This article was originally published on our site: beautyvsfashion.com
What’s the one most obvious trait of a movie villain? He looks beyond unattractive! The same goes for movie villainesses – actresses completely ditch their glamorous looks and turn into weird, monstrous characters. Most of the time we have no idea who’s hiding behind the crazy prosthetics makeup and weird clothes, but as you may have already guessed all those actors and actresses look quite different in real life.
It turns out that without all the horns, fangs, pointy ears, and bloodshed eyes all those villains turn into gorgeous ladies and gents. Here are some of the scariest movie villains who look absolutely stunning in real life.
20. Mystique (X-Men)
Mystique is a real bad girl and can cause unimaginable damage with her shapeshifting abilities. She may have blue skin and red hair in her original form, but most of the time she walks around looking like somebody else.
Who knows, maybe that’s why she turned to the dark side in the first place? People aren’t very fond of shapeshifters these days.
In real life, Jennifer Lawrence is a stunning beauty who looks like an angel with golden locks. She’s a gorgeous woman and we can only imagine how many hours she had to spend with a makeup artist to create this amazing blue look!
19. Harley Quinn
Looking at Harley Quinn is like looking at a female version of Joker. No wonder the two became a couple! Well, we all know that relationship didn’t end well, but Harley Quinn didn’t mourn for too long.
She soon became a member of the Suicide Squad and then went on a spectacular adventure of her own in Harley Quinn: Birds of Prey.
We can all admit that Harley is kind of cute (in a crazy and deadly way), but you’ll be stunned to see just how beautiful Margot Robbie is in real life. She is beyond gorgeous and looks nothing like Joker’s ex-girlfriend!
18. Lord Voldemort (Harry Potter)
The Dark Lord, played by Ralph Fiennes in the Harry Potter movie series, is definitely one of the most menacing villains we’ve ever seen. His deformed nose-less face is creepy beyond words!
Now it’s hard to imagine someone else in this role, but it turns out Ralph Fiennes didn’t want to take it at first. We could have easily lost one of the most memorable villains of all times!
Ralph Fiennes doesn’t look anything like He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named in real life. He’s a handsome man and his nose is fully intact!
17. Pennywise (IT)
Stephen King’s books can scare the life out of the most hardcore horror fans, and his movies are even more impressive! Pennywise is the main villain in the movie IT based on a Stephen King’s novel.
Dare we say it, he’s one of the most terrifying evil characters we’ve ever seen on screen! Clowns are creepy as they are and this one is probably the scariest version of a clown in the world.
Still, underneath all that makeup and a creepy costume there is a guy that looks totally divine. Seriously, Bill Skarsgård is a handsome man and even does fashion photoshoots in his spare time!
16. Hela (Thor: Ragnarok)
We have seen our fair share of female villains in the course of the last decade, but we must admit that Hela is one of the most stunning and vicious antagonists ever! She is smart, powerful, vengeful, and a Goddess of Death to top it all.
Yet underneath all that dark makeup and macabre clothes there is a stunning woman we have seen on screen numerous times. She’s almost impossible to recognize!
Yes, we’re talking about the beautiful Cate Blanchett. Many of you know her as Galadriel from The Lord of the Rings, but she has made numerous appearances on screen apart from that role. But she’s never looked so dark and evil in any of them!
15. Samara (The Ring)
Samara is one of the creepiest killer ghosts in the movie industry. Do you remember her terrifying moves? Well, it appears that no special effects were used to create them – all they needed was one particular woman named Bonnie Morgan!
So here’s the trick, Bonnie Morgan didn’t play the character in her human form, but she is the one hiding behind all that gory makeup and dark hair.
You’ll be surprised to find out that all her movies are totally natural! Bonnie Morgan is a professional contortionist, so she can perform all kinds of weird-looking moves without straining much. She’s the one who came up with that creepy crawling walk of Samara!
14. Brian Prince (The Predator)
Did you know that the Predator knows how to parkour? Well, not the Predator himself, but the actor who was cast to play him, dressed in a heavy suit with lots of movie makeup.
Meet Brian Prince, a pro stunt man, who can do all kinds of unimaginable tricks. He started off working for Walking Dead but was dreaming about going big with stunt work for movies. He sent a video of himself doing jumps, crazy runs, and air spins to the Predator’s stunt manager
Naturally, he was invited for a casting interview. He showcased what he could do and was hired to do stunt work for the movie.
13. Azog the Defiler (The Hobbit)
We can all remember the vicious-looking Azog the Defiler from The Hobbit trilogy. He’s one of the most stunning orcs we’ve ever seen on screen!
This protagonist was played by Manu Bennett and, as you can imagine, the actor looks nothing like the huge scary monster in real life.
You’d be surprised to find out that Manu Bennett spent close to no time filming with the actual cast! He was dressed in a special suit and performed all his movies with a green screen instead of an existing location and real actors.
12. Maleficent
Horns, pale skin, pointy cheek-bones, and a love for drama – this could only be Maleficent! This macabre fairy godmother from the Sleeping Beauty fairy-tale deserves a story of her own, and it was brilliantly depicted in the movie Maleficent.
This version of Maleficent may look dreary, but she has a soft side and actually means well most of the time. Still, she’s one of the darkest witches we’ve ever seen!
Beautiful Angelina Jolie played this character, ditching her glamorous dresses and chic hairstyles for the role. She’s the opposite of Maleficent in real life.
11. Captain Phasma (Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens)
Did we even see what Captain Phasma looks like under that heavy black helmet? Nope, that’s why it was so startling to find out who actually played the role.
Yes, it was our favourite Gwendoline Christie from Game of Thrones! She hit stardom after the famous show and went on starring in a bunch of movies, including Star Wars.
We had no idea Captain Phasma was a woman! Initially written as a male character, Captain Phasma ended up being the first female villain to appear in a Star Wars movie.
10. Ronan the Accuser (Guardians of the Galaxy)
Guardians of the Galaxy is an incredibly fun movie that introduced lots of amazing characters into the Marvel Universe. Apart from all the brave heroes, we got to meet Ronan the Accuser, a radical warlord driven to avenge his ancestors.
You might not know it, but Lee Pace was the one playing the character! Yes, the same sweet-looking Lee Pace, who played Thranduil in The Hobbit trilogy.
We can only admire the versatility of this actor – it seems he can pull off any role whatsoever! The actor had to spend numerous hours with the makeup artist to create the look, but it was all worth it. Ronan the Accuser looked absolutely cool!
9. Calypso (Pirates of the Caribbean)
What does an ancient sea goddess look like when trapped inside a human body? Apparently, she looks like Tia Dalma from Pirates of the Caribbean! Goddess Calypso used to roam the ocean freely causing havoc whenever she felt like it, so a bunch of pirates decided to imprison her in a human body.
Good plan, but it all went south when they realized they needed to unleash her chaos once again. That was the coolest part of the movie!
Tia Dalma, a dark voodoo witch, looked the part with her black teeth, ancient dreadlocks, and torn clothes. Yet underneath all that there was Naomie Harris, a truly gorgeous woman just playing the role.
8. The Red Queen (Alice in Wonderland)
Helena Bonham Carter is a beautiful woman, but you can hardly see that in the movie Alice in Wonderland. Playing the Red Queen, the actress had to put on creepy makeup and a crazy-looking red wig.
Her image was also altered in post-production to make her head look much bigger than her body. Otherwise, her character would have looked too normal!
In real life, Helena Bonham Carter likes to wear beautiful dresses and stays away from bright crazy colours. Her style is mostly chic and gothic with a hint of glamour.
7. Aileen Wuornos (Monster)
Looking at Aileen Wuornos it’s impossible to imagine that behind all that damaged hair, thin brows, and tattoos there hides a woman who looks absolutely striking in real life. Yet it is true!
Charlize Theron didn’t hold herself back preparing for the role. She gained around 30 pounds of extra weight, destroyed her hair, and spent hours with a makeup artist to create a dishevelled look of the criminal Aileen Wuornos.
Needless to say, all her efforts paid off and she got an Oscar for this amazing role. She must have spent months getting back into shape and returning to her gorgeous self!
6. Darth Maul (Star Wars: Episode I)
Whether you’re a fan of Star Wars or not, you probably have seen Darth Maul, the vicious Sith Lord from Star Wars: Episode I. He’s one of the coolest Sith villains we’ve ever seen, sporting a menacing makeup, horns, and cool fighting skills.
Darth Maul was played by Ray Park, who was only 22 at the time. The actor went through an intense course of training, spending more than 10 hours every day learning martial arts.
Needless to say, his training paid off and we ended up with a cool-looking villain with a red light-sabre. In real life, Ray Park looks totally normal!
5. Armando Salazar (Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales)
We are all pretty used to creepy-looking villains and all kinds of zombies in movies, still, we weren’t prepared for the creepiness presented to us in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales.
Armando Salazar, captain of the cursed ship, wasn’t just your typical undead – he was vicious and evil enough to survive the curse that turned him and his crew into a bunch of zombies. Despite all that he continued hunting pirates in his new creepy form.
Well, in real life Javier Bardem is a really handsome man with loads of charisma. You might not recognize him without all the creepy makeup and special effects, though.
4. Nun (The Nun)
Creating a scary character takes lots of time and effort in the makeup department. Actors and actresses spend hours sitting in a chair to transform into a villain.
Yet, this wasn’t really the case with the nun from the movie with the same name. Apparently, it took Bonnie Aarons about an hour and a half to change from a gorgeous woman into a creepy-looking monster.
The actress admitted that she loved every minute of it. She even walked around the set and scared the bejeezus out of her co-stars! Perhaps she liked it a bit too much?
3. Bellatrix Lestrange (Harry Potter)
Bellatrix Lestrange is one of the most devoted followers of Voldemort in the Harry Potter movie series. She’s so passionate to serve him that she would do literally anything for the Dark Lord.
She was imprisoned in Azkaban for her crimes, but still managed to get out and cause more chaos than anyone could imagine.
We all know who is hiding behind that crazy dark look – none other than Helena Bonham Carter herself. She’s famous for her exquisite gothic style, but still, she looks much more beautiful in real life.
2. Doctor Poison (Wonder Woman)
It’s not often we get to see a cool female villain in a movie – that’s why it was a welcome change to meet Doctor Poison in Wonder Woman.
She might not be the scariest antagonist we’ve ever seen, but her character is a real villain! Doctor Poison wears a mask covering half of her face to hide the disfigurement she got after an experiment gone wrong.
Elena Anaya portrayed this conflicted character and had to endure a number of hardships herself, too. It turns out the mask didn’t just stay on her face – it was glued to it! She had to wear it off-screen, too, waiting for it to fall off.
1. Borg Queen (Star Trek: First Contact)
If you’re one of the Trekkies, you know very well who the Borg Queen is and what she is capable of. Well, even if you don’t, we can assure you that it is a vicious alien, who will stop at nothing to save her kind.
She even went back in time trying to destroy our homeworld, the Earth. Luckily, the Enterprise followed her and saved the day.
It’s really hard to imagine that behind all that prosthetics makeup there hides a beautiful woman who looks nothing like an alien she played. Yet that’s true! Alice Krige is a stunning actress who can outshine everyone at the Red Carpet.
