It’s easy to lament that movie magic isn’t what it used to be, thanks to computers. Well, that’s true. If anything, it’s better than it’s ever been. But as much as all kinds of big- and small-screen blockbusters rely on the wizards of CGI, there’s still plenty of room for old school makeup artistry.
If you don’t believe that, check out some of these absolutely mind-boggling makeup transformations.
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Naomi Grossman as Pepper in ‘American Horror Story’
It’s easy to see here why American Horror Story ‘s makeup team is a perennial contender at the Emmy awards, even having taken home the award three times.
Credit to Naomi Grossman’s bravery shaving her head for the role. Apparently the extreme shearing wasn’t as awful as she feared — she says she got asked out the very next day!
Eddie Murphy as Saul in ‘Coming to America’
Back in the ’80s, before Pluto Nash or Norbit came along, Eddie Murphy was the box office’s golden child. He was as recognizable a face as you could get.
But you wouldn’t have guessed for a second that he was behind the character of Saul in Coming to America .
Doug Jones as Saru in ‘Star Trek: Discovery’
Honestly, you could take your pic of roles for Doug Jones: From the Pale Man in Pan’s Labyrinth to the Amphibian Man in The Shape of Water to Abe Sapien in the Hellboy movies, he’s just usually underneath many layers of makeup when he’s on camera.
But we went with Star Trek: Discovery ‘s Saru, because it’s incredible makeup that he dons every week .
Gary Oldman as Dracula in ‘Bram Stoker’s Dracula’
Another on-screen chameleon, Gary Oldman is no stranger to the makeup chair, but it’s hard to think of any roles of his that have had as much attention paid to his looks like his turn as the venerable Count Dracula.
No surprise that his makeup team took home the Oscar that year.
Tim Curry as Darkness in ‘Legend’
Does anybody even remember Tom Cruise being in this flick? Honestly, if not for Tim Curry’s wonderful malevolent turn as the Prince of Darkness, you have to wonder if anybody would remember Legend at all.
Daveigh Chase as Samara in ‘The Ring’
It’s a longshot for horror movies to win any mainstream awards, but it’s a mystery how The Ring missed out on any nods for the makeup team, especially when you see how much of a transformation Daveigh Chase went through to portray the now-iconic Samara.
Richard Brake as The Night King in ‘Game of Thrones’
It’s hard to believe, but GoT’s coolest bad guy isn’t CGI — it’s veteran character actor Richard Brake underneath some heavy prosthetics and chilling makeup.
The incredible effect is that Brake doesn’t even need to say a word to be an effective, menacing villain.
Bill Skarsgård as Pennywise the Clown from ‘IT’
It had to be daunting to step into Tim Curry’s clown shoes for the remake of IT , but Bill Skarsgård more than stood his own in the role of Pennywise.
Karen Gillan as Nebula in ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’
Speaking of daunting, how about shaving off your trademark gorgeous red locks for a role, and then burying your face in makeup, just like Karen Gillan did to play Nebula.
Charlize Theron as Aileen Wuornos in ‘Monster’
You have to give high fives to the makeup team who were able to transform one of the most beautiful women in the world into serial killer Aileen Wuornos.
