14 Actors Who Definitely Mastered the Art of Chameleon Transformation

Have you ever found your favorite actor in a new role and not recognized them?
Actors seem to be masters of transformation. Makeup and acting skills can help a lot to create a completely different character. Sometimes you may need to press the pause button and check the credits to make sure that you are watching the right guy. After all, a truly talented actor is able to portray any image and even temporarily embody the personality of the opposite gender.
Nicole Kidman, Michael Sheen, and Emma Thompson have all played fantastic characters, so which actors can you really not recognize from one role to the next?
Scroll down to see our list of 14 actors and actresses who definitely picked up the skill of chameleons and amaze us with their performances. Which transformation impresses you the most?

#1 Colin Firth

Source: © The Last Legion / Dino De Laurentiis Company and co-producers, © Kingsman: The Secret Service / Twentieth Century Fox and co-producers

Colin Firth plays both the Secret Service agent Harry Hart in Kingsman: The Secret Service  (2014) and the Roman commander Aurelius in The Last Legion (2007).

#2 Emma Thompson

Source: © Cruella / Walt Disney Pictures and co-producers, © Roald Dahl's Matilda the Musical / Netflix and co-producers

Her portrayal of Baroness Von Hellman, the haute couture fashion designer for Cruella (2021), and Miss Trunchbull, the strict principal of Matilda the Musical (2022) are both perfect!

#3 Gwendoline Christie

Source: © The Sandman / DC Comics and co-producers, © Wednesday / MGM Television and co-producers

Gwendoline Christie portrays Lucifer, the main adversary of the lord of the dream realm in The Sandman (2022), and Larissa Weems, the former headmaster of Nevermore Academy on Wednesday (2022).

#4 Jenna Ortega

Source: © Stuck in the Middle / Disney Channel and co-producers, © Wednesday / MGM Television and co-producers

We can watch Jenna Ortega develop from Harley Diaz, a teenager from a large family, in Stuck in the Middle (2016–2018), to Wednesday Addams, a cynical and blunt student at a special school in Wednesday Addams (2022).

#5 Jessica Chastain

Source: © Crimson Peak / Legendary Entertainment and co-producers, © The Help / DreamWorks and co-producers

Both the sister of the ancient estate’s owner, Lady Lucille Sharpe from Crimson Peak (2015), and Celia, the hapless housewife from The Help (2011) are beautiful!

#6 Jim Broadbent

Source: © Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince / Warner Bros. and co-producers, © Game of Thrones / HBO and co-producers

Both professor Slughorn from Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009), who is prudent and practical, and Ebrose, Citadel resident and one of the maesters' leaders in the television series Game of Thrones (2011–2019) are played by Jim Broadbent.

#7 Meryl Streep

Source: © Mamma Mia! / Universal Pictures and co-producers, © Florence Foster Jenkins / Pathé and co-producers

Mamma Mia! (2008) stars Meryl Streep as a hostess of a small inn with a very complicated personal life. Florence Foster Jenkins (2016) featured her as a socialite with no ear for music who decides to become an opera star. And of course, both were amazing!

#8 Michael Sheen

Source: © Underworld / Lakeshore Entertainment and co-producers, © Good Omens / Amazon Studios and co-producers

In Underworld (2003), Michael Sheen portrays Lucian, the werewolf rebel. In Good Omens (2019), he plays the angel Aziraphale, determined to stop the Apocalypse.

#9 Nicole Kidman

Source: © Big Little Lies / HBO and co-producers, © How to Talk to Girls at Parties / Cross City Sales and co-producers

In Big Little Lies, Nicole Kidman portrays Celeste, a mother of twins who has a tumultuous marriage (2017–2019).
In How to Talk to Girls at Parties (2017), she portrays Queen Boadicea, the leader of the London punk scene.

#10 Rhys Ifans

Source: © House of the Dragon / HBO and co-producers, © Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang / Universal Pictures and co-producers

Nanny McPhee and the Big Bang (2010) featured Rhys Ifans as the cowardly Uncle Phil, who was neck-deep in debt, and House of the Dragon (2022) featured him as the cunning knight Otto Hightower, who served as King Viserys Targaryen's Hand of the Court.

#11 Richard Roxburgh

Source: © Moulin Rouge! / Twentieth Century Fox and co-producers, © Van Helsing / Universal Pictures and co-producers

In Moulin Rouge! (2001), Richard Roxburgh plays a duke who dreams of winning the heart of the dancer Satine.
In Van Helsing (2004) he portrays the cunning and charming Count Dracula.

#12 Stanley Tucci

Source: © The Lovely Bones / Dreamworks Pictures and co-producers, © Jack the Giant Slayer / New Line Cinema and co-producers

In the 2009 film The Lovely Bones, Stanley Tucci plays the outlaw George Harvey. In the 2013 film Jack the Giant Slayer, he plays Lord Roderick, the King, and Princess Isabelle's fiancé advisor.

#13 Tilda Swinton

Source: © Suspiria / Frenesy Film Company and co-producers, © Three Thousand Years of Longing / Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and co-producers

Tilda Swinton portrays Dr. Jozef Klemperer, a psychiatrist, in Suspiria (2018) and Three Thousand Years of Longing (2022) stars her as Alithea Binnie, a literary scholar, and enthusiast for private conversations with the genie.

#14 Zendaya

Source: © The Greatest Showman / Bona Film Group and co-producers, © Dune: Part One / Warner Bros. and co-producers

We were surprised to see the lovely pink hair Anne Wheeler in The Greatest Showman (2017) transformed into Chani, the mysterious blue-eyed inhabitant of the planet Arrakis in Dune (2021).