5 Actors Who Completely Transformed Themselves For a Role

Have you ever watched a movie and had that moment halfway through where you suddenly think, Wait… that’s them?! Between clever costuming, elaborate makeup, prosthetics, and CGI, actors can disappear completely into a character. Some actors, however, choose to take this transformation beyond the set, making changes to their off-screen appearance to fit a role. From weight changes to new hairstyles or piercings, these actors are dedicated to authentically bring life to a character.

1. Rooney Mara, The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

In this adaptation, Mara plays Lisbeth Salandar, the titular character of the movie. She is a social outcast with a cloud of mystery and a troubled past. Her transformation went beyond a haircut, black hair dye, and bleached eyebrows. At the time, Mara didn’t even have her ears pierced. To play Lisbeth, she got four piercings on each ear, an eyebrow, and a nipple piercing. Even with the intense physical transformation, she said that what scared her most about the character was riding a motorcycle!

2. Jared Leto, Dallas Buyers Club

When cast into the role of Rayon, an HIV-positive transgender woman, Leto was aware of the challenges and intensity of the role and was committed to dedicating himself entirely to the film. He shaved his eyebrows, waxed his entire body, and lost 30 pounds for the role. He did not break character for the entire 25 days of filming; many cast and crew members report that they never met the real Leto until after filming was over. His efforts paid off, and he won his first Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in 2014!

3. Florence Pugh, We Live in Time

In this A24 feature, Pugh played the character of Almut, a woman whose life is changed after a cancer diagnosis. When meeting the director, Pugh immediately said she would shave her head for the role, expressing that’s part of what you sign up for when playing a character who is ill. Her co-start Andrew Garfield shaved her head on-camera while in character. Having her head shaved for the first time while playing a character just shows how skilled Pugh is in her acting.

4. Natalie Portman, Black Swan

When Portman accepted the role of Nina, a passionate ballerina, she soon began training with a ballet professional. For one year before filming, she would train 5 hours a day, 6 days a week. Her training was so meticulous that she was doing exercises to improve the strength of the bones in her foot. She would do 2 to 3 hours of ballet training in the morning, then another 2 or 3 hours of toning exercises and swimming in the evening.

5. Michael B. Jordan, Creed

In this spin-off of the Rocky franchise, Jordan stars as Adonis, the son of Apollo Creed, who begins training with Rocky Balboa. MBJ had a personal trainer, and the goal was to make him both look and move like a professional boxer. Jordan would have 6 meals a day and train 2 to 3 times a day, 6 days a week. Fans were shocked to see his transformation, and a number of people coined it the “Creed workout", following it in hopes of achieving similar results.