9 Insane Times Movies Stupidly Hid Actors Behind Prosthetics

3. Gary Oldman - Hannibal

Hannibal 2001
Universal

A child molester given PCP and told to tear his own face off with a bit of glass during a "therapy" session with Hannibal Lector, Mason Verger spends the majority of 2001's Hannibal horribly disfigured and planning revenge from his bed.

Although it cuts back to him quite frequently, you might go the entire movie without realising that it's actually Academy Award-winner Gary Oldman under the prosthetics. The makeup itself is admittedly quite terrifying in its own way, but it's also potentially the only time on this list that it completely obscures the actor's face.

It's a challenge you can see a performer like Oldman eagerly signing up to take on, but the end result is certainly a mixed bag. The voice the actor chose for the role awards the movie with a strange campiness which hurts more than it helps, and without Oldman's ridiculously expressive face to back it up, feels like a truly weird casting choice.

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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.