Originally cast to play the Tin Man in MGM's live-action adaptation of The Wizard of Oz, Buddy Ebsen had to drop out of the production after becoming gravely ill from the aluminum makeup (via Time). Prosthetics and special effects makeup have vastly improved since the Golden Age of Hollywood, but Ebsen would not be the first actor to suffer from the process.
John Rhys-Davies, who played Gimli in Peter Jackson's The Hobbit prequel trilogy due to his allergic reaction to the prosthetic makeup (via Looper). Quite a few actors have endured tedious and even painful application processes for their appreciation of their crafts.
Jennifer Lawrence, Mystique
Played by model Rebecca Romijn in the introductory X-Men film series, Jennifer Lawrence took on the role of Mystique in the franchise reboot from 2011 to 2019. A blue human mutant, such an elaborate design was quite the ordeal to execute.
Lawrence was not a big fan of Mystique's prosthetics (per Business Insider). The body painting and scale application would take between six and eight hours, making mobility extremely difficult, and at one point, the actress had to straddle a unicycle to finish the look. Luckily, the process soon took only three hours to apply for future films.
John Hurt, John "The Elephant Man" Merrick
Visionary filmmaker David Lynch made his full-length directorial debut with 1980's The Elephant Man. A biopic drama based on the life of Joseph Merrick, British actor John Hurt was cast to play the severely disfigured "Elephant Man."
Makeup artists spent seven to eight hours each day applying fifteen layers of prosthetic scarred skin to Hurt, with an additional two hours to remove the appliances. Hurt found the process to be excruciating, even leading to him contemplating his future in the acting game (according to Dangerous Minds). However, the film's incredible makeup design led to the creation of the Best Makeup category for the Academy Awards.
Gwyneth Paltrow, Rosemary Shanahan
Criticized for its depiction of the male gaze, body-shaming, and women's weight standards, Shallow Hal attempted to walk a line between humor and serious social commentary. The 2001 Farrelly Brothers film has the titular character (Jack Black) under hypnosis and falling in love with an obese woman (played by Gwyneth Paltrow) who he sees as a total knockout.
Paltrow would spend eight hours in the makeup chair to become her character Rosemary. She felt extremely humiliated in character, but such an experience greatly contributed to a convincing performance (per The Guardian).
Zoe Saldaña, Gamora
One of the Avatar franchise.
Unlike Neytiri, which requires the use of a motion capture suit, Gamora is brought to life through the use of prosthetics and green body paint. While the process is rather uncomfortable for the actress, she grins and bears it for a fantastic final product (per Hollywood Life).
Ryan Reynolds, Wade "Deadpool" Wilson
The announcement of Hugh Jackman returning as Deadpool's third installment means that funny man Ryan Reynolds will be returning as the titular character and his human counterpart Wade Wilson, with the latter requiring a heavy makeup process.
As Wade's skin is quite disfigured following his cancer recovery, the latest scar makeup takes a staggering eight hours to apply. Similar to Jennifer Lawrence, the makeup resulted in Reynolds being unable to sit or walk in between takes, ripping off the prosthetics after each filming day (according to The Things).
Stellan Skarsgård, "Bootstraps" Bill Turner
Father of Alexander and Bill Skarsgård, veteran Swedish actor Bill Skarsgård made a splash playing Will Turner's (Orlando Bloom) father in the second and third entries in the original Pirates of the Caribbean film trilogy. Unlike the other sea creatures and mysterious characters depicted throughout the franchise, "Bootstraps" Bill Turner would be the only one who didn't have CGI facial incorporation.
Requiring a makeup team to apply the creature prosthetics, Skarsgård spent four hours each day for the application process. As the actor continuously developed rashes from the latex, he was limited to wearing makeup for three filming days at a time (per Movie Web).
Jessica Chastain, Tammy Faye Bakker
Televangelist Tammy Faye Bakker was known for her vivacious personality and close-to-garish makeup. To play the TV legend in 2021's The Eyes of Tammy Faye, Jessica Chastain underwent a seven-hour makeup application process. Due to the weight of the prosthetics, Chastain experienced hot flashes and anxiety and suffered permanent skin damage (according to Hollywood Reporter).
Even though Chastain greatly hated the prosthetics, she put her performance ahead of herself by suffering for the art. Winning the Academy Award for Best Actress in 2022 (as well as the film winning Best Makeup and Hairstyling), this great sacrifice had an even greater payoff.
Angelina Jolie, Maleficent
Maleficent is one of Angelina Jolie's best movies. To play the Disney villainess in the eponymous live-action film, Jolie donned numerous prosthetic pieces, from prominent cheekbones to sharpened teeth.
Transforming the actress into Maleficent took three hours in application time and one hour for removal (according to Fashionista). Despite the extreme discomfort, Jolie used this to her performance's advantage to further embody her character. The film's dramatic makeup even resulted in a promotional limited edition makeup collection with MAC cosmetics, which brought about a second collection with the 2019 sequel.
Jim Carrey, The Grinch
Having broken his comedic typecast, Jim Carrey is an incredibly versatile actor, which was shown when he took on the role of The Grinch in Ron Howard's live-action film Dr. Seuss' How The Grinch Stole Christmas. To transform into the envious Dr. Seuss character for the 2000 family comedy, Carrey sat through an eight-hour makeup process for ninety-two days straight.
The application started to have a severe mental effect on Jim Carrey, who began experiencing claustrophobia in makeup. This required producer Brian Grazer to bring in a CIA operative to help the actor with coping mechanisms (per Dazed Digital).
Christian Bale, Gorr The God Butcher
Having played Bruce Wayne, a.k.a. Batman, from 2005-2012, Christian Bale is a veteran of superhero movies. However, he made his Thor: Love and Thunder playing Gorr the God Butcher.
It took three makeup artists nearly four hours to transform the Australian actor into the MCU antagonist for the 2022 movie, complete with scarred white skin and lengthy clawed fingernails. Known for his intense method acting, Bale felt extremely incapacitated in the makeup, saying it heavily affected his brain and introduced some mobility issues (per CheatSheet).
