Can you name these actors who looked unrecognizable in their roles?

This '80s box office king and "Saturday Night Live" alum played several characters in this popular 1988 fish-out-of-water romantic comedy.

Murphy is recognizable when he's playing the protagonist in "Coming to America," a pampered African prince named Akeem. However, Murphy also portrays three other roles with the help of "Thriller" makeup artist Rick Baker: wise-talking barber Clarence, Prince-esque rocker Randy Watson, and an elderly Jewish man named Saul, a character that director John Landis said was a subversion of Jewish performers like Eddie Cantor and Al Jolson performing in Blackface.

Before snagging an Oscar nomination for playing a composer, this Academy Award-winning actress previously put her own spin on portraying an iconic rock-and-roller in an unconventional 2007 biopic.

One of six actors to portray Bob Dylan throughout his life, Blanchett played Jude Quinn, who was a personality of Dylan between 1965 and 1966. Donning a wig reminiscent of trademark tousled curls, the actress said a friend's advice to put a sock down her pants to play a man helped her get into character.

This actor played a real-life figure forced into circus work due to facial deformities in one of David Lynch's most memorable 1980s films.

To embody Joseph Merrick—a man forced into performing in a freak show who is now thought to have lived with a combination of Proteus syndrome and neurofibromatosis—actor John Hurt literally donned a costume fashioned from the plaster cast of the real-life body of the "Elephant Man."

As a result of working with prosthetics so closely associated with the real man, producer Jonathan Sanger later told iNews that "we really felt a deep connection to the character, much more than you would normally do in making a movie."

This Irish actor donned heavy prosthetics to bring the most recent rendition of this iconic comic book villain to the screen.

Michael Fontaine, Naomi Donne, and Michael Marino received an Oscar nomination for achievement in makeup and hairstyling for their work transforming Colin Farrell into Gotham crime boss the Penguin for "The Batman." To embody the role, Farrell went through a three-hour process involving silicone and a 10-pound suit designed to evoke old-school gangsters and the likeness of real-life penguins. Later, Farrell got back into costume to star in the critically acclaimed 2024 Max crime drama "The Penguin."

This famous pop diva donned a fake mustache and dowdy clothes to play a social worker in this Oscar-nominated drama.

To play welfare caseworker Ms. Weiss in the 2009 film "Precious," Mariah Carey went makeup-free, sported lank hair, rayon sweaters, and—most memorably—wore a faux sparse mustache applied to her upper lip.

"I had to lose all vanity," Carey told The Los Angeles Times. "I had to change my demeanor, my inside, layers of who I am, to become that woman."

This Academy Award-winning actress embodied characters of all ages and races in this decades-spanning 2012 sci-fi epic.

Berry plays a whopping six different characters in the Wachowskis' "Cloud Atlas," from a white aristocratic woman in the '30s at a party to an elderly Korean doctor in 2144 and a futuristic human with wires poking through her hair and face in 2346.

The actress brought these characters to life with the help of hair and makeup artists Daniel Parker and Jeremy Woodhead, undergoing upwards of eight hours of makeup application to disappear into the roles. However, her casting as a Korean man has received pushback as an example of yellowface.

This chameleonic English character actor plays a disfigured nemesis of one Hannibal Lector.

Oldman is utterly unrecognizable as the quadriplegic, facially disfigured rapist and Lector victim Mason Verger in Ridley Scott's 2001 film "Hannibal." It took five hours per day for makeup pro Greg Cannom and his team to transform the actor into Verger with recently invented translucent silicone, prosthetics, and makeup.

This frequent Wes Anderson collaborator became an old woman seeking first-class treatment in one of his more recent films.

Mark Coulier used silicone rubber to turn Tilda Swinton into the 84-year-old Madame D. in 2014's "The Grand Budapest Hotel." Anderson himself chimed in during the process, requesting that Swinton's character sport more liver spots.

These two brothers are virtually unrecognizable in this 2004 gender-swapping comedy.

The Wayans donned foam latex, acrylic paint, wigs, and contact lenses so painful Shawn once said "they should be the sh-- that they use … to get information out of al-Qaeda" to play FBI agents who transform from Black men into blonde, white women in order to investigate a case. According to makeup specialist Greg Cannom, the process took up to seven hours per day.

This silent film powerhouse brought one of the most iconic Universal monsters to life.

In addition to being an Old Hollywood star, Chaney was also a pioneer of early cinematic special effects makeup. In order to play the titular disfigured character at the center of 1925's "The Phantom of the Opera," the actor raised the contours of his cheeks with cotton and collodion, flattened his ears to his head, and attached prongs to a pair of rotting, false teeth.

This notorious method actor gained over 60 pounds to play John Lennon's assassin.

For his role in "Chapter 27," Leto gained 67 pounds to better resemble the killer's physique, and by the end of filming, was unable to walk to set on his own.

Although Leto later admitted doing so perhaps wasn't "the wisest choice," he told The Los Angeles Times that he chose to gain the weight because "as I started to research, I realized that the physical representation of this guy had so much to do with who he was."

This actor literally underwent a hairy transformation on-screen in this remake of another classic Universal monster movie.

According to VFX supervisor Steven Begg, turning Del Toro into the titular werewolf at the center of the 2010 film "The Wolfman" required a combination of CGI and practical effects makeup designed by Rick Baker and David Elsey. Although Begg maintains that the full werewolf look was "90 percent costume prosthetics," some wide shots required the VFX team to "replace human legs with dog legs."

This British actress played a talking ape in this early aughts remake of a sci-fi classic.

Bonham Carter once called the four-hour process of being turned into a talking chimpanzee—which included applying fake teeth, fake ears, and rubber furry hands—"cumbersome and crippling," but later admitted that these physical acting limitations helped her learn to use her voice alone to the "greatest extent possible" to convey her character's emotions.

This sitcom star went sewer-chic for this 1990s superhero film.

Inspired by "Batman Returns" director Tim Burton's penchant for Gothic visuals, DeVito's Penguin sports an exaggerated nose (inspired by makeup effects artist Stan Winston's previous work on "The Wiz"), glued-down eyebrows, false teeth marred by red and green food coloring, and a greasy hairpiece. When the Penguin's flippers were exposed, DeVito donned flesh-colored latex appendages.

Although this actress typically portrays bubbly and blonde characters, she sported a frumpy appearance in this beloved late '90s Spike Jonze film.

In order to play the lead character's wife in this cult-favorite comedy, Diaz donned a frizzy brown wig and brown contacts so convincing that some crew members didn't recognize her on set. She later received a Golden Globe nomination for her performance.

Widely regarded as one of the most influential actors of the 20th century, this Italian-American actor turned into a live-action cartoon character for this 1990 action comedy.

To turn Al Pacino into the eponymous gangster of the live-action "Dick Tracy" film, makeup artists Doug Drexler and John Caglione Jr. first made an impression of the actor's face, before smearing gelatinous dental alginate on the molds to create a "life mask" capturing every detail of his face. Then, they created foam rubber prosthetics to give him a bow-like upper lip, long nose, and cleft chin. Caglione told Pop Geeks that although they designed molds for hundreds of prosthetics for the film, Pacino was the only actor who wanted to be involved in creating his character's look.

This "When Harry Met Sally" star played a small but pivotal role in this children's fantasy film.

Crystal briefly appears in "The Princess Bride" as old healer Miracle Max, who helps the story's heroes when the swashbuckling Westley (Cary Elwes) is on the edge of death. The actor worked with makeup artist Peter Montagna—who he'd previously collaborated with on "Saturday Night Live"—to create the character, using reference photos of both his own grandmother and New York Yankees manager Casey Stengel.

This "Fatal Attraction" star had a brief cameo as a pirate in this Steven Spielberg family film.

Even if you catch Close's blink-and-you'll-miss-it cameo as the pirate Gutless in "Hook," you probably won't realize it's her without learning this piece of trivia beforehand. The actress sports a thoroughly convincing beard as the character, who Captain Hook (Dustin Hoffman) sends to the dreaded "boo box" for his lack of faith in the villain.

This young actor played a real-life teenager living with severe facial deformities in this acclaimed 1985 coming-of-age film.

Stoltz had his breakout role playing real-life California teen Rocky Dennis, who had facial deformities caused by craniodiaphyseal dysplasia. In order to create the effect on Stoltz's face, makeup designers Zoltan Elek and Michael Westmore created a "mask" made up of three pieces of foam latex, which were then combined with fake dentures and makeup on the actor. "Mask" went on to win the 1986 Oscar for Best Makeup.

This actor transformed to play an iconic baddie in the film adaptations of this beloved fantasy series. And yes, he appears to be missing a nose.

Because "Harry Potter" child actors like Daniel Radcliffe were only allowed to film for a set amount of hours each day, makeup artist Mark Coulier and his team had to cut Fiennes' Voldemort transformation process down to two hours per day. To create the effect, Coulier used eyebrow blockers on Fiennes' face, created spidery veins with temporary tattoos, and applied fake nails and teeth. However, the villain's iconic snakelike nose had to be digitally rendered later by the special effects team.

This A-list actor embarked on a transformation to portray an early aughts Republican vice president.

No stranger to shape-shifting for performances, Bale gained 40 pounds and donned a few prosthetics to play Dick Cheney in Adam McKay's 2018 political dramedy "Vice." As for the technique he used? The actor told Variety, "I'm just eating a lot of pies."

This "The Wire" star slowly turned into an alien in a recent installment of this popular sci-fi film franchise.

In "Star Trek Beyond," Elba plays a warlord named Krall, who starts off as a human before attempting to drain alien prisoners' genetic material to extend his life. The process doesn't work as intended, and Krall eventually becomes a mutated alien creature. This necessitated a number of different prosthetics and makeup looks drawn from aliens which were inspired by deep sea life and lizards. According to makeup team Joel Harlow and Richard Alonzo, applying his character's look took two hours each day.

This Aussie actress won an Oscar for her early aughts portrayal of a famous English writer.

To become Virginia Woolf in "The Hours," Kidman spent three hours each day in the makeup chair, much of which was dedicated to applying a large prosthetic nose reminiscent of the real-life author's.

"I did enjoy being anonymous," the actress told the SFGATE in 2002. "It was fun to be able to go out of my trailer and not have anyone know me."

This actress sported tattoos and piercings to portray the lead character in a David Fincher film based on a Swedish novel.

To become antisocial hacker Lisbeth Salander in David Fincher's 2011 film "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo," actress Rooney Mara worked out constantly and stuck to a strict diet. However, she told Entertainment Weekly that the most difficult part of the transformation for her was bleaching her eyebrows.

This "Batman" actor became a spooky trickster in a classic Burton film.

Keaton's turn as the mischievous spirit Beetlejuice is one of his most memorable roles, and Academy Award-winning makeup artist Ve Neill played a large role in designing his unforgettable look. As she told Yahoo News, Neill glued prosthetic swollen lips to Keaton's nose to create a makeshift broken nose, painted his skin with an "almost white" shade of yellow, and dyed his character's wig lime green. To top it off, she added crushed moss-like green foam from model kits to Beetlejuice's hair so he would look "like he crawled out from underneath a rock."