Actors Who Underwent Intense Facial Transformations For A Role

The late, great John Hurt was a master of his craft, wowing audiences with performances in films like Alien, Midnight Express, and more recently, Snowpiercer and Only Lovers Left Alive. But come on, let's be honest. If we want to talk about truly great roles, look no further than David Lynch's black-and-white period piece, The Elephant Man, where Lynch delivered a bravura performance while buried under layers and layers of foam latex.

Telling the story of Joseph Merrick, a 19th-century man who suffered from severe deformities, The Elephant Man had a rather difficult time getting off the ground. Originally, David Lynch had planned on designing the makeup for the title character, dreaming up an "organic" suit, but his plans turned out to be a total disaster. Pressed for time, Lynch was forced to shoot creatively, filming John Hurt wearing a hood or playing off Anthony Hopkins's reaction shots.

While Lynch scrambled to make the movie work, makeup technician Christopher Tucker was brought in to save the show, building an elaborate mask made of around 15 pieces. And that's not even counting all the work that went into creating the head, the arm, and the torso. Fortunately, Tucker had access to an actual cast of Merrick's head, which he borrowed from the London Hospital. However, Tucker was forced to take a bit of creative license, as Merrick was so deformed that it would've been impossible for Hurt to wear a perfect replica of the Elephant Man's face.

All in all, it took quite a bit to prepare for the role. Every time Hurt showed up on set, he was forced to sit in the makeup chair for six to eight hours. On top of that, the actor wore a mouthpiece that disfigured his jaw and significantly altered his voice. But all that time and effort seems to have been worth it. When the man in charge of the Joseph Merrick collection at the London Hospital first saw Hurt in full makeup, he reportedly broke down in tears.