8 Actors Who Totally Transformed Themselves For Upcoming Movies

Unbelievable.

By Jack Pooley /

Universal Pictures

If there's one way to guarantee people pay attention to a movie, it's by having a lead actor play hugely against-type, and if that's not enough, ply them with a dumptruck full of makeup and completely change their appearance.

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If you weren't aware of the transformations ahead of time, you might not even recognise some of them, who have employed make-up, weight gain and bad haircuts to completely change how they look.

Of course, it remains to be seen how these movies will actually turn out: remember when Jared Leto gained 67 pounds to play John Lennon's assassin Mark David Chapman, but the movie, Chapter 27, was panned by critics?

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Fingers crossed these films are worthy of the efforts made by the actors to shed their good looks and slink deep inside their characters. Either way, there's no denying the shocking, impressive quality of the transformations themselves...

8. Tom Hardy (Fonzo)

Bron Studios

Tom Hardy has a knack for disappearing into exuberant, transformative roles, as evidenced by his chameleonic work on the likes of Bronson and The Dark Knight Rises.

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Well, Hardy will play his most high-profile real-life figure to date in Josh Trank's Fonzo, where he'll fill the shoes of legendary gangster Al Capone near the end of his life. Capone wrestled with dementia in his later years, which should give Hardy the floor to deliver a magnetically fascinating performance.

From the few images we've seen so far, the makeup effects look spectacular, giving Hardy a distinct "Marlon Brando in The Godfather" vibe. How can that be a bad thing?

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