Behind every unforgettable film character is a complex process of costume and makeup design. While these iconic looks are celebrated, some celebrities found themselves grappling with discomfort and even disdain for their famous outfits. Let’s peer behind the curtain and discover the stars who had a love-hate relationship with the very costumes that made them famous.
Oscar Isaac as Apocalypse: ( X-Men)
The iconic Apocalypse costume weighed around 40 pounds and took close to two hours to put on. The actor was extremely uncomfortable as his visibility and mobility was limited. Oscar Isaac had to use a wheelchair to get around and couldn’t even interact with his co-stars.
Ron Perlman as Hellboy: (Hellboy)
Perlman as Hellboy are synonymous with one another and for both movies the actor spent 4 hours in the chair while heavy makeup and costumes were stuck onto his body. He had to put it on a total of 86 times for the first movie alone, which if you do the math, is a whopping 344 hours just used to suit up.
Paul Bettany as Vision: (The Avengers)
Paul’s time as Vision in the MCU was a huge success and fans loved his portrayal as the powerful android. It took the Londoner a gruesome 4 hours to suit up and required mental preparation because of the overwhelming claustrophobia. After long 7-8 hours of shooting he would rip it off almost immediately with a massive sigh of relief.
Jennifer Lawrence as Mystique: ( X-Men)
The incredibly detailed costume that was worn by Jennifer Lawrence in her time as an X man, took roughly 8 hours to slowly paint on. The iconic shapeshifter became one of the most recognized heroes all around the world. Besides the long process she also expressed that it was too revealing and left little to the imagination.
Rory McCann as the Hound: ( Game of Thrones)
The battle ready Hound that served the arrogant king Joffrey throughout the now famous Game of Thrones series. It took Rory McCann almost 4 hours for makeup artists to get all the scars onto the side of his face. The process worked well as many believed the scars were actually real.
Anthony Daniels as C3-PO: (Star Wars)
Anthony had a gruesome time with his role as the well loved Golden robot that appeared in many of the Star wars movies. It took the actor 2-3 hours to put it on and because of its design he couldn’t even sit down. He also filmed scenes in extremely hot conditions which must have been excruciatingly uncomfortable.
Doug Jones as Amphibian Man: (The Shape of Water)
This costume took around three hours to put on, and once on, actor Doug Jones had to wait up to 18 hours before he could relieve himself. It was extremely uncomfortable for him as he had to wear a cooling suit underneath which made it even heavier, but thankfully stopped him from fainting because of the heat. Despite this the talented actor did all his own underwater stunts and portrayed the character brilliantly throughout the movie.
Jim Carey as the Grinch: ( The Grinch)
The Grinch, a household classic, was brought to life by Jim Carrey. However, Carrey’s transformation into the Grinch was a torturous experience. His entire body was encased in suffocating prosthetics, causing unbearable itchiness and discomfort. He likened it to being buried alive and considered quitting the movie. Only after undergoing “torture training” to cope with claustrophobia did he find a way to endure the grueling process.
Robert Downey Junior as Iron man: (MCU)
The start of the entire Marvel universe movie franchise started with this man, when he debuted as Iron man in 2008. A decade and a half later the MCU is now worth an excess of $28 billion. However at the start Downey expressed the discomfort he felt while in the famous suit and he even admitted he has peed in it before. It was very hot and heavy so he was forced to wear a cooling vest in an attempt to prevent overheating.
Ralph Fiennes as Voldemort: ( Harry Potter)
Ralph Fiennes played the evil Voldemort in the famous Harry Potter franchise. After a 2 hour long process that involved shaving his head , covering his eyebrows and glueing a prosthetic nose on his face, actor Ralph Fiennes famously made a young boy cry on set when he laid eyes on the actor. He has said that he will never take a role that required him to put on special make up again because of the discomfort he felt.
Michelle Pfeiffer as Catwoman: (Batman Returns)
Michelle Pfeiffer was voted one of the sexiest actresses to play Catwoman in the movie’s many developments. However she had to fit into a skin tight almost suffocating latex costume to fully bring the role to life. She had to bathe in powder before she could fit in it and was air sealed inside it after she put it on. The actress would have to cut herself out if she wanted to relieve herself or even if she just wanted to breathe normally.
Gwyneth Paltrow as Rosemary: (Shallow Hal)
In this movie Gwyneth played an overweight young woman who falls in love with a man named Hal who is a bit shallow and can only see her for her weight. He then gets hypnotized into seeing her as slim and beautiful, setting the stage for the rest of the movie. Paltrow had to wear a 25-pound fat suit that included layer upon layer of plastic, foam and spandex. It was extremely uncomfortable and hard to put on.
Michael Jai White as Spawn: (Spawn)
Another 4 hour process that saw Michael Jai White dehydrated and tired after a combination of glue, latex, and heavy prosthetic were stuck onto his body before long hours of filming took place. Although this resulted (in my opinion) in an incredibly cool outfit, the actor expressed his discomfort with how heavy and hot it was.
Tim Curry as The Lord of Darkness: (Legend)
A terrifying transformation into a devil like creature ensured that Actor Tim Curry felt maximum discomfort while walking around the set every day. He would be covered in a cast that he could only get rid of after an hour-long bath. On top of that he had to wear a set of 60 pound horns on his head that made life even more difficult while filming.
Matthew Lewis as Neville: (Harry Potter)
The clumsy frog loving Neville Longbottom (actor Matthew Lewis), expressed how he felt while wearing a fat suit to portray his iconic character in the famous franchise Harry potter. He felt uncomfortable and observed as it wasn’t what he actually looked like. Nobody knew that he wore it and paired with his unflattering haircut wasn’t very popular with the girls on set.
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