The Wildly Dramatic Transformations That Helped Stars Win and Oscar
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Originally appeared on E! Online
While it's by no means a guarantee, one of the earliest predictors of Academy Awards success is seeing a star fully immerse themselves in a role. Like drop-slash-gain some 40 pounds, commit to hours-long daily sessions in the makeup chair to don complicated prosthetics, shave their heads and pierce their faces immerse themselves.
See: Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto as HIV-stricken patients in 2013's Dallas Buyers Club, Charlize Theron as real-life serial killer Aileen Wuornos in 2003's Monster and Nicole Kidman as British writer Virginia Woolf in 2002's The Hours. They all emerged from their very method actor cocoons months later to appear glamorous AF while accepting Oscar gold.
Which is why there's reason to believe Academy Award-nominated Oppenheimer lead Cillian Murphy has landed upon the formula that could manufacture a win at the 2024 Oscars March 10 when he battles it out with Maestro's Bradley Cooper, Rustin's Colman Domingo, The Holdovers' Paul Giamatti and American Fiction's Jeffrey Wright for the Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role trophy.
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To portray the titular J. Robert Oppenheimer—the American theoretical physicist known as the father of the atomic bomb—the Irish actor underwent an extremely stringent diet.
"Oppenheimer had a very distinct physicality and silhouette, which I wanted to get right," the 47-year-old explained to The New York Times of the scientist, who died from cancer in 1967. "I had to lose quite a bit of weight, and we worked with the costume and tailoring; he was very slim, almost emaciated, existed on martinis and cigarettes."
Thus, throughout filming, Murphy existed on little else.
"He had such a monumental undertaking," Emily Blunt, also up for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role thanks to her portrayal of his wife Kitty, told Extra. "And he could only eat, like, an almond every day."
And, yes, he acknowledged it was all a bit nuts. "You become competitive with yourself a little bit which is not healthy," he told The Guardian, refusing to share just how many pounds he dropped. "I don't want it to be, 'Cillian lost x weight for the part.'"
Though he did, of course, gain the big prize.
But before you see if he takes to the stage at Los Angeles' Dolby Theatre, check out the other celebrities who have gone all in on a part and emerged with the big prize.
<p>Cillian Murphy, <em>Oppenheimer</em></p>
Was eating, as his onscreen wife Emily Blunt joked "like, an almond every day," a bit nutty? Sure. But the Irish star really wanted to nail atomic bomb scientist J. Robert Oppenheimer's appearance. "Oppenheimer had a very distinct physicality and silhouette, which I wanted to get right," he explained to The New York Times. "I had to lose quite a bit of weight, and we worked with the costume and tailoring; he was very slim, almost emaciated, existed on martinis and cigarettes."
Andra Day, <i>The United States vs Billie Holiday</i>
The actress lost almost 40 pounds to play the iconic jazz singer in the 2021 film, which earned her an Oscar nomination.
Glenn Close, <i>Hillbilly Elegy</i>
To transform the actress into her role of real life Appalachian grandmother Mamaw Vance in the 2020 film, makeup and special effects artist Matthew Mungle pulled Close's 2011 head cast from Albert Nobbs and sculpted her a new set of false ears and a false nose, according to Variety. The actress received an Oscar nomination for her role.
Charlize Theron, <i>Monster</i>
At the 2004 Academy Awards, the gorgeous A-lister was honored with a Best Actress win for her chilling portrayal of real-life serial killer Aileen Wuornos.
Christian Bale, <i>American Hustle</i>
The British actor packed on more than 40 pounds for his Oscar-nominated performance as a beer-bellied con artist in 2013's American Hustle. He put on the same amount to play former U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney in the 2018 movie Vice, which also earned him an Oscar nomination. The star dropped 70 pounds for the 2019 movie Ford v Ferrari, in which he plays slender race car driver Ken Miles. For the 2011 film The Fighter, which earned him his first Oscar, he lost about 30 pounds while gaining muscle.
Joaquin Phoenix in <i>The Joker</i>
The actor lost 52 pounds to play the deeply disturbed Arthur Fleck, the man who would become Batman's adversary.
Nicole Kidman, <i>The Hours</i>
It took three hours (and an infamously large prosthetic nose) for makeup artists to render the Best Actress winner completely unrecognizable for the 2002 drama.
Tom Hanks, <i>Philadelphia</i>
The actor shed 35 pounds and shaved his head to play an HIV-stricken attorney suing his former firm for wrongful termination. Hanks took home Best Actor at the 1994 Oscars, and made a similar transformation for his Oscar-nominated performance in 2000's Cast Away.
Renee Zellwegger, <i>Judy</i>
The actress, who famously gained a reported 17 pounds to play the title role in Bridget Jones's Diary, did not have to change her physique to transform into Judy Garland for the 2019 film Judy, for which she won her first Oscar. You can thank the makeup and costume department for her transformation.
"Renée was extremely emotionally and artistically involved in Judy, the movie's costume designer, Jany Temime, who also worked on the Harry Potter films, told Vulture. "It was her film. I think she really got into Judy's skin."
Zellweger told the outlet, "Jany fit the costumes to Judy's posture. So the dresses didn't fit me unless I stood like I was supposed to stand. The zipper wouldn't go up."
Margot Robbie, <i>I, Tonya</i>
Quite a departure from Robbie's sultry character in The Wolf of Wall Street, several prosthetics, braces and wigs helped the Best Actress nominee bring the disgraced figure skater's career-ending scandal to life in the 2017 flick.
Matthew McConaughey, <i>Dallas Buyers Club</i>
The Academy recognized McConaughey's extreme commitment to playing an HIV/AIDS stricken electrician with a Best Actor win during the 2014 ceremony.
Heath Ledger in <i>The Dark Knight</i>
The late actor received a posthumous Oscar in 2008 for his chilling and mesmerizing performance as The Joker in the second film in Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy. His look as the iconic villain differed greatly from those previously seen on past actors onscreen.
"What would it be if this guy slept in his makeup, this psychopath?" makeup artist John Caglione Jr. told IGN. "If he didn't spruce up his makeup for two or three weeks? He never changes his clothes It's those kinds of organic details that really helped."
He continued, "You think of a clown's makeup and for the most part, they're pretty detailed with sharp lines. But this had to be the opposite of that."
Hilary Swank, <i>Boys Don't Cry</i> & <i>Million Dollar Baby</i>
The two-time Oscar winner dramatically altered her appearance to play real-life transgender man Brandon Teena in the 1999 drama, and then again in Clint Eastwood's 2004 Best Picture winner.
Gary Oldman, <i>Darkest Hour</i>
In order to play British prime minister Winston Churchill, the 2018 Best Actor nominee spent upwards of four hours in the makeup chair every day and wore a "Victorian corset" style bodysuit.
Natalie Portman, <i>Black Swan</i>
Before taking home Best Actress at the 2011 Oscars, the petite actress shed 20 pounds and trained up to 16 hours a day for her role as a mentally ill ballerina.
Jared Leto, <i>Dallas Buyers Club</i>
Ever the chameleon, the 2014 Best Supporting Actor winner prepared to play a HIV-positive transgender woman by losing 40 pounds and only staying in character on set.
"I had done similar things with weight, but this was different," Leto told E! News in 2013. "I think the role demanded that commitment…It was about how does that effect how I walk, how I talked, who I am, how I feel. You know, you feel very fragile and delicate and unsafe."
Brie Larson, <i>Room</i>
The Best Actress winner gained 15 pounds of muscle to play a mother who escapes years of captivity with her 5-year-old son (Jacob Tremblay) in the 2015 film. Larson said she even limited her exposure to the outside world, restricted nutrients like Vitamin D and tailored her eating habits to better grasp what her character experienced.
Rooney Mara, <i>The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo</i>
At the 2012 Academy Awards, the typically fresh-faced starlet was honored with a Best Actress nomination for her performance in the thriller. Mara went as far as to pierce multiple body parts, bleach her eyebrows and chop her hair to transform into Lisbeth Salander.
The 2024 Academy Awards air live Sunday, March 10, from 7 to 10:30 p.m. ET/4 to 7:30 p.m. PT on ABC. And don't miss E!'s Oscars red carpet starting at 2 p.m. ET/11 a.m. PT on E!.
