Biopics always put pressure on actors, as they try to imitate the real person’s mannerisms and quirks. It’s not just actors though, makeup artists are also in for a challenge. They need to somehow get one person to look exactly like someone else and that someone else is usually a famous face — so it’ll be obvious if they don’t get it right. These artists, though, understood the assignment and they absolutely nailed it!
Renée Zellweger as Judy Garland
Renée Zellweger is no stranger to changing her appearance for a role. She famously gained 30 pounds for Bridget Jones’s Diary, lost it, and then gained it again for the sequel.
Therefore, no one was really surprised when Renée agreed to spend two hours a day in a makeup chair getting prosthetics, wigs, and contact lenses applied — all in order to play Judy Garland in the drama/musical Judy. Clearly, all those hours were worth it because Zellweger won an Oscar for the role.
Hilary Swank as Amelia Earhart
Hilary Swank is undeniably beautiful but her features aren’t exactly one-of-a-kind (just look at a photo of her next to Jennifer Garner). Therefore, not too much needed to be done in order to transform the actress into Amelia Earhart for the movie Amelia.
The main thing was cutting Hilary’s hair short, after which she donated it to women who have lost their own hair to cancer. Now, Swank is encouraging other women to donate their locks as well.
Demetrius Shipp Jr. as Tupac Shakur
Thousands of people auditioned for the role of Tupac Shakur in All Eyez on Me, however, no one else stood a chance once producers saw Demetrius Shipp Jr.
At that time, the actor was working in retail and his colleagues called him “Pac” due to his uncanny resemblance to the rapper. In fact, since the movie has come out, people have been scouring the internet to see if the two men are related (they aren’t)!
Jamie Foxx as Ray Charles
Maybe people consider Jamie Foxx’s portrayal of Ray Charles in Ray to be his best performance yet. However, transforming into the musician wasn’t easy. Jamie lost 30 pounds and he glued his eyes shut in order to learn how to navigate the world like Ray, who was blind.
“Once I got down to that weight, and when we got the hair together, and I put those shades on, and I listened to that music, I said, ‘Watch out. Something is about to happen.’” Foxx wasn’t wrong! In fact, he won both an Academy and Golden Globe award for his performance in the film.
Emma Stone as Billie Jean King
Emma Stone needed to obtain Billie Jean King’s athletic figure before she could play the tennis icon in Battle of the Sexes. The actress gained 15 pounds of lean muscle in order to achieve the look and, of course, she learned how to play tennis.
To complete the transformation, Emma was given spray tans, minimal makeup, a new hair color, and of course, a pair of glasses just like Billie Jean’s.
Charlize Theron as Megyn Kelly
In order to prepare for the movie Bombshell, all of the actresses and their real-life counterparts were 3D body scanned and casts of their faces were created. Of course, Charlize Theron was part of this process for her transformation into Megyn Kelly.
Charlize wore prosthetic pieces, makeup, and contact lenses — a process that took roughly three hours. Apparently, the hardest thing to get right where Megyn’s eyes. Charlize had to wear fake lashes and prosthetic eyelids, which made it difficult for her to blink.
Kristen Stewart as Joan Jett
Kirsten Stewart did an amazing job portraying Joan Jett in The Runaways and we love her just as much as the next person. That being said, we have to admit that this photo of Joan makes us think of Aubrey Plaza more than Kristen.
That being said, Joan was a producer on the movie and said that Kristen would “listen to my accent and watch my body language. She’s an actress of weight, honesty, integrity, and depth.” So, who are we to argue?
Taron Egerton as Elton John
If you had trouble recognizing Taron Egerton in the movie Rocketman, don’t worry — you’re not the only one. In order to properly portray Elton John, Taron had to be willing to completely change his look and, according to the movie’s makeup artist, the actor was up for anything!
“He was very up for dying his own hair and taking his hairline back and shaving a little bit away at the front.” Additionally, Taron was given sideburns, eyebrow piercings, and tooth enamel.
Robert Downey Jr. as Charlie Chaplin
Robert Downey Jr.’s portrayal of Charlie Chaplin in the 1992 hit Chaplin was a career-defining moment for the actor. Robert was dedicated to looking, moving, and behaving just like Chaplin.
Therefore, the actor learned how to play tennis and the violin with his left hand. He changed the way he walked and his overall demeanor, with the help of a coach. In the end, Robert’s efforts paid off, as he got an Oscar nomination for this role.
Philip Seymour Hoffman as Truman Capote
Philip Seymour Hoffman faced a unique challenge while playing Truman Capote in Capote. The actor was 5’8″ but Truman was only 5’2″. In order to keep Capote’s stature realistic, the director cast taller actors opposite Philip and even had other people stand on boxes when sharing a scene with him.
Additionally, Philip lost weight and spoke in a higher pitch than usual, for this role. Philip had once said that changing his appearance helped his acting, as he learned, “It couldn’t have been easy being that guy.”
Jennifer Lopez as Selena
Jennifer Lopez’s transformation into Selena for the movie Selena was more about the singer’s movement than physical appearance. While J.Lo left capturing Selena’s aesthetics to the makeup artists, she worked on performing like Selena.
According to producers, Jennifer was the only one, out of thousands who auditioned, that actually changed her dancing to match that of Selena’s. This role catapulted J.Lo into stardom and made her the first Latina actress to ever make a million bucks for a movie role.
Michelle Williams as Marilyn Monroe
We don’t envy the actress who ends up getting compared to Marilyn Monroe, but that’s exactly what Michelle Williams signed up for when she was cast as the icon in My Week With Marilyn.
Michelle obtained her Marilyn-esque look via weight gain, wigs, makeup, and, of course, a fake mole. However, the movie’s makeup artist chose not to use any prosthetics. ”We weren’t doing a look-alike thing. The film is about the person behind the image.”
Nicole Kidman as Virginia Woolf
Nicole Kidman spent three hours a day in the makeup chair while filming The Hours so that she’d look like Virginia Woolf. The main element of her transformation was a prosthetic nose that made Nicole unrecognizable.
So much so, in fact, that moviegoers would watch the entire movie without realizing who the famous lead was! Nicole enjoyed the fake nose, saying it was a nice break from fame. “It was fun to be able to go out of my trailer and not have anyone know me.”
Bill Hader as Andy Warhol
Usually, when this much effort is put into making an actor look strikingly similar to a real person, it’s for some sort of biopic or drama. However, that wasn’t the case when it came to Bill Hader transforming into Andy Warhol for an extended cameo in Men in Black 3.
Bill’s performance, albeit short, was so spot on that many people thought that Warhol himself had actually appeared in the film!
Ashton Kutcher as Steve Jobs
Ashton Kutcher famously took on method acting to play Steve Jobs in Jobs, including adopting the Apple founder’s diet. Therefore, it’s no surprise that the actor’s body changed to duplicate Jobs’s. However, Ashton’s facial hair proved to be a problem.
He wanted to use his real beard and simply change the length according to the scene. Unfortunately, that didn’t work because the movie wasn’t filmed in chronological order. In the end, Ashton had to shave off his beard and wear a fake one.
Steve Carell as John du Pont
Steve Carell getting cast as John du Pont in Foxcatcher was controversial, as people weren’t sure the typically comedic actor could handle such a dramatic role. Clearly, Steve proved the critics wrong by seemingly morphing into John on screen.
Not only was his personality unrecognizable but so was Steve’s appearance. The actor wore a prosthetic nose, lips, and eyebrows, as well as makeup to make his skin look paler. All in all, becoming John took three hours a day and completely altered Steve’s career.
Audrey Tautou as Coco Chanel
Audrey Tautou got the opportunity to wear some of Coco Chanel’s most iconic designs while playing the fashion designer in Coco Before Chanel.
Audrey felt that Coco’s androgynous style helped her get into character as a woman who struggled to be taken seriously in a world that caters to men. “I think it changes the way men are looking at us. You stop being just an object of desire or of fantasy.”
Helen Mirren as Queen Elizabeth II
Starring in The Queen gave Helen Mirren the distinction of being the only actress to ever portray both Queens Elizabeth I and Elizabeth II. Helen says resembling the Queen was easy as she believes they share the same “default” facial expression of a slight frown.
In order to perfect her portrayal, Mirren wore a wig and glasses and studied Queen Elizabeth II’s mannerisms. The actress did such an incredible job that her performance earned the movie a five-minute-long standing ovation at the Venice Film Festival.
Val Kilmer as Jim Morrison
Val Kilmer’s excellent portrayal of Jim Morrison in The Doors was largely due to method acting. The actor immersed himself in Morrison’s lifestyle (we hope he left out some of the less healthy aspects of Jim’s activities).
Val wore the same clothes, imitated his way of speaking, and adopted his mannerisms. He also lost weight and spent six months learning The Doors’ songs, in order to convincingly imitate the troubled artist. Kilmer explains that his goal was to perfect the singer’s “edge.”
Evan Rachel Wood as Madonna
Julia Garner may have been chosen to play Madonna in her biopic but Evan Rachel Wood was selected to play the Queen of Pop in Weird: The Al Yankovich Story.
Evan explained that the hardest part of becoming Madonna was embodying her presence. “She is just fully confident, completely self-assured. She is controlling every room that she’s in. So that was a switch I had to lean into and flip, I think.”
Jennifer Hudson as Aretha Franklin
The makeup artists who worked on the film Respect were tasked with turning Jennifer Hudson into Aretha Franklin and they understood the assignment perfectly!
Makeup artist Stevie Martin explained that they’d look at old photos of Franklin and they “took inventory of when she wore eyeshadow and when she didn’t, when her winged liner was intense and when it wasn’t, when she was sweating and when she wasn’t.” All that information would then be applied to Jennifer’s costume.
Margot Robbie as Sharon Tate
Margot Robbie was tasked with becoming the beloved Sharon Tate in Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood. Production had an interesting challenge in that clips from Tate’s movie The Wrecking Crew appear in Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood.
Rather than recreating those scenes with Margot, production decided to just use the original movie with Sharon herself. Margot’s portrayal of Sharon was so spot on that most audiences didn’t even notice a different actress was featured in the clip!
Cynthia Erivo as Harriet Tubman
Cynthia Erivo admires the fact that Harriet Tubman was a strong woman, both physically and emotionally. Therefore, the actress wanted to build up her strength in order to play Tubman in Harriet. Cynthia rode her bike for two hours a day in preparation for the role.
She also rode horses while wearing corsets, so she’d be used to moving around in such clothing. “I just wanted to make sure I was ready physically so I didn’t have to think about that when I was on set.”
Jesse Eisenberg as Mark Zuckerberg
Clearly, there’s something about men with last names that end in “berg,” as evidenced by Jesse Eisenberg, Andy Samberg, and Mark Zuckerberg appearing on Saturday Night Live together, looking like triplets. Jesse famously played Zuckerberg in The Social Network before ever meeting him.
When asked about how accurate Eisenberg’s portrayal was, Mark said that his personality was misrepresented. The wardrobe, however, was on point. “Every single fleece and shirt I had in that movie is actually a shirt or fleece that I own.”
