The Ten Spot 1/2

10 Best Shape Shifting Performances

I'm not talking shape shifting like Mystique in the literal sense.  I'm talking about actors who physically altered themselves for the craft.  Bulked up, slimmed down, got fat, got skinny, got ugly... Any of the above.  The catch is that it has to be natural.  Prosthetics and heavy FX aren't allowed here otherwise we'd have NORBIT on the list and none of us want that.  So let's take a look at which performances transcended mere acting and went into a whole new realm...

10. Leonardo DiCaprio - WHAT'S EATING GILBERT GRAPE

It's one thing to act retarded (just as any cast member of "The Hills") but it's another to convince people you really are retarded. That was the response when Leonardo DiCpario (up until this point best known for "Growing Pains" and CRITTERS 3) pulled off with GILBERT GRAPE for which he was rewarded with his first Oscar nomination.

9. Benicio Del Toro - FEAR AND LOATHING IN LAS VEGAS

To play Dr. Gonzo (ne Oscar Zeta Acosta) in Terry Gilliam's FEAR AND LOATHING IN LAS VEGAS, Del Toro packed on the pounds (a reported weight gain of over 40lbs) by eating bags of donuts.  Keep that in mind the next time you have a Krispy Kreme.

8. Javier Bardem - NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN

It's not always about how drastic the transformation is, but how effective (notice Jared Leto in CHAPTER 27 is nowhere to be found).  While Bardem's look isn't as impressive as gaining 40lbs, what he did to become Anton Chigurh was nothing short of remarkable.  He gained weight and grew out that bob haircut that will still give people the heebie-jeebies when they see it.  It was so impressive it won Bardem his first Academy Award.

7. Cate Blanchett - I'M NOT THERE

Any time a woman convincingly plays a man in a movie, you deserve a spot on a list like this one.  You get extra points when you're a woman as beautiful as Cate Blanchett playing a man as famous (and not exactly beautiful) as Bob Dylan.  But Blanchett looked and sounded the part of Dylan in I'M NOT THERE earning her an Oscar nomination in the process.

6. Russell Crowe - THE INSIDER

Russell Crowe was cast as Jeffrey Wigand in Michael Mann's THE INSIDER despite the fact that Wigand was in his 50s and Crowe was in his thirties.  Crowe gained the weight, wore glasses and dyed his hair grey in order to look more like executive Wigand than the actor who a few short months later would begin filming GLADIATOR.  Premiere Magazine named it the 23rd best performance of all-time and Crowe was rewarded with an Oscar nomination.

See you in a bit with 5-1

Source: JoBlo.com