Actors Who Were Transformed by Intense Movie Makeup Idris Elba in Star Trek Beyond

The dashing British actor (and James Bond of our hearts) will be completely unrecognizable as main villain Krall in the upcoming Star Trek Beyond. The otherworldly character is blue and covered in thick reptilian ridges, though Elba has clarified in an interview with Entertainment Weekly that Krall is not a Gorn, for all you Trekkies out there. He also shares that the makeup process took about three hours, with his days starting around 4:15 a.m.

Two-time Oscar nominee Fiennes brought ultimate wizarding villain Voldemort to life in the Harry Potter film franchise, to great effect. The look was a combination of detailed white makeup, eyebrow blockers, and fake teeth, which took about two hours, and a digital removal of his nose to complete the Dark Lord’s snakelike appearance. You can watch the clever transformation here. Cherish it, because it might be the last time you see him in heavy makeup. Fiennes hated the process so much that in 2014 he told Vanity Fair he’d consider skipping a movie if it required ample time in the makeup chair.
Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight
There have been many incredible aesthetic transformations in the rich history of the Batman comic franchise. Jack Nicholson captured the maniacal essence of the Joker in 1989’s Batman. Danny DeVito leaned into the bizarre physicality of the Penguin in 1992’s Batman Returns. And Jared Leto is giving the Joker a heavy metal twist in the upcoming Suicide Squad

But perhaps the most haunting and memorable take is Heath Ledger’s engrossing turn as the Joker in 2008’s The Dark Knight. The aesthetic was simple, but deeply impactful: blotchy white face paint, smudgy black shadow around the eyes, and smeared red lipstick painted over fake silicone scars, a process that took about two hours from start to finish each day, according to Empire. The look was topped off with limp green locks, giving the overall effect of a “ragged clown,” prosthetics supervisor Conor O’Sullivan said. The role, which floored critics and audiences alike, earned Ledger a post-humous Oscar for Best Supporting Actor.

Let’s take a trip down mutant memory lane, before the days of Jennifer Lawrence past. In the 2000 X-Men reboot, Rebecca Romijn played the shape-shifter villain formerly known as Raven. Unlike Lawrence, who vacillates between Mystique’s natural sleek red hair and blue skin and human form, Romijn was in blue for the majority of the three films. And it required a lot of work, considering Mystique’s look is an all-blue nude illusion (though Romijn was essentially naked for the look), with scales covering her private parts. On the first film, the lengthy makeup process took about eight or nine hours, the actress told Entertainment Weekly, but the crew managed to shorten that by the second film.

Isaac’s sudden rise as charming leading man and resident Internet boyfriend has certainly been aided by his raffish good looks. Say goodbye to all that in X-Men: Apocalypse. In this summer’s superhero film, he plays the titular villain (also called En Sabah Nur), the world’s first mutant, who is also hellbent on controlling the world. Villains, right? Can’t take them anywhere. As such, the intense role requires an equally intense aesthetic. Aside from a giant 40-pound suit and thick platform boots, Isaac was covered in prosthetics and blue makeup that completely transformed every inch of his famous face.
Zoe Saldana in Guardians of the Galaxy

Saldana is also in the Star Trek franchise, but we’re not here to talk about that. (Besides, her character Uhura is a human.) We’re also not here to talk about her role as the blue alien Neytiri in Avatar. No, we’re here to talk about her most recent turn in a heavily maquillaged role as the emerald green Gamora in 2014’s Guardians of the Galaxy. Nicknamed the deadliest woman in the whole galaxy, Gamora belongs to the nearly extinct Zehoberei species. Alas, Saldana is not Zehoberei, so she had to spend two to three human hours putting on prosthetics and being covered head to toe in green paint, according to the film’s makeup artist Lizzie Georgiou.
Johnny Depp in Alice in Wonderland

Depp could be on this list for any number of movies (Black Mass! Dark Shadows! Charlie and the Chocolate Factory!), so let’s go with his most recent turn in Alice Through the Looking Glass. The Oscar-nominated actor, who’s been intensely fond of unrecognizable makeovers since the 1990 cult hit Edward Scissorhands, took his portrayal of the Mad Hatter to ultimate extremes. He blanched his face in white makeup, then dramatized the look with pink under-eye circles, white eyelashes, a curly red wig, and a curious gap between his front teeth.

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