Weekly Movie Challenge

Actor transformations

It's mighty morphin actor time! Embrace a movie in which an actor takes on either a physical transformation, or through the use of prosthetics, hair, makeup and costumes become almost unrecognisable.

Starting with prosthetics, you could watch 'Darkest Hour.' Gary Oldman completely transformed into Winston Churchill and in 'The Shape of Water,' Doug Jones became the iconic Amphibian Man thanks to the full-body prosthetics and excellent makeup team

Then we have movies in which an actor lost or gained weight for the role, for example In 'Cast Away' Tom Hanks didn’t just act like he was stranded on an island; he lost a ton of weight to look the part. and in ‘Raging Bull’ Robert De Niro went all in, gaining and losing weight to portray boxer Jake LaMotta’s journey.

A variation on weight gain, is when an actor puts on a significant portion of muscle for the movie like the way Henry Cavill bulked up big time for 'Man of Steel.' or Mark Wahlberg and his co-stars got ripped for the strange but true Pain and Gain

You could also watch a movie in which the actor changes their appearance as part of the plot, like in makeover movie 'She’s All That,' we saw Rachael Leigh Cook’s character going from geek to chic and ‘Victor/Victoria’ Julie Andrews plays a woman pretending to be a man, who’s pretending to be a woman

Focusing on hair makeup and costumes, Guardians of the Galaxy and movies like it utilise a full team of makeup technicians and costume designers to transform an actors appearance, and it’s not just sci-fi movies that employ hair, makeup and costume teams. There are also period movies like 'Lincoln,' in which Daniel Day-Lewis didn’t just play Abraham Lincoln; he became him

This might be a niche topic, of which you’ve seen many options so to keep things open, you can also watch a movie in which an actor steps out of their usual comfort zone so for example a traditionally dramatic actor taking on a comedic role like Russell Crowe in The Nice Guys, or vice versa like Will Ferrell in Stranger Than Fiction. You could also watch a movie in which an actor either had to learn a new skill for the movie, or do demonstrate a skill they’ve never performed on screen before, such as Jeff Bridges and Colin Ferrell playing a singers in Crazy Heart or Michael B Jordan learning how to box for the movie Creed.

Remember, with these ‘challenges’ there are no wrong answers. If you feel you’ve watched something that includes a significant actor transformation, then let us know.

Actor transformations

Suggestions

Challenge Stats

Most watched actors