Shocking Actor Transformations

Shocking Actor Transformations

Do you ever watch a film and find yourself reaching for your phone to discover which actor is playing a character? Even the biggest celebrities can transform into characters due to the magic of film and television; a combination of their prodigious acting skill, phenomenal hair and makeup work by talented artists and fantastic prosthetic effects are just some of the techniques used to practically transform actors into their characters. 

Some of the biggest movies and shows have featured massively transformed actors in the past year, with Colin Farrell becoming Oswald Cob in The Penguin and Cynthia Erivo taking a green turn in Wicked. However, this phenomenon is not new, as actors have been transformed into characters for decades. 

But what have been the most shocking and impressive transformations over the years? The team at Spin Genie UK has found out by looking at the number of searches and articles for each transformation as well as the number of awards won, to reveal the most shocking actor transformations.

The most impressive actor transformations

The most impressive actor transformations

1. Gillian Anderson becomes Margaret Thatcher in The Crown, actor transformation score of 8.53/10:

Hollywood superstar Gillian Anderson made her name in the 1990s in The X-Files, and since then, the American actress has had great success in film and television roles. 

Despite being born in America, Anderson was raised in London and has a British accent, which helps her in the role's vocal aspect. 

Despite not resembling the former Prime Minister, the award-winning hair and makeup team working on The Crown transformed her from a glamorous actor into the divisive political figure of the 1980s. The portrayal met with critical acclaim, and Anderson won major awards for it.

2. Elizabeth Debicki becomes Princess Diana in The Crown, actor transformation score of 8.47/10:

Another actor transformation made successful by The Crown's power is Elizabeth Debicki’s turn as the late Diana Spencer (Princess Diana) in series five and six of the show. 

Although the Australian actress also has short blonde hair like Diana, a lot of work is needed to transform her into the princess. In fact, the makeup team took 30 hours to get her to look perfect!

3. Emilia Clarke as Daenerys Targaryen in Game of Thrones, actor transformation score of 8.01/10:

It would be simplistic to say that Emilia Clarke’s transformation into Daenerys Targaryen was as simple as popping on a blonde wig and someone inserting a CGI dragon behind her. 

However, Clarke looks very different to the character in real life, as the makeup and hairstyling team on Game of Thrones used multiple techniques to make her appearance paler and more regal, which twinned with Clarke’s acting prowess led to numerous awards and made her one of the highest paid actors on television by the end of the show.

4. Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba in Wicked, actor transformation score of 7.16/10:

A very recent entry to this list, Cynthia Erivo’s portrayal of Elphaba, was only shown to the world in late 2024 when Wicked was released in cinemas. Elphaba is a green-skinned witch, and to create a unique look for Erivo, the makeup team on the film had to create their own shade, which they named “Cynthia Green”. The make-up took up to four hours to apply each day, depending on how much of her body needed to be visible for a scene. 

Although the film has only just been released, it is already garnering critical acclaim and awards for its hair and makeup effects, showing just how quickly it has made an impression.

5. Meryl Streep as Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady, actor transformation score of 7.02/10:

Anderson was not the first American actress to portray Margaret Thatcher in a major dramatic work. Meryl Streep had successfully accomplished the same feat almost a decade earlier, winning the Oscar for Best Actress as a reward. 

In addition to having the most decorated actress of all time at the top of her game, the Iron Lady also employed the best hair and makeup artists, and they, too, won the Oscar that year. They created a groundbreaking prosthetic mask for Streep to wear, which transformed her into Thatcher without compromising her ability to act. 

The most searched actor transformations

1. Bill Skarsgard as Pennywise in ‘IT’, 927,600 total Google searches: 

By far, the most searched actor transformation was that of Bill Skarsagrad becoming the killer demon clown Pennywise in ‘IT’ (2017) and its sequel IT: Chapter Two (2019). 

There were almost a million searches across the three search terms for this transformation, as people wanted to know what actor was hiding beneath the disturbing makeup.

2. Michael Keaton as Betelguise in Beetlejuice, 703,380 total Google searches:

Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice was a 2024 legacy sequel to the cult classic 1988 original. Both films star Michael Keaton as the titular character, and it was clear the public was interested in finding this out as there were over 700,000 searches about the transformation.

3. Jared Leto as The Joker in Suicide Squad, 381,100 total Google searches: 

Suicide Squad and Jared Leto’s portrayal of the Joker were mocked by fans and torn apart by critics who were not fans of the Oscar-winning actor’s performance. Leto’s method of acting as the character was seen as too much of a transformation by some, but the look of the character was praised by others, and the film won the Oscar for best hair and makeup.

Methodology

  • We created a list of actors that had transformed into characters using articles such as https://variety.com/lists/best-makeup-oscars-films-heath-ledger/
  • We used Google Keyword Planner to find the total number of Google Searches between December 2020 and November 2024 for three search terms: ‘who played character in movie/show?’, ‘is actor character?’, ‘is actor in movie/show?’. We then removed any with 0 searches. 
  • We then used Google Search’s news feature to find the total number of articles for ‘makeup in movie/show’ 
  •  IMDB and Wikipedia were used to find the number of awards won for makeup and hairstyling by the Film or TV show. 
  • We also used IMDB and Wikipedia to find the number of awards won for acting by the transformed actor. 
  • Finally, we used a percentrank calculation to create a score out of ten for each actor transformation.

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V: 1.57.0 All rights reserved. January 2020
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