When you go and see a movie, the reason as to why may be due to some of the actors that are involved with the project. But there are also many movies where the actor gets upstaged by the makeup and special effects team. And nothing may make the actor feel more like being just one part of the big picture than having to start out every day by spending hours in the makeup chair.

A decision that may not be so bad if the actor goes on to win an Academy Award for their performance, as both Gary Oldman and Charlize Theron have done in the past. Even if we may have to tell you it was them in the role! There are also, sadly, actors like Michael Chiklis who did all he can to elevate the Fantastic Four movies with his role as The Thing, but the movies still were far from fantastic.

There are several actors, like Chiklis, who have taken on the characters that you are about to read about in multiple films. Which means that at least in that case they can say they knew what they were getting themselves into! It also meant that there are some cases like Jennifer Lawrence and her team who ended up cutting the process down from 8 hours to 3 hours for when she becomes Mystique. Though nobody would be able to blame these actors if they found themselves getting at least a little bit frustrated when the end of their workday also involves an extensive amount of work to get the makeup and prosthetics removed.

These are the 26 Actors Who Had Spent More Than 8 Hours In The Makeup Chair

Jim Carrey (How The Grinch Stole Christmas)

There is something special about getting to go and see a fantastic Christmas movie with the whole family. Jim Carrey helped deliver that experience in a big way when he completely transformed himself into the Grinch for the iconic Dr.Seuss story, How The Grinch Stole Christmas. It wasn't without some serious effort on the part of Jim though, as he reportedly spent around 8 hours every day transforming his body into that of The Grinch. That may be how long your entire shift is at work!

John Rhys-Davies (The Lord Of The Rings Franchise)

It's hard to say that the effort that went into the Lord of the Rings franchise was not well rewarded, as they ended up winning a remarkable 17 Academy Awards over the course of the three movies. The movie was definitely aided greatly by John Rhys-Davies who would spend at least 3 hours a day in the makeup chair getting things like his prosthetics added. His skin reacted to the prosthetic in such a way that Rhys-Davies also required a day off in between shooting.

(Source: IMDb)

Idris Elba (Star Trek: Beyond)

Idris Elba is definitely one of the best looking guys in Hollywood and I'm sure has definitely landed himself some opportunities as a result of that. Such as the fact that his name has popped up in the past as a potential future Mr. James Bond! But he disappeared so much for his role in Star Trek: Beyond, that you may have needed me to be the one to let you know that it was him who you were staring at! Elba's transformation took 4 hours.

Ralph Fiennes (The Harry Potter Franchise)

If you are afraid of how Ralph Fiennes looked when he was transformed into Lord Voldemort, you aren't alone. "Ralph genuinely scared me for a few years. I remember when I was 15 doing scenes with Ralph for the first time. He was even scarier than Alan was at first," said star Daniel Radcliffe in a past interview. I'm sure the makeup team that spent 2.5 hours with Fiennes was pleased to hear that their efforts at turning Fiennes into the most fearsome wizard to ever live was something that they were very successful in.

(Source: Hindustantimes)

Karen Gillan (Guardians of the Galaxy Franchise)

Karen Gillan first made headlines when she was very open and excited about the fact that she had to shave her head to land the role of Nebula in the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise. And while that process may have only taken a short amount of time, it was much longer to get into character every day. David White who worked as the special effects makeup artist on the first Guardians film said it took 4 hours and 15 minutes to put on her makeup, and another 30 to get it off.

(Source: BusinessInsider)

Brad Pitt (The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button) 

Brad Pitt knew he was going to have to spend some serious time in the makeup chair when he agreed to star in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button that features a man who goes through the aging process in reverse. Perhaps Pitt used the 5 hours it took in the makeup chair to make sure he got into character, as the movie is one of the best performances of his career and went on to make over $300 million at the box office.

(Source: Wiki)

Michael Chiklis (Fantastic Four Franchise) 

It's hard to argue for points in favor of the Fantastic Four franchise that starred Jessica Alba, Chris Evans, Michael Chiklis and Ioan Gruffudd. But Michael Chiklis was definitely committed to the role of The Thing, and for that, I will give him a lot of credit. The first time Chiklis donned the suit, it took 4.5 hours to apply, but the team ended up getting the process down to about two hours. Chiklis also had dentures that he wore. Making things even more uncomfortable, Chiklis also stated that the suit was unbelievably hot!

(Source: MovieWeb)

Dave Bautista (Guardians of the Galaxy Franchise) 

After the recent issues with Disney and James Gunn, it's very possible that Dave Bautista isn't going to want to be going anywhere near the Guardians of the Galaxy franchise anytime soon as he has vocally supported Gunn. And if his time playing Drax is coming to an end, perhaps one of the things that will make him feel better about it is that he probably won't have to spend as much time in the makeup chair for his next role, as Drax required 5 hours of Bautista's time to put together.

(Source: Variety)

John Travolta (Hairspray) 

John Travolta has taken on some risky roles in the past, but nothing has perhaps been quite as adventurous as when he decided to turn himself into a woman for the role Hairspray. Though, to be fair, Travolta is pretty fantastic in the role of Edna Turnblad which also gave him the opportunity, like Grease, to remind the world that he loves to sing! The process of having a fatsuit that added 30 pounds to Travolta as well as the makeup ended up taking 4 hours.

Steve Carell (Foxcatcher)

Steve Carell knew he looked nothing like he had in any other role when he took on the role of the real-life person (and murderer), John du Pont, in Foxcatcher. Carell even admitted that he had noticed a significant change in how people treated him,

"When I had all the stuff on and I looked that way, people tended to avoid me a little bit more. It was a bit off-putting, which was good...I think it was in great part because of the hair and makeup. It was a three-hour process in the morning"

(Source: Reuters)

Ron Perlman (Hellboy Franchise)

Ron Perlman may no longer be Hellboy, as the role is now going to be played David Harbour, but he played the character in two movies. Perlman had a phenomenal attitude towards the time it took to transform into Hellboy

"I always kept saying to myself, 'There’s a million guys that wish they were you right now and there’s absolutely no reason you should ever complain about the fact that it’s taking four hours to get on set. Because by the time you do get on set, you’re Hellboy.'”

(Source: Variety)

Zoe Saldana (Guardians of the Galaxy Franchise)

There are many different moving parts that go into making the Marvel films that you know and love. It was stated that back in 2014 that Marvel had employed 50 special effects and makeup artists, and you can imagine that number has only gone up with the budget! Zoe Saldana's transformation into the character of Gamora is helped by the fact that she does not have a ton of prosthetics added. That being said, she still doesn't get away without spending at least 2-3 hours in the makeup chair.

(Source: BusinessInsider)

Oscar Isaac (X-Men: Apocalypse)

Oscar Isaac perhaps knew that he was going to be unrecognizable in the role of Apocalypse when Evan Peters, who played the role of Quicksilver, remarked, "You were definitely freaked out when Oscar's there on set,"

When discussing the process, Isaac revealed that at the start of filming the makeup team was spending 4 hours to get the entire look put together. Thankfully, though, "By the end, we got it down to about an hour it took for them to put the makeup on," as well as I'm sure some extra time for the prosthetics.

(Source: USAToday)

Hugo Weaving (Captain America: The First Avenger)

Some actors on our list have been very open about the fact that they didn't mind having to spend some long hours in the makeup chair. That isn't the case for Hugo Weaving who was reportedly not super thrilled that it would take about 3.5 hours every day for him to transform into the Red Skull for Captain America: The First Avenger. Perhaps he feels better about the role in hindsight knowing how big of a deal it ended up being!

(Source: EmpireOnline)

Jennifer Lawrence (The X-Men Franchise)

There have been several different X-Men films, but the best of all of them may have been X-Men: Days of Future Past which scored 90% on RottenTomatoes. It was the 2nd in a rebooted franchise that sees Jennifer Lawrence play the role of Mystique. A transformation that she explained on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon that was not as easy as you may think,

“It used to take eight, which is lovely. Now it only takes three.” Let's hope they've cut the time down again for the upcoming film X-Men: Dark Phoenix.

(Source: BusinessInsider)

Jared Leto (Suicide Squad)

You would not be the only person out there who thinks that the best performance of the Joker came from Heath Ledger. But Jared Leto's willingness to spend at least a few hours in the makeup chair getting transformed into the Joker is still something that should be commended. Even if some of the aspects, like his tattoos, may have taken some time but ended up worsening the look of the character (at least in many people's eyes). Though I'm sure Leto was well aware of the makeup required when he signed on to play the Clown Prince of Crime.

Gary Oldman  (Darkest Hour)

Gary Oldman is not the only person on our list who also went on to win an Academy Award. But it was reported that he spent upwards of 200 hours in the makeup chair for the transformation, which may make him perhaps the most dedicated of any actor on our list. Despite being no stranger to prosthetics, as Oldman also takes up another entry on our list, this was still a seriously impressive feat but was clearly one that was necessary if people were going to be able to take him seriously in the transformation.

(Source: BBCAmerica)

Hugh Grant (Cloud Atlas)

When you think about Hugh Grant, you probably don't think about the words cannibal tribesman. You're probably instead, thinking about some of the fun romantic comedies that he has starred in over the years. But when he stepped on the set for Cloud Atlas he was determined to come away with a look that was nothing like anything you had ever seen him in before. While Grant didn't state how long the makeup required, you can imagine the amount of detail in his transformation meant plenty of early mornings in the chair.

Michael Rooker (Guardians of the Galaxy Franchise)

Michael Rooker is one of the many actors on our list who has benefitted from getting to appear in multiple movies. Which means that like others, the makeup team has learned some tricks to get him ready to go. Despite this, Rooker still said,

"We cut about an hour and a half out of it from the original. So now, it’s maybe two and a half hours," from start to finish. I'm sure having others on the set like Bautista who take longer is also an easy way to remind him not to complain.

(Source: HollywoodReporter)

Johnny Depp (Alice In Wonderland Series)

It's very possible that your favorite role of Johnny Depp is whenever he transforms into the swashbuckling character of Jack Sparrow. But the hours that it took to transform him into the Mad Hatter may be even more impressive, even if the movies probably aren't as amazing in your eyes! I'm sure the opportunity to work with Tim Burton again for the first one was more than enough to convince Depp to be willing to take the extra steps that were required of him to pull off the transformation.

Lee Pace (Guardians of the Galaxy)

You may admit that it may be more fun to be cast as one of the leading superheroes than villains in the Marvel universe. Especially because you are probably going to have a much longer shelf life! But I'm sure Lee Pace was just happy to get to join on for the ride when he got cast as the main antagonist in Guardians of the Galaxy. Even if it did mean having to spend a few hours every day to get his skin looking the perfect shade of blue for the screen!

Tom Cruise (Tropic Thunder)

If you were one of the millions of people who recently saw Tom Cruise in Mission Impossible: Fallout, you're well aware that he is looking as in-shape as ever. But Cruise upped the "ugly factor" in a big way when he wore a fat suit (not to mention seemingly a ton of prosthetics) for Tropic Thunder that took 4 days of testing just to get it right in the first place. You may not notice it, but Ben Stiller said that extra hair was also added to Cruise's arms and chest.

(Source: IMDb, NYTimes)

Gary Oldman (Hannibal)

You may not have gone to the theaters to see Gary Oldman in Hannibal, as he wasn't even  credited in the film, but Greg Cannom who worked on the makeup was surely happy about the end results,

"I knew we could get away with more with him than some other actor. The first thing he said was, 'Can we stretch my eye open?' No lips, no cheeks, no eyelids. "It's really disgusting." "I've been showing people pictures [of Oldman as Verger], and they all just say, 'Oh my God,' and walk away, which makes me very happy."

(Source: TheNewsMinute)

Tom Hardy (Fonzo)

Tom Hardy has not been open yet about how much time he has spent in the makeup chair to become Al Capone. But if you are like me and had to take a few minutes to recognize it was Hardy in this photo, then you can understand why Hardy had to be on this list.

Hardy will play Capone in the upcoming film, Fonzo that is behind directed by Josh Trank, whose recent directorial performance was in the disappointing recent Fantastic Four. Let's hope for Hardy's sake that Trank comes back with a stronger effort.

Neil Patrick Harris (A Series Of Unfortunate Events)

I'm sure that depending on what character Neil Patrick Harris donned for that two-episode arc of A Series of Unfortunate Events that the time in the makeup chair would differ. But anyone who watches the series is well aware of the different costumes and makeup (not to mention accents) that Harris brings to the series. While Netflix has struck out in the past with some of their shows, they definitely hit it out of the park with this adaption of the classic novels.

Charlize Theron (Monster)

While it's not clear how many hours Charlize Theron put into transforming herself into the serial killer Aileen Wuornos, to hide up her good looks must have taken a serious amount of effort and dedication from everyone involved. Though the fact that she took home an Academy Award for Best Actress later that year is perhaps proof enough that the hard work that went into the role was well rewarded. Theron also put on upwards of 30 pounds for the role, proving that perhaps the most dedication required for the role was in the kitchen.

(Source: IMDb)

Sources: TheThings, EbaumsWorld