It's not uncommon to see that an actor has become completely unrecognizable for a part. There are tons of people who underwent a complete transformation for a role! A lot of times, audiences are shocked to see what an actor who plays a bizarre character truly looks like...
Naomi Grossman as Pepper
Pepper was first introduced to the American Horror Story series in the second season called "Asylum." Initially introduced as a violent patient, we learned her backstory and how she really got admitted to the mental hospital. Naomi Grossman plays her character so well that you go on her emotional journey right alongside her!
Grossman reprised her role as Pepper in AHS's season of "Freak Show." This time, we get another glimpse into Pepper and even learn about a relationship of a lifetime that ended tragically. Most people didn't believe what Grossman actually looked like...
AHS Idol
Pepper is easily the most recognizable and memorable characters in the franchise. In fact, that is the role that Grossman gets recognized for the most. Grossman started her career in the early 2000s performing in short films and skits.
Her role as Pepper led her to make guest appearances on shows like Halloween Wars and Hell's Kitchen. Currently, she plays the role of Lorna in ctrl alt delete.
Taryn Manning as Tiffany Doggett
Orange Is the New Black is one of Netflix's most popular original series. Manning took on the role of Tiffany Doggett, a western Pennsylvania "redneck" who is missing a good amount of teeth in the first season. Needless to say, she didn't look great.
Manning played the role of a redneck so well that many people were shocked to see that she wasn't like that in reality! Her accent and mannerisms were so convincing that many people were interested in her as a person after the show wrapped up its first season.
Pennsatucky
Manning did have some "redneck" ties. She was born in Virginia and lived in a trailer park with her brother and single mother. They moved out to California when she was 12. Despite the financial toll, Manning was able to enroll in karate, dance, and acting classes.
She began acting in the late 1990s. She was featured in small film and TV productions. Her breakthrough role was playing a sex worker in Tennessee in the 2005 film Hustle & Flow.
Elisabeth Moss as Peggy Olson
Peggy Olson is the always frumpy office secretary in the hit series Mad Men. She is sweet yet homely... maybe too homely. A large part of her arc is about her looks and how she should be doing "better" than she was. Sadly, this was what made Peggy Olson Peggy.
Despite the naysayers, Peggy is determined and insightful. She doesn't take "no" for an answer and she sure won't stand for any gender discrimination. Her character definitely sees the biggest transformation from start to finish.
Moss Relates to Peggy
Peggy overcame a lot on the show, and Moss relates. She's been very open with her experiences with discrimination in Hollywood and the acting world. Despite all of the obstacles, she overcame a great deal to get to the spot where she is today! (Just like Peggy!)
Moss is well-known for her role as Peggy but is also the star in The Handmaid's Tale, The Invisible Man, and Shirley. There's nothing that she can't do! In fact, she was named Queen of Peak TV by Vulture.
America Ferrera as Betty Suarez
Obviously, the main star in the show Ugly Betty has to be ugly (by society's standards, of course). Taking on the role of Betty was actually America Ferrera's breakthrough role. Betty was ambitious with unkempt hair and adult braces who was thrown into the fashion magazine world.
The main reason she was even given the job of assistant to the director of Mode Magazine was because of her looks. Mogul Bradford Meade knew that Betty's looks wouldn't be "disruptive" to her job, which was apparently a problem with other assistants. Of course, this becomes the main arc of the show and of Betty's growth as a character.
America and Betty
Ugly Betty was popular before social media was a trend. A lot of viewers were always shocked to see America Ferrera in reality. After all, she played the role of Ugly Betty so well that it was impossible to tell if she was real or not!
America was born in Los Angeles, California, and started acting at a young age. She was mainly interested in stage productions before being thrust into the film world. She's currently on the show Superstore and had a role in The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants.
Emma Thompson as Nanny McPhee
Emma Thompson took on the role of a magical nanny whom the kids were grossed out by. She appears in the homes of unruly children when parents need her the most. At first, she's terrifying on the outside and on the inside, but then you realize that you can't judge a book by its cover.
The children that Nanny McPhee has to care for have run off every previous nanny. Naturally, they are cruel to her, but they all come together when their Great-Aunt wants to separate the children to sell the house that they live in. Suddenly, Nanny McPhee isn't so grody after all.
Star Actress
British audiences were thrilled to see how well the costume designers disguised Emma Thompson. She is one of Britain's most acclaimed actresses and is known for her sharp tongue and good looks. If anything, most people didn't know that it was her! American audiences, on the other hand, were not so keen...
American audiences were shocked to see what Nanny McPhee really looked like. All of the prosthetics that they put on her completely disguised her true self. It's safe to say that a lot of people were relieved that she didn't really look like that!
Judy Greer as Kitty Sanchez
Kitty Sanchez plays the role of George Bluth's personal assistant in Arrested Development. That show already has a host of bizarre characters... so much so that it's hard to keep track of them! But Kitty is memorable in other ways, especially with how actress Judy Greer dulled herself down for the role.
She Loved Playing Kitty
Judy Greer is best known as a voice actress on the show Archer, but she's made it clear that Kitty Sanchez was one of her favorite roles in her career. She said that she was such a "quirky" character and that it was fun to make people laugh with her antics. She isn't a method actor, but she did get a little too into character at some points!
Bette Midler as Winifred Sanderson
Bette Midler landed one of her most iconic roles in the 1993 classic Hocus Pocus. She played Winifred Sanderson, the head witch in charge of the historically notorious Sanderson sisters of Salem. She and her witch sisters were executed for their witchcraft and brought back to life on Halloween night to wreak some havoc.
Much Less Intimidating
Winifred was definitely the scariest of all of the witch sisters. Children surely feared her. Plus, she had some big teeth! Thankfully, that was all fake and she's actually just a really good actress.
Rooney Mara as Lisbeth Salander
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo film was actually derived from the book series. It premiered in 2011 and helped Rooney Mara's career take off. Obviously, Lisbeth is "different" looking with her facial piercings, short bangs, and bleached eyebrows. Mara played the role so well that people were shocked to see who she really was on the red carpet...
She Has Eyebrows!
In a shocking turn of events, Rooney Mara has eyebrows! Although she isn't the most normal person in the world, she surely is not anywhere close to Lisbeth's standards of weird.
Vanessa Hudgens as Apple
Gimme Shelter was released in 2013. At the time, Hudgens was best known for her role as Gabriella in the Disney franchise High School Musical. Apple is a very different character from Gabriella, obviously, and Hudgens had to drastically change her appearance for the role. She's unrecognizable!
From Quiet Teen to Struggling Teen
Apple is a teenager struggling with the foster care system who winds up pregnant. Obviously, this role was super far removed from Hudgens' Disney days! She was such a girly-girl in the HSM series and even in real life that a lot of people were surprised to hear that she was going for such a grungy role.
Linda Cardellini as Velma Dinkley
Velma was always the "nerdy" one. Daphne was the "pretty" one. They both filled the stereotypes that they were given (and then some). Linda Cardellini was cast as Velma for the live-action Scooby-Doo films. A lot of people were shocked to see what she really looked like without the horrible wig and glasses!
Total Opposites
Cardellini was actually a perfect pick for Velma, even though she was a bombshell in real life. The costume department did such a great job with her hair and makeup that a lot of people didn't recognize Cardellini in costume! She truly brought the nerdy paranormal investigator to life.
Salma Hayek as Frida Kahlo
Salma Hayek played the role of famous artist Frida Kahlo in the biopic 2002 film Frida. Naturally, Salma had to go for a unibrow to truly cinch the role. Many people feel that Frida isn't conventionally attractive (they're wrong, but whatever) so Salma had a helping hand in bringing her beauty to life!
Salma Felt Liberated
Playing someone as strong and willful as Frida Kahlo helped Hayek become liberated in her own life. In fact, filming Frida was one of the hardest times of her life due to filming conditions with some horrible people. Somehow, she pulled through with the power of Frida herself!
Meryl Streep as The Witch
Meryl Streep played The Witch in the 2014 film Into The Woods. This legendary actress, best known for her method acting, played the role of a frightening witch who was just as evil as she was conniving. The hair and makeup artists did such a great job that she was unrecognizable. Can you imagine how she was on set?
Meryl Streep
Meryl Streep is a fantastic actor and a loving person that it's hard to imagine her being as mean as her character in the film. But, as method acting goes, she had to stay in character so she was a bit wild while filming!
Kate McKinnon As Justin Bieber
Kate McKinnon is one of the hilarious actors on Saturday Night Live. She is used to playing all different types of characters. She's impersonated people like Justin Bieber, Jean King, and many others. Her Justin Bieber impression is what gets people cackling the most.
Uncanny Impersonation
Somehow, McKinnon was able to perfect Justin Bieber's mannersims. The SNL costume crew even managed to get her looking just like him, perfecting the impersonation. In reality, she's a beautiful women who doesn't look like a young adult male at all. She's just good at playing one!
Cameron Diaz as Lotte Schwartz
Cameron Diaz was mainly known for playing roles of beautiful women in movies such as The Mask and There’s Something About Mary. In 1999, however, she decided to break the mold and play the role of Lotte Schwartz in Being John Malkovich. With her unkempt hair and lack of makeup, she was the perfect unassuming woman.
She's a Twin!
In reality, Diaz is far from the type of woman to blend in with the crowd... She's been in other films like Bad Teacher, Charlie's Angels, My Sister's Keeper, and even lent her voice to the Shrek series as Princess Fiona. She retired from acting in 2017.
Drew Barrymore as Josie Gellar
In 1999, Drew Barrymore played the role of Josie Gellar in Never Been Kissed. She had to play a cop who has to go back to high school as a student for an undercover investigatiion. This nerdy woman gets a second chance at her high school career...
Opposite of Shy
In reality, Drew Barrymore was the opposite of shy. She was the life of the party and a social butterfly. She really had to hunker down to fit into the role of Josie Gellar!
Melissa Rauch as Dr. Bernadette Rostenkowski-Wolowitz
It's safe to say that most of the Big Bang Theory characters don't resemble their actual actors. Melissa Rauch is one of them! She's a small, squeaky-voiced doctor who is as conservative as she is meek.
Far From Meek
In reality, Rauch is far from meek. She's also not a doctor, but that's to be expected. She doesn't dress as conservatively as her character either!
Patricia Heaton as Frankie Heck
Frankie Heck is the frazzled mother in the show The Middle. She's not perfect and never claims to be so. In fact, she's pretty relatable to moms everywhere! Luckily, that hairdo is just a wig.
Televisions Mother
Patricia Heaton played Debra Barone in the hit series Everybody Loves Raymond. She's played two huge "mother" roles on TV. Both characters were pretty different from one another.
Anne Hathaway as Mia Thermopolis
Mia Thermopolis' makeover was probably the most shocking of them all. She went from a nerdy, frizzy haired nerd to a princess. Anne Hathaway played both sides of Mia perfectly, but she doesn't really relate to either side of the Princess of Genovia.
Classy and Sleek
In reality, Anne Hathaway is far away from Mia's "before" look. Audiences were shocked to see such a dramatic makeover and that Hathaway didn't resemble Mia at all. Now that's good acting!
Lea Michele as Rachel Berry
Lea Michele took on the role of Rachel Berry on the popular TV show Glee. Rachel was an ambitious high school student who played a huge part in the glee club. She definitely wasn’t very popular due of her overbearing and "bossy" attitude along with her over-preppy sense of style. You could say that she was a bit of a mean girl...
Broadway Child
Lea Michele started her career on Broadway as a kid. She appeared in the productions of Les Misérables, Ragtime, Fiddler on the Roof, and Spring Awakening. Although she isn't as preppy as she was on Glee, she kind of kept that mean girl attitude...
Tina Fey and Liz Lemon
Although Tina Fey and Liz Lemon have similiar attributes, they're not terribly alike! Fey had to really dig deep into her pysche to pull out the nerdy and awkward character. In reality, Fey has it together!
Successful Career
Unlike Liz Lemon, Fey actually nailed her career. She went to college in Chicago and started improv gigs soon after. Although she has a successful career in acting, her beginnings were really in comedy. Her big break came from her time on SNL!
Maisie Williams as Arya Stark
Game of Thrones viewers basically watched Maisie Wiilliams grow up on screen. She played Arya Stark, the youngest daughter of Kat and Ned Stark who was just one of the boys. She was the total opposite of her sister, Sansa, and was not a fan of frilly dresses or sewing circles. When Williams grew into herself, people were (weirdly) shocked to see how much she differed from her character.
They're Similiar in Some Ways
Williams is similiar to her character iin certain ways. They don't take "no" for an answer and like to stick out from the crowd. Arya would have probably dyed her hair pink if she could have!
Thesy Surface as Margaret McPoyle
There's no way in this world that any of the McPoyle siblings would be attractive in It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia. Margaret is known as the gross sister who doesn't even speak. Let's just say the hair and makeup department did a great job in fixing her up!
Complete Opposites
Thesy Surface is actually a beautiful and successful actor in the biz. Somehow, the directors of the show saw Margaret McPoyle in her... and they were right. She totally nailed that weird and somewhat gross character.
Charlize Theron as Aileen Wournos
Charlize Theron landed the role of Aileen Wournos for the movie Monster. Wournos was a famous serial killer and known for being the first woman sent to the electric chair. The nation was interested in her case, so they decided to make a film about it and hire Theron as the star.
Not a Serial Killer
Obviously, Theron is far from being a serial killer. In fact, she's one of the world's highest paid actresses. She's had a lot of success in her career!
Mae Whitman as Ann Veal
Mae Whitman plays the role of Ann Veal on Arrested Development. Her character is described as a plain Jane who is homely and forgettable.. Whitman, on the other hand, is far from homely and unforgettable! After all, she just needed to fill the part in the show.
Successful Career
Whitman was born in Los Angeles and began acting in commercials as a child. Her film debut was in the romantic drama When a Man Loves a Woman at the age of 6. Most millennials would recognize her voice as Katara from Avatar: The Last Airbender
Mayim Bialik as Amy Farrah Fowler
Mayim Bialik is famous for her role as Amy Farrah Fowler on the hit series The Big Bang Theory. Amy is a frumpy neuroscientist who is highly intelligent and stereotypically nerdy. To play into her nerdy side, the producers made her stereotypically unattractive, but that's not the case in reality!
Much More Fashionable
Luckily, she is much more fashionable than the character portrayed on the TV show. Of course, playing such a character comes with some downsides, including being labeled as unattractive in real life. It doesn't bother her one bit!