Top 10 actors who were aged for a role

Actors often have to drastically change their appearance to get a role: gain weight, lose it, go to the gym, change their hair, etc. Many changes are achieved through their own efforts, but when it comes to age change, makeup is most often used. Today we will talk about ten actors who are so old for the role that it is almost impossible to recognize them.

10 Gary Oldman, “Darkest Hour”

The film, released in 2017, tells the story of the first weeks of the reign of Winston Churchill in the midst of World War II. Gary Oldman played the lead role, though you have to look closely to see his features.

The make-up, on the creation of which they worked for six months, had to be applied for about 4 hours, and then removed for more than half an hour. To make it less fuss with a wig, Oldman even shaved his head, for which the make-up artists are certainly grateful.

In fairness, it should be noted that in terms of age, the changes are not very drastic: at the time of filming, Gary was already almost 60, while his character was 66. However, given the appearance of the actor and what happened as a result, we simply could not ignore this case.

9. Johnny Depp, “Black Mass”

2015 crime drama starring Johnny Depp. The plot tells about the leader of a criminal gang, who has great power, but one day decides to start working for the FBI and becomes an informant.

Here it is also very difficult to recognize Depp’s face under several layers of makeup, but it is not even the external transformation that is more striking, but the acting itself, which, together with the makeup, gives an amazing result.

8. Michelle Pfeiffer, Stardust

A 2007 fantasy film that has it all: a good director Matthew Vaughn, an excellent source in the form of a book by Neil Gaiman, and the charming Michelle Pfeiffer as the main antagonist.

At the time of filming, the actress was a little over 50, but in the film she appears as an old witch, who is several hundred years old. Despite the makeup that makes her unrecognizable, Michelle still received praise for her performance, and the film itself was received quite well, although it failed at the box office.

7. Winona Ryder, Edward Scissorhands

Almost a cult film by Tim Burton in 1991 was deservedly nominated for an Oscar for best make-up, because what they did with Winona Ryder’s appearance is really impressive.

She simultaneously plays the girl Johnny Depp’s hero falls in love with, and an elderly woman, already a grandmother, who tells fairy tales to her granddaughter. If for the image of a girl she needed just to be herself – beautiful and sweet, then to turn into a grandmother, hours of “witchcraft” were required over her face, because Winona was then only 19 years old.

6. Jared Leto, “Mr Nobody”

Jared Leto has long been a man-phenomenon who, despite his age, still looks young. In 2009, on the set of Mr. Nobody, he was 37 years old, but thanks to the make-up, he was made into a 118-year-old man, who is the last mortal person on Earth.

It is noteworthy that the image of such an elderly person required appropriate voice changes and the directors planned to achieve this with the help of computer processing, but Jared flatly refused such tricks. He himself learned to imitate an old voice, so in order to appreciate the full scale of the reincarnation, the film must be watched in the original.

5.

In Wes Anderson’s tragicomedy, Tilda Swinton plays the role of an elderly Madame D., who, according to the plot, is 84 years old, although the actress herself was 30 years younger. Make-up had to be applied for several hours, which significantly slowed down the filming process, so Tillier had to arrive at the site in advance.

A few years later, in the mystical detective Suspiria, Swinton went even further, playing not only the main female role, but also appeared in the form of an 82-year-old psychologist … a man. This makeup can definitely be called the most convincing on our list, because it is simply impossible to recognize a woman in a photo.

It’s funny that this fact was kept secret until the last moment: the actress came up with a legend that the psychologist will be played by a real professor, for whom this is his debut film role, and even created a fake profile for him on IMDb.

4. Demi Moore, “Flawless”

At the time of filming this crime thriller, the actress was almost 45 years old, but she still looked amazing, which did not fit in with the appearance of her heroine, an aged lady.

In the story, she works for a company and does a good job, but men always get promotions. Angry, she finds an accomplice in the person of the hero Michael Caine, who is also angry with the firm, and together they decide to pull off a high-profile robbery.

3. Brad Pitt, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

The sensational film by David Fincher became one of the sensations of 2008, not least due to the incredible make-up that turned the handsome Pitt into a decrepit and infirm old man.

Not so striking, but still noticeable, the transformation befell Cate Blanchett, who aged as the story progressed, while Pitt’s hero got younger.

2. Jim Carrey, “Lemony Snicket: 33 Misfortunes”

Another film in which the main actor was undeservedly deprived of awards: for the role of Count Olaf, he did not even receive nominations for awards, while the make-up artists were awarded Oscar statuettes.

It cannot be said that this is undeserved, because they did a significant job, but Jim Carrey’s acting game should have been noted, because it was not the makeup that made the character so textured and memorable, but his talent.

1. Kate Winslet, The Reader

In this drama about the love of a teenager and an adult woman (the young hero was only 16 years old at the beginning of the novel, and his partner was 36), everything is quite the opposite: despite the excellent work, the make-up artists even remained without nominations, while Kate Winslet received everything that only can. For this role, she was awarded an Oscar, a BAFTA, a Golden Globe, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and a couple of other less significant prizes.