10 Actors Who Are Unrecognisable In Upcoming Movies

Christian Bale is transforming himself beyond all recognition for Thor: Love and Thunder.

By Jack Pooley /

Perhaps the most attention-grabbing thing an actor can ever do is transform themselves beyond any and all recognition, submitting to a comprehensive makeup or costuming job that so drastically alters their appearance as to render them totally unrecognisable.

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It's a trick that immediately gets audiences talking and has a track record of earning the Academy's attention too, because what is acting if not disappearing entirely into a character?

We all love to see an actor going full chameleon and stretching their acting talents to breaking point, and that these 10 actors will most certainly do in these upcoming movies.

From actors wearing heavy layers of form-changing makeup to portray people who look nothing like themselves, to those donning elaborate, appearance-altering costumes, and even one becoming unrecognisable with the help of CGI, these 10 actors aren't easily spotted in these impending films.

A radical transformation doesn't inherently make a good movie or a worthwhile performance, admittedly, but given the actors involved in each of these movies, it's easy to be optimistic that they'll make the most of the phenomenal transformative tools afforded to them. Here's hoping, anyway...

10. Bradley Cooper - Maestro

Bradley Cooper is currently shooting his biopic of legendary composer Leonard Bernstein, where Cooper pulls quadruple duty as co-writer, director, producer, and star, playing Bernstein himself through various periods of his life.

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Cooper looks relatively recognisable as a young Bernstein - his appearance altered primarily by a prosthetic nose, which has itself already proven controversial - but becomes basically unidentifiable while playing him during his later years.

The makeup job to have Cooper resemble someone roughly two decades his senior is nothing short of astonishing, and makes it damn-near certain that Maestro will at least receive an Oscar nomination for Best Makeup and Hairstyling in 2024.

Looking at not only Cooper's face but even his hands and arms, an extensive effort has clearly been made to convince audiences that they're looking at a septuagenarian man, and it totally works.

With the Academy's noted love of both radical physical transformations and performances based on real people, Cooper should be considered a strong contender for 2024's Best Actor Oscar already.

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