Prosthetic makeup can turn a leading actor into someone audiences don’t recognize on the red carpet, let alone on screen. Modern techniques increasingly rely on digital scans and 3D printing rather than clay molds, chasing every pore and wrinkle of a real face.
Charlize Theron – Monster
For Monster, Theron gained weight and wore false teeth, contact lenses and minimal facial prosthetics to disappear into serial killer Aileen Wuornos. She has said the transformation helped her physically inhabit a character so far removed from her own appearance that crew members sometimes failed to recognize her on set. The performance won her the Academy Award for Best Actress in 2004.
Doug Jones – The Shape Of Water
Guillermo del Toro built the Amphibian Man in The Shape of Water around a silicone suit and facial prosthetics designed by Mike Hill and Shane Mahan, worn over Doug Jones for hours at a time. Jones has performed nearly every del Toro creature since Hellboy and trained his own movement to make the gills and fins read as anatomically real rather than costume like. The design earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Makeup and Hairstyling.
Gary Oldman – Darkest Hour
Oldman personally sought out prosthetic designer Kazu Hiro and reportedly would not commit to Darkest Hour until Hiro agreed to do the makeup. Hiro built layered prosthetics onto Oldman’s face and neck to suggest Winston Churchill’s fuller features while still leaving enough of Oldman’s own expressions visible to carry the performance. The transformation won Hiro the Academy Award for Best Makeup and Hairstyling and helped Oldman take home Best Actor the same year.
Jacob Tremblay – Wonder
Nine year old Tremblay wore extensive facial prosthetics designed by Arjen Tuiten to play Auggie Pullman, a boy living with Treacher Collins syndrome in Wonder. A mechanical helmet hidden beneath his wig let makeup effects move along with Tremblay’s own eyebrows so his real expressions still came through. Tuiten had previously built similarly detailed creature and character work for Pan’s Labyrinth and Maleficent.
Colin Farrell – The Batman
Prosthetic designer Mike Marino built layers of scarring and a subtle beak like ridge onto Farrell’s face to turn him into an early version of Oswald Cobblepot for The Batman. Director Matt Reeves warned the cast beforehand that they would not recognize Farrell once the makeup went on, and reactions on set reportedly confirmed it. Marino had previously done similarly heavy character work on Black Swan and The Irishman.
Jessica Chastain – The Eyes Of Tammy Faye
The Eyes of Tammy Faye leaned on subtle hair and beauty work rather than heavy prosthetics to recreate televangelist Tammy Faye Bakker’s unmistakable look. The film paired that restraint with an exaggerated makeup style meant to mirror Bakker’s own trademark cosmetics rather than hide Chastain’s face beneath latex. It won the Academy Award for Best Makeup and Hairstyling, along with Best Actress for Chastain.
Eddie Murphy – The Nutty Professor
Rick Baker built the extensive Sherman Klump body suit and facial prosthetics that let Eddie Murphy play multiple family members within The Nutty Professor. Murphy performed each transformation scene both in and out of the heavy makeup, with the effects team later blending the footage to show the character’s dramatic weight changes on screen. Baker won the Academy Award for Best Makeup for the work, one of seven he has received across his career.
Brad Pitt – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Makeup designer Greg Cannom built a progression of prosthetics to age Brad Pitt backward through The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, starting with the character in his seventies before gradually revealing more of Pitt’s natural face. The production combined this practical work with visual effects and face replacement technology for the character’s most extreme stages. Cannom won the Academy Award for the work, adding to prior wins for Mrs Doubtfire.
Brendan Fraser – The Whale
Prosthetic designer Adrien Morot used digital scanning and 3D printing rather than traditional clay molds to build Brendan Fraser’s transformation into Charlie for The Whale. Director Darren Aronofsky insisted the makeup obey the physics of a body that size and never play the character for laughs, given the film’s subject matter. The finished suit weighed around 300 pounds and won Morot the Academy Award for Best Makeup and Hairstyling.
Johnny Knoxville – Jackass Presents Bad Grandpa
Makeup artist Stephen Prouty led the team that built Irving Zisman, the elderly hidden camera character Johnny Knoxville used to keep pranking the public once his own face became too recognizable. The character had already appeared in Jackass sketches for years before getting a full feature in Jackass Presents Bad Grandpa. The makeup earned an unlikely Academy Award nomination for a franchise built on stunts and pranks.
John Lithgow – Bombshell
Prosthetic designer Kazu Hiro gave John Lithgow a full face and body transformation to play former Fox News CEO Roger Ailes in Bombshell, while Charlize Theron and Nicole Kidman received subtler facial work to become Megyn Kelly and Gretchen Carlson. Hiro used digital scans taken with the actors’ eyes open so their real expressions could still register through the prosthetics. The team relied on razor thin appliances to keep the effect from reading as a mask under bright studio lighting.
Christian Bale – Vice
Bale gained significant weight and sat through hours of prosthetic work by Greg Cannom and Kazu Hiro to become Dick Cheney in Vice, reportedly researching the former vice president’s mannerisms as closely as his appearance. Director Adam McKay has said Bale’s commitment to the physical transformation shaped how the rest of the cast approached their own real life counterparts. Cannom and Hiro won the Academy Award for Best Makeup and Hairstyling for the film.
Robin Williams – Mrs Doubtfire
Greg Cannom designed the elaborate silicone mask and body suit that let Robin Williams transform into Mrs Doubtfire, a process that reportedly took hours of application each shooting day. Williams could still act through the prosthetics well enough to improvise much of his dialogue while in full makeup. The film won the Academy Award for Best Makeup, one of Cannom’s several wins across his career.
Ron Perlman – Hellboy
Perlman sat for hours of prosthetic application to become Hellboy, wearing a full facial appliance, filed down teeth and a bulky suit designed to preserve his own expressions underneath. Guillermo del Toro built the character’s design around Mike Mignola’s comic book art while keeping enough of Perlman’s face visible for the performance to read as human. Perlman has said the makeup process became easier each time he reprised the role across the franchise.
Doug Jones – Pan’s Labyrinth
Doug Jones wore a full body prosthetic suit and facial appliances designed by David Martí and Montse Ribé to play both the Faun and the Pale Man in Pan’s Labyrinth. The Pale Man design required Jones to perform without functioning eyes on the mask, relying entirely on physical choreography to sell the creature’s blindness. Guillermo del Toro has called the practical suit work on this film some of the most demanding he has directed.
John Hurt – The Elephant Man
Makeup artist Christopher Tucker spent months developing the prosthetics that transformed John Hurt into Joseph Merrick for The Elephant Man, casting the design from historical medical records of Merrick’s real deformities. The application reportedly took several hours each day and limited Hurt’s vision and mobility on set. The film’s makeup was considered so groundbreaking that it helped push the Academy to later create a dedicated Best Makeup category.
Eric Stoltz – Mask
Michael Westmore designed the prosthetics that let Eric Stoltz portray Rocky Dennis, a teenager with craniodiaphyseal dysplasia, in Mask. The makeup was based on real photographs of Dennis, who had died the year before the film’s release, and required daily application that limited Stoltz’s jaw movement during dialogue scenes. Westmore’s work on the film contributed to his long career of Academy Award nominated makeup design.
Meryl Streep – The Iron Lady
Makeup designers Mark Coulier and J Roy Helland built the aging prosthetics that let Meryl Streep move between a younger Margaret Thatcher and the elderly former prime minister seen in The Iron Lady’s framing scenes. The work relied on subtle silicone pieces around the eyes and jaw rather than a full mask, keeping Streep’s own performance visible through the makeup. Coulier and Helland won the Academy Award for Best Makeup and Hairstyling for the film.
Jared Leto – House of Gucci
Leto reportedly spent up to six hours a day in prosthetics designed to transform him into Paolo Gucci for House of Gucci, including a bald cap, extensive facial padding and body padding to change his silhouette entirely. The actor has said the heavy makeup made it easier to disappear into a character so different from his own appearance. The transformation became one of the most talked about aspects of the film’s press cycle.
Guy Pearce – Prometheus
Prosthetic designers aged Guy Pearce by decades to play the elderly Peter Weyland in Prometheus, despite Pearce being in his forties at the time of filming. Ridley Scott chose to age up a younger actor rather than cast an older one so Weyland could appear in flashback footage without needing a second performer. The full facial prosthetics required hours in the makeup chair to achieve the character’s frail, aged appearance.
Nicole Kidman – The Hours
A single prosthetic nose designed by makeup artist Jenny Shircore was enough to transform Nicole Kidman into Virginia Woolf for The Hours, alongside subtler work on her eyebrows and hairline. Kidman has said the nose changed how she carried herself on set, giving her a physical anchor for the character beyond just her voice and mannerisms. The transformation helped Kidman win the Academy Award for Best Actress that year.
Jim Carrey – How the Grinch Stole Christmas
Rick Baker spent hours each day applying the yellow contact lenses, fur and full body prosthetics that turned Jim Carrey into the Grinch for How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Carrey has described the process as physically exhausting, reportedly requiring sensory deprivation techniques between takes just to tolerate sitting through the application. Baker’s design won the Academy Award for Best Makeup.
Tilda Swinton – Suspiria
Swinton wore extensive prosthetics credited to an invented actor named Lutz Ebersdorf to secretly play the elderly Dr Josef Klemperer in Suspiria, a role originally meant to conceal her involvement from audiences and critics. The makeup covered her hands and body as well as her face, altering her posture enough that many reviewers initially believed a different actor had been cast. Director Luca Guadagnino only confirmed Swinton’s dual role after the film’s release.
Gary Oldman – Dracula
Makeup designer Greg Cannom built the elongated fingernails, hunched posture prosthetics and aged features that introduced Gary Oldman as the centuries old Count Dracula in Bram Stoker’s Dracula before the character grows younger across the film. Director Francis Ford Coppola insisted on achieving as many transformations as possible with practical makeup rather than optical effects. Cannom’s work earned the film’s Academy Award for Best Makeup.
Idris Elba – Star Trek Beyond
Elba sat for hours of prosthetic application to play the alien villain Krall in Star Trek Beyond, wearing appliances that reshaped his skull, ears and skin texture while leaving his eyes visible for the performance. The makeup team designed a secondary, more human looking version of the character for flashback scenes so audiences could track the villain’s backstory. Elba has said the transformation was among the most physically demanding of his career.
Nicolas Cage and John Travolta – Face Off
Face Off relied on prosthetic makeup rather than digital effects to sell its premise of two enemies swapping faces through surgery, with designers building looks for each actor meant to echo the other’s features and mannerisms. John Woo directed both Cage and Travolta to study each other’s performances beforehand so their body language would carry the illusion once the makeup took over. The film’s practical approach has aged well compared to many effects heavy productions from the same period.
Anthony Hopkins – Hitchcock
Makeup designer Howard Berger built a fat suit and facial prosthetics to reshape Anthony Hopkins into Alfred Hitchcock’s distinctive silhouette for Hitchcock. The team studied archival photographs and footage of the director to match his jowls and posture as closely as possible while keeping Hopkins able to deliver a full physical performance underneath. Berger’s work drew praise for avoiding the uncanny, mask like quality that heavier prosthetic jobs sometimes produce.
Charlize Theron – Bombshell
Theron wore eight separate prosthetic pieces designed by Kazu Hiro to become Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly in Bombshell, subtly narrowing her jaw and reshaping her nose while keeping the changes convincing at close range. She has said the prosthetics were thin enough to let her natural expressions still register on camera. The transformation was widely discussed for how closely it matched Kelly’s real appearance without becoming a caricature.
Tom Cruise – Tropic Thunder
A bald cap, hairy chest prosthetics and heavy padding turned Tom Cruise into foul mouthed studio executive Les Grossman for a supporting role in Tropic Thunder. The transformation was kept largely secret ahead of release, and audiences reportedly did not immediately recognize Cruise when the character first appeared on screen. The performance became one of the film’s most quoted elements despite Cruise’s limited screen time.
Sacha Baron Cohen – Borat
Cohen wore prosthetic padding and a custom body suit to play the exaggerated physical comedy of Borat’s nude wrestling scene and other set pieces in Borat. The design intentionally leaned into caricature rather than realism, contrasting with the more subtle work seen in most other entries on this list. The film’s success helped cement mockumentary comedy as a viable major studio genre in the years that followed.
