Actresses Who Look Totally Different From Their Characters
There’s almost always a character in a movie or television show that is frumpy, homely, or meant to be seen as ugly. These characters become ingrained in our minds in the way they are presented.
But when the makeup and costumes come off, these actresses turn out to be a sight for sore eyes. Here is a list of beautiful actresses who have played “ugly,” “frumpy,” and socially awkward characters. Keep reading to see what these actresses look like in real life.
Bette Midler (Winifred Sanderson)
One of Bette Midler’s most iconic roles was that of Winifred Sanderson, head witch of the Sanderson Sisters in the 1993 Disney film Hocus Pocus. Winifred and her sisters got executed during the Salem witch trials, but a spell was cast that will resurrect them if a virgin lights a special candle. Many years later (in 1993), that exact thing happens and the witches are brought back to life, only to continue on their quest to suck the souls of children to maintain their youth.
Hocus Pocus has become a cult classic for 1990s kids, who might not realize that Bette Midler is a talented actress and singer aside from playing Winifred.
Charlize Theron (Aileen Wuornos)
You already know Charlize Theron as the stunning actress in films like The Italian Job, Snow White and the Huntsman, and Mad Max: Fury Road, and in the early 2000s she was considered Hollywood’s new “It girl.” At the height of her career, Theron was enlisted to star in Monster, a 2003 crime drama about Aileen Wuornos, who was a real-life lady-of-the-night-turned-serial slayer from Florida.
Theron ended up winning an Oscar for Best Actress for that role in 2004.
America Ferrera (Betty Suarez)
America Ferrera made a career breakthrough when she landed the lead role in the ABC series Ugly Betty. Ferrera played Betty Suarez, an ambitious young woman who wore adult braces, glasses, and unusually bright outfits. The show centers around Betty trying to fit in after she lands a job at a high fashion magazine.
Ugly Betty made America Ferrera a household name, but many people saw her as Betty Suarez and not America Ferrera. Betty did get a slight makeover towards the end of the entire series, but fans were stunned anytime they got to see Ferrera on the red carpet as herself.
Meryl Streep (The Witch)
Legendary actress Meryl Streep was cast in the 2014 film Into the Woods, in which she played The Witch. You can see that the producers certainly made her into a scary witch and if you aren’t familiar with any of Streep’s prior work, you would think that she would be scary to meet in real life.
In Into the Woods, Streep actually has two looks for The Witch. The frightening version is a result of a curse that is placed on her, but when the curse is lifted, The Witch turns into a gorgeous woman (who looks more like Streep’s real appearance).
Rooney Mara (Lisbeth Salander)
In 2010, Rooney Mara was in Nightmare on Elm Street and The Social Network, but she rose to stardom for her lead role in the 2011 film The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Mara plays Lisbeth Salander, a troubled but talented investigator and hacker who is hired with special tasks.
Mara underwent an intense transformation to play the role. Her eyebrows were shaved off, her hair was chopped short, and she donned some intense piercings. Her performance was met with critical acclaim, as she was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Performance by and Actress in a Motion Picture and an Oscar for Best Actress.
Melissa Rauch (Bernadette Rostenkowski-Wolowitz)
Melissa Ivy Rauch is an American actress and comedian, famous for her geektastic role as Dr. Bernadette Rostenkowski-Wolowitz on the CBS sitcom, The Big Bang Theory. If you’re annoyed by how annoying her voice sounded, that was intentional, modeled on her mother’s “sweet, high-pitched purr.”
Rauch explains, “My mom has a very high-pitched voice, and there are some similarities between her and the voice I use on Big Bang,” although my mom has the Jersey accent, so I took that out. But the tone of the voice is very similar to my mother’s.” As an extreme departure from any squeaky-clean Bernadette personae, she’s also modeled for an S&M-inspired Maxim photo shoot.
Maisie Williams (Arya Stark)
Margaret Constance “Maisie” Williams is an English actress, famous for her role as Arya Stark on the HBO series, Game of Thrones, for which she won the Emmy Award for “Best Supporting Actress in Drama” as well as the Portal Award and Saturn Award.
On the show, she was the younger of the Stark daughters, and she often looked pretty rough on many of the episodes, as she was constantly forced to use her survival skills. She played a strong young girl, who was not afraid to tell people what she thinks. As Williams says: “She never really feels safe… She doesn’t want to rely on anyone too much because she’s worried they’ll be taken away from her. I think that’s really sad for someone her age, but it’s probably for the best because I don’t think she would have coped this long if she hadn’t prepared herself.”
Lea Michele (Rachel Berry)
Lea Michele rose to prominence in her role as Rachel Berry on Fox’s Glee. In the first season of Glee, Rachel is portrayed as an ambitious singer in her high school’s glee club, although she is not very popular. Despite her vocal talents, Rachel has an overly preppy sense of style and her personality is overbearing for many on the show.
Michele has stated that when she was first cast as Rachel, she gained a lot of weight, especially trying to adapt to the LA lifestyle as a native New Yorker. Glee has since been canceled but now, Lea Michele has taken on a new, sexy presence in the media, promoting her lifestyle composed of fitness, wellness, and eating right.
Gwendoline Christie (Brienne of Tarth)
Gwendoline Christie famously took on the role of Brienne of Tarth on Game of Thrones, with a history of heart-breaking failure. She overcomes so much, and tells herself: “Words are wind. Let them wash over you.” And, of course, she was also Captain Phasma on Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Remember her?
Her partner, Giles Deason, dresses her (it’s a collaborative effort) for all her red-carpet moments. And, yes, as he admits: “She’s a character herself, and her trail of various characters is brilliant – she’s pretty transformative, which is always an interesting thing from a designer’s point of view.”
Ellie Kemper (Kimmy Schmidt)
Yes, she’s odd, chaotic even “unbreakable,” but that’s Ellie Kemper, who’s known for her role as Kimmy Schmidt, a quirky fish-out-of-water outsider in the recent comedy series for which she’s received critical acclaim.
“Ellie plays a woman who has been held in an apocalyptic cult by a guy who thinks the world is going to end,” Executive Producer Tina Fey says. After being “held” for 15 years, she’s finally rescued, which would tend to make anyone a little odd and out-of-sorts, even in the most normal of circumstances. Add in Kimmy’s ecstatic quirkiness and her desire to have a new life. And, you’ve got the recipe for an unforgettable comedy.
Phyllis Logan (Elsie Hughes)
Phyllis Logan is a Scottish actress, known for her role as Elsie Hughes on Downton Abbey. She came from a small town outside Glasgow, and she appears to have been the first to pursue the acting profession. It just wasn’t done. And, she’d also been told to get rid of her Scottish accent, but for Downton Abbey, the role of Elsie Hughes works out well with the Scottish accent.
Although she’s the dowdy and dour matron-housekeeper on the show, she really glammed it up for the award ceremonies. Of her role, she famously has said, “I spend long days wearing a corset – but no pain, no gain.” While her father never accepted her dream of acting, she has made quite a life, though she admits that “the older you get, the parts get thinner on the ground and not quite as interesting, that’s for sure.”
Delphine Chanéac (Dren)
From her name, Delphine Chanéac, you might just guess that she’s a French actress, model and DJ. In 2010, she appeared in the Canadian science-fiction horror drama, Splice, as Dren, which is actually “nerd” spelled backwards. She also appeared on the crime thriller, Verso. Beyond being simply another cautionary tale of a Frankenstein’s monster, this film offers a strange mix of comedy and horror, which jointly pushes the boundaries of genetic research, in science fiction and fantasy. “This is the disaster everyone warns about: a new species set loose in the world.” Yes, it’s “nightmarish parenting,” as Sarah Polley says. “I think it goes to strange human places as well as dealing with the creature.” Perhaps, after all, strange really is beautiful.
What these roles prove, more than anything, is that sometimes it’s often only possible to be taken seriously in an off-kilter role, when the character looks odd, ugly, frumpy, nerdy, and off-the-wall. Perhaps, it really is true what John Constable once : “I’ve never seen an ugly thing in my life. Let the form of an object be what it is. Light, shade, and perspective will always make it beautiful.”
Sarah Hyland (Natalie Dashkov)
In 2014, Modern Family star Sarah Hyland starred as Natalie Dashkov in Vampire Academy. The movie based on the novel of the same name turned Hyland from the beautiful television daughter to an awkward teenager.
Made on a modest budget, Vampire Academy earned negative reviews and was a commercial flop. That doesn’t change the transformation that Hyland went through to create a character that was the complete opposite of what her fans were used to seeing.
Mariah Carey (Ms. Weiss)
It might seem impossible to take Mariah Carey and hide her classic beauty, but that’s exactly what happened in the movie Precious. Directed by Lee Daniels, Carey plays a social worker in the film and is completely stripped of make-up and expensive clothing.
The result was a Mariah Carey that was nearly unrecognizable. Comparing her in this photo, can you tell that Ms. Weiss is being played by a music icon?
Christina Ricci (Penelope)
In 2006, Christina Ricci starred as the title character in Penelope. In the movie, she plays a woman born with a pig nose after her family was cursed by a witch. Once she finds love, the curse can be broken.
The transformation undertaken by Ricci in the film isn’t extreme, but having an actual pig nose takes away her appeal. The movie made its debut at the 2006 Toronto International Film Festival before being picked up for global distribution.
Sandra Bullock (Sarah Ashburn)
Sandra Bullock has played a lot of characters over her career that asked her to hide her beauty. The Heat came out in 2013 and had her play an uptight and arrogant investigator. To accentuate those character traits, she was given a rough look that would “keep men away.”
As her character learns to loosen up, her physical appearance changes, but it’s not played in a way that most audiences would notice.
Nicole Kidman (Virginia Woolf)
Nicole Kidman took on one of the most ambitious roles of her career in 2002 when she signed on to play Virginia Woolf in The Hours. The movie tells the story of three women from different decades and how they are all connected through the novel Mrs. Dalloway.
For her performance, Nicole Kidman was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress and won. It was the only win of nine nominations for the movie.
Cara Delevigne (Enchantress)
Proving not all villainesses need to be beautiful, Cara Delevigne got down and dirty for her role as Enchantress is the anti-hero comic book movie Suicide Squad. She played a doctor possessed by a witch who wants revenge for her years of imprisonment by mankind.
Delevigne was a stand out in the movie that was mostly considered a failure. Watching her in the movie, you would never be able to tell she started her career as a model.
Angelina Jolie (Lisa Rowe)
Angelina Jolie won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her extreme transformation in Girl, Interrupted in 2000. She plays Lisa Rowe in the film, an unstable patient who doesn’t like feeling trapped in the hospital where she lives.
The movie received mixed reviews from critics, but Jolie’s performance received near-universal praise. Her breakout role led to bigger movie roles, including her turn as an action heroine in the Tomb Raider franchise.
Naomi Grossman (Pepper)
Actress Naomi Grossman is best known for her role as Pepper in seasons 2 and 4 of FX’s American Horror Story, being the first character to appear in more than one season of the show. Pepper is a microcephalic who gets placed into a mental asylum after being accused of a crime in American Horror Story: Asylum.
Grossman shaved her head bald to play Pepper, a role she did not know she was auditioning for. Her role as Pepper is her biggest one to date, although she has acted in small roles in different movies and shows.
