History Main / BeautyInversion

** Don't forget the fat suit.

* BradPitt at his homeliest was in ''[=~12 Monkeys~=]'', I think -- didn't use prosthetics, but gave the character a lazy eye and unflattering hairstyle.

* Big Rhonda on ''[=~That '70s Show~=]''. The actress who plays her appeared out of costume in a flash forward once, and looked nothing like Big Rhonda.

* With certain comedians you get a reverse effect of this; Sacha Baron Cohen is known to most of the world through ''{{Borat}}'' so it's a bit of a surprise to see just how [[http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/brainiac/1189085314_best.jpg damn good looking he is]] out of character.
** He looks like Borat without the caterpillar, honestly.

* Quasi-aversion: Roseanne Barr was never going to be the sexy one in ''[[SheDevil She-Devil]]'', especially not next to MerylStreep, but Roseanne still wore a large fake mole to make absolutely sure.
* Cameron Diaz in ''BeingJohnMalkovich'' is a lot more plain-looking than usual.
* BradPitt at his homeliest was in ''[=~12 Monkeys~=]'', I think -- didn't use prosthetics, but gave the character crazy eyes and unflattering hairstyle.
** The crazy eye was in fact a contact lens - not exactly a prosthetic, perhaps...
* Gwyneth Paltrow in ''ShallowHal.'' When the movie got flak for casting such a thin woman as a heavy character, the director defended himself by noting that the concept called for her to be attractive through most of the movie -- Paltrow could fat up while a heavy actress could not thin down. The result is a movie littered with bad fat jokes... about the smoking hot Paltrow.
** BrookeShields in the same movie.

* Rooney Mara as Lisbeth Salander in the US remake of ''TheGirlWithTheDragonTattoo''. Contrary to [[HollywoodHomely usual expectations]] about Hollywood, she looks much more like a bad-news street person than Noomi Rapace did in the Swedish original.

* JohnnyDepp had his head shaved and wore huge glasses in Terry Gilliam's ''{{Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas}}''. BenicioDelToro just put up a lot of weight and a leatherman's moustache. They both looked quite unspectacular in result. But it was the brilliant acting that made them truly offputting.
* HeathLedger as the Joker in ''TheDarkKnight'', although YMMV
* JudeLaw played a slimy, gaunt, brown-toothed, heavily balding photographer/assassin in RoadToPerdition with [[spoiler: disfiguring facial scars in the end.]]

* In-universe, unusually justified example: In ''Passionella'' by Jules Feiffer, Passionella, having achieved success as a movie star, decides to make a more realistic movie where she plays a non-beautiful, unglamorous, chimney sweep--which is what she really is in the daytime, because she only transforms into a beautiful, glamorous movie star in the evening.

* The handsome, elegant Dame Judi Dench playing the haggard spinster Barbara Covett in ''Notes On A Scandal''

* SalmaHayek as Frida Kahlo in ''{{Frida}}''. To play Kahlo, Hayek shaved her upper lip and between her brows (instead of plucking them) to get the distinct unibrow and mustache shown in all her self-portraits.

* JohnnyDepp wore a balding cap (light blonde) and huge glasses in Terry Gilliam's ''{{Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas}}''. BenicioDelToro just put up a lot of weight and a leatherman's moustache. They both looked quite unspectacular in result. But it was the brilliant acting that made them truly offputting.

* Heath Ledger as the Joker in ''TheDarkKnight'', although YMMV

* Charlize Theron as Aileen Wuornos in ''Film/{{Monster}}''. The actress [[DyeingForYourArt gained between 25 and 30 pounds]], shaved her eyebrows, and wore prosthetic teeth. As such, she looked completely unrecognizable in character and got the Best Actress Oscar in a walk.

* Amy Sedaris is another comedian who is attractive in real life, yet prefers playing unattractive characters. The David Sedaris essay "Shiner Like A Diamond" noted how she is easily the most attractive member of the family, yet all her life she enjoyed hiding it under wigs and prosthetics. She has said in interviews as well that she's never comfortable doing straight-up sexy, she can't help but add some sort of goofy element to it.

* Johnny Depp wore a balding cap (light blonde) and huge glasses in Terry Gilliam's ''Fear and loathing in Las Vegas''. Benicio Del Toro just put up a lot of weight and a leatherman's moustache. They both looked quite unspectacular in result. But it was the brilliant acting that made them trully offputting.
* Heath Ledger as the Joker in TheDarkKnight, although YMMV

* Johny Depp wore a balding cap (light blonde) and huge glasses in Terry Gilliam's ''Fear and loathing in Las Vegas''. Benicio Del Toro just put up a lot of weight and a leatherman's moustache. They both looked quite unspectacular in result. But it was the brilliant acting that made them trully offputting.

* Helen Morgan in ''Applause''.

This trope was first mentioned in AdaptationalAttractiveness as an aversion of its parent trope: An actor or actress known for their physical beauty being altered by makeup and prosthetics to play an unattractive or even ugly character, usually as OscarBait. This doesn't cover really deformed or monstrous characters like Freddy Krueger or Quasimodo; that would be TheGrotesque.

See also DyeingForYourArt, which generally covers actors who change their appearance for their roles.

* Sharon Stone in AlphaDog.