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Christian Bale ’s dramatic transformation as Dick Cheney in Vice Oscars .
This isn’t the first time Bale has gone to lengths to disguise himself for a new character.
For the role of insomniac Trevor Reznik in The Machinist
Filmmakers reportedly refused to let Bale lose any more weight once he reached that point. It sounds quite horrific, but that role helped him when he had to lose weight again to play Dick “Dicky” Eklund in The Fighter.
To mark the release of Vice , here are 10 more of the most famous on-screen transformations:
Show all 12 1 /12The biggest body transformations for a role The biggest body transformations for a role Matthew Fox in Alex Cross Lost star Matthew Fox underwent a staggering transition for the little-seen thriller Alex Cross, shedding 40 pounds for the role while also adding muscle mass. He said his mother “hated it”.
Getty/Lionsgate Films
The biggest body transformations for a role Gary Oldman in Darkest Hour While Darkest Hour may have been a run-of-the-mill biopic (with all the requisite fawning scenes of the subject), Gary Oldman’s performance was substantially better than the actual film. The actor spent 200 hours in make-up over the shoot, hoping to emulate the wartime Prime Minister – time well spent, as the Academy awarded the Oldman a best actor Oscar.
AFP/Getty/Universal Pictures
The biggest body transformations for a role Jared Leto in Dallas Buyer's Club The 30 Seconds to Mars frontman’s casting caused controversy with his role as an HIV-positive transgender woman in Dallas Buyer’s Club, where he starred opposite Matthew McConaughey. He lost about 40lb to play Rayon, “and then I stopped counting”, Leto said, adding that it changed the way he walked, talked, thought and moved. “It changes you inside and out.”
Getty/Focus Features
The biggest body transformations for a role Tom Hanks in Pahiladelphia Before Leto, Tom Hanks underwent dramatic weight loss for his starring roles in Philadelphia and Cast Away, which the actor later revealed may have been a factor in his diagnosis with type 2 diabetes. Since then, he has committed to avoiding roles that require significant weight gain or loss, because of the sheer physical toll it put on his body.
AFP/Getty/TriStar Pictures
The biggest body transformations for a role Tilda Swinton in Suspiria While some eagle-eyed film fans (and paparazzi) guessed it relatively early on, it took a while for Suspiria filmmaker Luca Guadagnino and Tilda Swinton to admit that she was the one playing 82-year-old male psychoanalyst Josef Klemperer in the 2018 horror remake. Academy Award-winning makeup artist Mark Coulier gave her a “fake penis and balls” at Swinton’s request: “She had this nice, weighty set of genitalia so that she could feel it dangling between her legs,” he said. Apparently she was so convincing that many of the cast and crew were confused about what this unknown “German” actor was doing on set.
AFP/Getty/Amazon Studios
The biggest body transformations for a role Leonardo DiCaprio in J Edgar The prosthetics he wore may have been widely mocked or criticised, but it’s hard to deny that Leonardo DiCaprio’s role as J Edgar involved one of the most drastic physical changes of his career. It took six to seven hours to apply his makeup each day, including fake teeth, a bald cap, latex body pads, and layers of silicone applied to his face.
Getty/Warner Bros
The biggest body transformations for a role John Travolta in Hairspray It took John Travolta a long time to say “yes” to the iconic role of Edna Turnblad in the film adaptation of the musical Hairspray. In the end, he was so determined to get it right that he rejected several versions of the padded suit – weighing more than 30lbs – designed for him until he felt the character was suitably voluptuous.
Getty/Rex
The biggest body transformations for a role John Hurt in The Elephant Man John Hurt’s portrayal of the deformed John Merrick is one of the most tender and humanistic performances of all time. Of course, you would not know that was John Hurt underneath the layers of make-up and prosthetics if it were not for the credits. So brilliant is the make-up design that the Oscars introduced the Academy Award for Best Makeup and Hairstyling the year after.
Getty Images
The biggest body transformations for a role Nicole Kidman in The Hours Kidman may be almost unrecognizable in her new film Destroyer, but the transformation that most fans recall is for her role as Virginia Woolf in The Hours. The Australian star sat in the makeup chair for three hours every day while artists added a large prosthetic nose to Kidman’s face. She won the Oscar for Best Actress the following year.
Getty/Miramax Films
The biggest body transformations for a role Cate Blanchett in I'm Not there Blanchett was one of six actors to play characters inspired by facets of Bob Dylan’s persona. She received critical acclaim for her turn as Jude Quinn, an embodiment of Dylan when he controversially played electric guitar on a rock version of “Maggie’s Farm” to outraged fans at the Newport Folk Festival. “Blanchett’s translucent skin, delicate fingers, slight build, and pleading eyes all suggest the previously invisible vulnerability and fear that fueled Dylan’s lacerating anger,” one review said. “It’s hard to imagine that any male actor… could have lent such rich texture to the role.”
Getty/The Weinstein Company
The biggest body transformations for a role Christian Bale in Vice
AP/NBC/Annapurna Pictures
The biggest body transformations for a role Russell Crowe in The Loudest Voice The actor has transformed himself into the late Fox News founder Roger Ailes for Showtime's upcoming series The Loudest Voice. The show takes its basis from Gabriel Sherman’s bestselling book The Loudest Voice in the Room, alongside his extensive work for New York magazine on the allegations of sexual harassment that led to Ailes’s 2016 departure from Fox News.
Getty/Showtime
Vice is out in cinemas now
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