Hollywood isn’t always all glamour, glitz and red carpets. Sure, it takes an entourage of make-up artists, hair stylists, personal trainers, personal chefs, personal shoppers and ‘fluffers’ to get Hollywood’s biggest stars red-carpet-ready. But, it also takes a huge amount of creativity, research, preparation, strict diet changes and dramatic make-unders to ‘get ugly’ for a big movie role.
With the release of the latest dark Hollywood satire ‘Maps To The Stars’, which peeks behind the glamorous façade of Tinseltown to the plain, disheveled, disturbed and downright disheveled side of the industry – we take a look at some of Hollywood’s leading ladies and the lengths they’ve gone to for some of their most notable, and far less attractive, performances.
Charlize Theron Monster
One of the most memorable make-unders was Charlize Theron’s remarkable transformation for her role as serial killer Aileen Wurnos in the award-winning Monster. This film saw a dramatic shift from the South African beauties previous films like The Italian Job, Cider House Rules and Sweet November. The blond bombshell gave an outstanding performance in this role, winning 17 awards including the Academy Award for Best Actress, Golden Globe for Best Actress and Screen Actor’s Guild Award for Lead Actress – proving she’s far more than just a pretty face.
Based on a true story, the dark and disturbed character demanded weight gain for the normally trim and toned star and an extreme make-under in the make-up and wardrobe departments. Bravo Charlize!
Nicole Kidman The Hours
Our very own international starlet, Miss Kidman swapped her towering, polished A-league Hollywood red carpet style for the frumpy fashion and large prosthetic nose of famous writer Virginia Woolf in The Hours. Taking no less than three hours per day in makeup, the fake nose rendered Kidman virtually unrecognizable. The award-winning actress said, “It was fun to be able to go out of my trailer and not have anyone know me” – even the preview audiences sat through the movie without realizing it was her. It was an Oscar-worthy performance for Nicole and was surely a liberating experience not to have to rely on her looks for such high industry acclaim.
Renée Zellweger Bridget Jones’ Diary
This Hollywood darling had to pile on the pounds for the iconic role of charmingly accident-prone, forever-single, frumpy old Bridget Jones. Renee has said she was excited about the prospect of eating whatever she wanted to prepare for the role, and gaining weight for the hit movie was the easy part. Once she hit the gym post-filming however, the pounds melted away from Renee’s tiny frame as she reveled in the workouts. Renee’s usual natural glow and Hollywood polish on the red carpet quickly returned after months of frumpy fashion and disheveled hairstyles.
Toni Collette Muriel’s Wedding
It was the role that flung her into Hollywood stardom and unlike some of our other glam-girls-gone-bad, Muriel’s Wedding was the first time our little Aussie wonder had really been noticed by Hollywood heavyweights. Toni was just 20 years old when she was cast in the leading role and gained over 40 pounds in seven weeks to play the marriage-obsessed Muriel in this hit Aussie film. Since then, Toni has gone onto international stardom, most recently playing many roles in United States of Tara – some of which celebrate her natural beauty and some which hide them behind a less attractive exterior. While Toni has undergone various make-unders for movies and embraced her curves in Muriel’s Wedding, she didn’t waste any time getting back into shape for the red carpet post-filming.
Julianne Moore Maps To The Stars
Swapping her glamorous, polished and always beautiful red carpet style for the role of deluded and delusional, pill-popping, desperately ageing actress Havana Segrand in David Cronenberg’s latest flick Maps To The Stars, Julianne Moore holds up a raw and confronting mirror to the narcissistic nature of Tinseltown. Spending much of ‘Maps’ in ill-fitting leisurewear or age-inappropriately too-tight-too-short dresses, no-holds-barred scenes of constipation on the toilet or with a camera revealingly zoomed in, in moments of breakdown…Moore gives a raw, real and brave performance without the props of soft filters, makeup and flattering camera angles.
Maps To The Stars shows us ‘Bad Hollywood’ at its best. The Carousel and Maps To The Stars gives you the chance to win a $500 Westfield Gift Card or one of 25 DVDs of the movie by sharing your ‘Favourite Worst Red Carpet Look’ on Instagram with us.
Maps To The Stars is available from March 20th 2015 via iTunes and on Blu-Ray/DVD from 25th March 2015.
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