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2021 was a big year for entertainment, and celebs pulled out their A game when making transformations for their latest roles. From prosthetics to wigs, weight gain and makeup, we rounded up the seven most dramatic and unrecognizable movie and TV transformations of this year that set the bar high for both award season and 2022.
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Jared Leto
Jared Leto starred as Paolo Gucci in Ridley Scott’s House of Gucci which premiered on November 24, and the 49-year-old actor looked completely unrecognizable in a large prosthetic nose, receding hairline, and visibly larger frame. Leto completed the transformation with a dramatic caricature of an Italian accent which has left fans divided, but it’s undeniable that the actor hardly looks like himself.
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Jennifer Lawrence
Jennifer Lawrence is known for her classic blonde locks, but the actress dabbled with a bright red shade in the new movie Don’t Look Up which will hit screens on December 10 with a limited theatrical release. With rave reviews already being made about the film, Lawrence’s evolution into the role of Kate Dibiasky looks eerily similar to the red hair she rocked in the X-Men franchise. This time, however, she doesn’t have bright blue skin to match.
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Nicole Kidman
Nicole Kidman transformed into the iconic Lucille Ball for her upcoming role in the film Being the Ricardos, and the actress hardly looks like herself in the teaser trailer and stills that have been released from set. Starring alongside Javier Bardem as Ball’s husband, Desi Arnaz, the pair make a convincing duo in the film which is set to hit theaters on December 10.
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Lindsay Lohan
Lindsay Lohan has made her official return to acting in the new untitled Netflix film set to air in 2022, but new stills from the film show Lohan looking much different–and significantly healthier–than her past self. With long auburn hair and a bright smile, Lohan has changed dramatically since her last big hit, Mean Girls, back in 2004.
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Emmy Rossum
Emmy Rossum may take the cake for biggest transformation for a role in 2021 after she was photographed on the set of her new TV series Angelyne in a sky-high blonde wig, prosthetic breasts, and an ultra-tiny mini dress. The show, which initially began filming in 2020 but was pushed back due to Covid, will star Rossum as the mysterious television personality who rose to fame in the 80’s from a series of large bulletin boards plastered around Hollywood.
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Jessica Chastain
Jessica Chastain also experimented with a blonde wig this year as she starred in the film The Eyes of Tammy Faye as the evangelical Tammy Faye Bakker. The movie was released in September and showed Chastain in prosthetics and a large blonde wig as she got into character as the beloved television personality, chronicling her marriage and career alongside morally questionable husband, Jim Bakker, played by Andrew Garfield.
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Lily James
Gearing up to play Pamela Anderson in the new Hulu series Pam & Tommy, James hardly looks like herself in voluptuous breast prosthetics, a blonde wig and colored contacts to play the busty Bay Watch icon. Starring alongside Sebastian Stan who also looks drastically different in his role as Tommy Lee Jones, the pair leaned into their respective parts for the limited series which is set to air in 2022.
