Characterization is one of the fundamental factors in an actor's performance, especially in genres such as biopics. For this style of films there are many famous world-famous actors, so the effort in characterization has to be greater. Film has left us a host of incredible transformations, such as that of Charlize Theron in 'Monster', or that of Anthony Hopkins in 'Hitchcock'. The lastest actor who has undergone this process of metamorphosis has been Gary Oldman, for the film 'Darkest Hour'.
The Briton, one of the most cinematic actors on the current scene, did not want to miss the opportunity to play Winston Churchill, the UK Prime Minister during World War II, in Joe Wright's new film 'Darkest Hour'. To achieve the desired effect the actor has undergone 200 hours of makeup, according to Independent, and the result is really impressive.
The film is a biopic that chronicles the life of Churchill during his first five weeks as prime minister, and how he takes the reins to deal with Hitler's invasion. Gary Oldman has stated that playing this historical character has been an honor, as he is an iconic figure of his country.
Other actors we will see in the film, when it opens on 29th of December 2017, are: Lily James, who will play Elizabeth Nel, Churchill's secretary, Ben Mendelsohn as King George VI, John Hurt, who will play Neville Chamberlain, and Kristin Scott Thomas, who will play Clementine Churchill, the minister's wife.
The thousand faces of Gary Oldman
Oldman is internationally known for roles such as the wizard Sirius Black in the 'Harry Potter' saga or commissioner Jim Gordon in Christopher Nolan's 'The Dark Knight' trilogy; but these have not been the roles in which his physical appearance has been more deformed. Characters such as that of Count Dracula in Francis Ford Coppola's film, or that of Jean-Baptiste Emanuel's Zorg in the well-known 'The Fifth Element', are roles in which Oldman has surprised us the most, and will remain engraved in the retina of the cinema forever.
Makeup disasters
However! It's not just Gary Oldman that has been the victim to hours upon hours of makeup, and, unfortunately, it doesn't always work.
Whether it's poor prosthetics or ridiculous rouge, sometimes the actors just look silly.
1 Gwyneth Paltrow in 'Shallow Hall'
Gwyneth Paltrow became a 135-kilogram woman for the Farrelly brothers comedy 'Shallow Hall' in which she portrayed an obese girl who fell in love with a man (Jack Black) who looked slim after being hypnotized by a Guru to see only the inner beauty. Despite the effort, Paltrow's transformation was not convincing at any time, since, more than a really obese person, she looked like an inflatable doll or balloon.
2 Nicole Kidman and Julianne Moore in 'The Hours'
Nicole Kidman won the Oscar for 'The Hours', where she played the writer Virgina Woolf. Her performance was highly praised, not like her false nose, which constantly distracted the viewer from her work. In the same film, Julianne Moore played a 50 year old housewife that we came to see in the present, played an old woman of 80 years. The problem is that, despite the good makeup job, she just didn't looks convincing. A few wrinkles, a gray wig and little else.
3 The cast of 'Cloud Atlas'
The ambitious project of the Wachowski sisters, which told the story of a group of people connected throughout history, forced to use prosthetic makeup to change the appearance of actors, who played up to seven different characters each. Thus, Tom Hanks, Halle Berry or Hugo Weaving changed their sex, age or race according to the fragment of history. Nevertheless, the titanic effort of characterization of the film went away with a disastrous result. The transformations (some more successful, some directly ridiculous) bothered, distracted enormously from the story, and in the worst case, were offensive.
4 Guy Pearce in 'Prometheus'
In Ridley Scott's movie Guy Pearce played Peter Weyland, the billionaire who financed the Prometheus expedition to the moon LV-223. At the end of the film we discovered that Weyland, who was more than a hundred years old, was hiding in the ship. However, rather than look like a decrepit old man, Pearce looked like a latex monster coming out of 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer'. Simply one of the worst prosthetic makeup jobs in recent cinema.
5 January Jones in 'Mad Men'
TV has given us very physical transformations, but in most cases, they were looking for the comic effect (Fat Monica in 'Friends' comes quickly to mind), so we can forgive them. In addition, the budget of a series is not the same as that of a blockbuster. However, there are times that you can not miss a bad characterization, as is the case of Betty Draper (January Jones) in 'Mad Men'. At the beginning of season five, everyone made jokes about Fat Betty.
6 Leonardo DiCaprio in 'J. Edgar'
In 2011, and in the middle of the race to get his longed-for first Oscar, Leonardo DiCaprio got into the skin of the first director of the FBI, J. Edgar Hoover, in the biopic directed by Clint Eastwood. DiCaprio appeared in the film played as the young J. Edgar and also in his last years of life, at over 70 years old. To age him, the actor had to undergo daily sessions of make-up of six or seven hours. However, although the work was not technically bad, the outcome did not convince everyone. Many believed that the mountain of latex and makeup buried their interpretation and others simply considered it too strange.
7 Mickey Rooney in 'Breakfast at Tiffany's'
This is one of the most infamous cases of special makeup effects in the cinema. In the 1961 classic, Mickey Rooney wore makeup and attempted to become a Japanese man, Mr. Yunioshi. The characterization was not only offensive and practically unthinkable today, but also Rooney was unbelievably Asian. In the audiocomentary of the 45th anniversary edition of the film, director Blake Edwards acknowledged that they should've hired a real Asian actor.
8 Russell Crowe and Jennifer Connelly in 'A Beautiful Mind'
At the end of 'A Beautiful Mind', Russell Crowe and Jennifer Connelly (who won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for the film) appeared as makeup artists. Crowe's prosthetic work had a pass, but Connelly's was a disaster.
9 Jamie Bamber in 'Battlestar Galactica'
Another case of television fail of makeup that we are forced to highlight is that of Jamie Bamber in 'Battlestar Galactica'. His character, Lee Adama, gained weight in the second season of the series, to the dismay of the fans, who had no choice but to take it as a joke. Impossible not to laugh at his fake cushioning and orange skin.
10 Characters in 'Back to the Future II'
In the sequel to 'Back to the Future' we meet the Marty McFly of 2015. The character of Michael J. Fox was supposed to be 47 years old in these scenes, but the makeup and the prostheses that applied him were rather for a man of 60. In addition to not being very convincing, the transformation meant that at 47, one was ready to retire. But the characterizations of Lea Thompson (Lorraine) and Tom Wilson (Biff) were even worse. We forgive him because it was the late 80's, and because it's 'Back to the Future'.