Like a second skin

INDONESIAN actor Nicholas Saptura looks dashing in most of his films. But in the Dain Said’s latest film Interchange, which opens in cinemas today, the actor appears as a sinister creature.
Nicholas had to undergo two to six hours of makeup, including putting on prosthetics, to achieve the animal-like look for his role. He is not the first ­actor to undergo such a drastic ­transformation.
Below are some Hollywood greats who had gone the extra mile for a film role.
► Christian Bale in The Machinist (2004)
The actor lost 38kg for his role. He originally wanted to lose 45kg, but was advised against it as it would endanger his health.
Bale’s diet consisted of one can of tuna and an apple a day. His 38kg weight loss is said to be a record for any actor for a film role.
► Robert De Niro in Raging Bull (1980)
To play the iconic boxer Jake LaMotta, De Niro trained with the legend himself and also fought in three different boxing matches in real life, in order to look convincing on screen.
To ­portray LaMotta’s later years, De Niro had to put on 27kg. The drastic weight change gave him rashes and breathing issues but he picked up the best actor Oscar for all his suffering.
► John Travolta in Hairspray (2007)
To play the hefty Edna Turnblad, ­Travolta wore a 14kg fat suit which caused him to sweat a lot, and ­underwent more than four hours of makeup. He also had to dance in heels.

► Curtis Jackson/50 Cent in All Things Fall Apart (2012)
To play a college football player struggling with cancer, the rapper had to drop 25kg.
To do that, he survived on a nine-week liquid diet, and worked out multiple times a day.
► Tom Cruise in Tropic Thunder (2008)
Cruise put his good looks aside to play overweight, ­middle-aged, and extremely potty-mouthed film ­producer Les ­Grossman.
He also donned a fat suit, large prosthetic hands, chest hair wig and a bald cap for his standout role.
► Ralph Fiennes in Harry ­Potter series (2005-2011)
To get into skin of Harry Potter’s ­nemesis Lord ­Voldemort, Fiennes shaved his head every day, wore fake ­fingernails, dentures and reptilian skin, and underwent a three-hour makeup session.
Children even burst into tears upon seeing him on set.
► Eddie Murphy in The Nutty Professor (1996)
Murphy played seven characters in the film, where he had to wear a fat suit made of polyurethane and spandex, oversized rubber hands, and latex bladders. The film won an Oscar for best makeup.
► Brad Pitt in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)
The handsome actor had to endure some five hours of makeup just to play Benjamin Button, an older man who gets younger as the years go by.
► Johnny Depp in Black Mass (2015)
No stranger to ­adopting a new look for his film roles, in Black Mass, Depp plays ­violent Boston mobster Whitey Bugler.
He was almost ­unrecognisable. His prosthetics included meticulous hair plugs, false eyebrows, stained teeth and extensive face makeup.
► Jared Leto in Chapter 27 (2008)
Leto had to gain over 30kg by ­eating unhealthy snacks for this role. His weight gain brought serious health issues, even landing him in a wheelchair.
► John Hurt in The Elephant Man (1980)
This black-and-white biopic ­centres on Joseph Merrick, a ­severely deformed man living in 19th century London. It was rumoured that Hurt’s prosthetic costume was modelled from actual casts of Merrick’s body.
The makeup took seven to eight hours to apply each day, and almost two hours to remove.
► Gary Oldman in Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992)
The makeup team transformed Oldman into various monsters so convincingly that the movie won an Oscar for best makeup.

Oldman even hired a singing coach to help him lower his voice so he could give Dracula a more sinister quality.