9 Insane Times Movies Stupidly Hid Actors Behind Prosthetics

Oscar Isaac should have been on Thanos' level, not Ivan Ooze's.

X-men Apocalypse
20th Century Fox

Some of the greatest talents ever to grace the film industry, including the likes of Daniel Day-Lewis, Cate Blanchett and Christian Bale, despite being massive stars and celebrities, manage to become completely unrecognisable every single time they're on screen.

Not only does an actor's own performance cement that immersion, but the makeup, hair and, of course, prosthetics, help bring a character to life on the big screen. Allowing actors to convincingly resemble real people or transform them entirely into an alien figure, prosthetics have helped actors give their best performances as well as gain critical recognition, perhaps most recently evident in Gary Oldman's oscar-winning transformation into Winston Churchill.

That said, sometimes an actor undergoes a physical transformation for a role and it just... doesn't work. Whether the prosthetics themselves look terrible or actively obscure a star's performance to the point where it leaves audiences wondering why the studio shelled out for such a big name at all, not every actor has survived a stint in the makeup chair.

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Josh has over 11 years of experience as a published writer, having worked nine of those years as a full-time content producer at WhatCulture. In that period he has created hundreds of articles, videos and podcast episodes for multiple WhatCulture channels, specialising in gaming, horror and film & TV. He now primarily works as a senior content producer and presenter on WhatCulture Gaming where he co-hosts the WhatCulture Gaming Podcast, a top 3 UK most listened to gaming podcast that he co-created in 2018. Over the years he has reviewed several high-profile gaming releases, covered industry events with on-site reporting, opined on breaking news, and even kicked off his interviewing career by chatting to childhood hero, Tommy Wiseau.