainwreck, where she starred as top-dog magazine editor Dianna. Talking about the drastic makeup look for the actress, makeup artist Kyra Panchenko shared, "She's over the top, over-tanned, and does everything in the biggest way. Tilda kept saying in her cute accent, 'I'm a hot mess.'"
Swinton had to sit in a makeup chair for quite some time while Panchenko applied "layers and layers" of makeup and covered the star in loads of bronzer and tanner.
6 Christian Bale - 'Vice'
Christian Bale looked nothing like himself when he had to transform into 46th vice president Dick Cheney. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the actor had to go through extensive makeup work, using prosthetics that wrapped around his neck, cheeks, and chin, two small nose appliances and topped the look off with a wig.
It took almost four hours for Bale to look like Cheney according to makeup designer Greg Cannom, who also worked on Robin Williams for Mrs. Doubtfire. "Sometimes we shot two different makeups a day, so we'd have to take him out of that redo the whole thing at a different age," Cannom shared.
5 Jared Leto - 'Chapter 27'
Instead of using a bodysuit to make him appear larger for the film Chapter 27, where Jared Leto starred as John Lennon's assassin Mark David Chapman, the actor gained a whopping 67 pounds.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Leto was "mesmeric as the bloated, deranged Chapman. It's a brilliantly measured performance." To gain weight, the Suicide Squad actor went through a diet of microwaved pints of ice cream mixed with olive oil and soy sauce.
4 Cate Blanchett - 'I'm Not There'
Cate Blanchett has an amazing makeover when she had to become music legend Bob Dylan in the movie I'm Not There. The actress was one of six stars who played the role in the 2007 film, which follows the singer's different facets of his public persona. Blanchett starred as Jude Quinn, the rock and roll martyr, also described as "a riff on electric guitar 60s counter-revolutionary Dylan," according to Sundays With Cate.
Blanchett looked far from her regular self, doing a fantastic job with the role of the prolific singer.
3 Matthew McConaughey - 'Dallas Buyer's Club'
Matthew McConaughey lost a drastic 50 pounds for Dallas Buyer's Club, where he starred as Ron Woodroof, a stage 4 HIV/AIDS patient. According to Insider, the actor's diet consisted of vegetables, egg whites, fish, and tapioca pudding to lose the weight for the role.
While speaking to Joe Rogan about the role, McConaughey shared, "I did not torture myself. I was militant. The hardest part was making the damn choice." At the 2014 Oscars, the actor won the award for Best Actor, proving that his dedication to lose weight for his role was well worth it.
2 Charlize Theron - 'Monster'
One of the most famous movie makeovers was for the movie Monster, where actress Charlize Theron starred as the real-life serial killer and former prostitute Aileen Wuornos. According to ScreenCrush, Theron had to put on about 30 pounds and a ton of makeup to look like Wuornos.
"I think I've tried most of my career to transform myself into characters. This was just more extreme," Theron shared about the role, adding, "I had about three months to gain weight." Theron also ended up winning the Oscar for Best Actress for her prominent role.
1 Ralph Fiennes - 'Harry Potter'
Actor Ralph Fiennes starred as the iconic Harry Potter villain Lord Voldemort and thanks to the magic of makeup, looked exactly how fans would have pictured the Dark Lord.
According to Looper, to make the actor's nose vanish, the movie's special effects team had to edit his nose out every time he appeared in the shot. After, the talented team had to add those snakelike slits on his nose in every single frame. The hard work definitely paid off.