Women's Day: TV actresses who went through a drastic transformation for their characters

From grueling physical transformations which include hair-styling, makeup and even weight-gain, these actresses have gotten under the skin of their characters to mirror their emotional quotient and physical posturing for a sensational portrayal. On the occasion of Women's Day, let's take a look at some critically-lauded, award-winning and fan-favorite performances given by these stellar women who walked the extra mile for their roles.Breaking the boundaries and stunning the audiences with their dramatic transformations, these actresses have taken their performances to another level with their incredible skill and dedication to their craft.
Penelope Cruz for American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace
Penelope Cruz underwent a dramatic transformation for her role as Donatella Versace on Ryan Murphy's American Crime Story. The costume team's efforts perfectly capture the world of high fashion in the 90s along with it's grungier elements. Along with donning a blonde wig, she had to use a dental prosthetic to make her lips appear plumper. Ana Lozano carefully sifted through Donatella's old pictures to calibrate the smoky cat-eyes and sunken face. With Penelope Cruz's fabulous figure, it was not difficult to achieve the 'tiny waisted' look with a corset. The whole look was painstakingly woven together to achieve the glamorous designer’s powerful and iconic look. American Crime Story.
Mandy Moore for This is Us
For This is Us, Mandy plays two versions of the same character, namely an older and younger Rebecca. It takes four or five hours to put on the prosthetics to play the older version of Rebecca Pearson. The process includes adding sun damage, broken capillaries, freckles and veins onto her face. Depending on her outfit and styling, her arms, legs and chest also have to be stretched and stoppled. Her intense aging process was carefully executed since too many prosthetics don’t allow for the emotions of an actor to come through. In the end, the painstaking process is definitely worth it for the method actor who juggles between the 2 Rebeccas with the ease of a seasoned pro.
Courtney Cox for Friends

A fat suit and prosthetic mask created ‘Fat Monica’, an endearing rendition of our inner selves dancing with a donut in her hand. An overweight Monica Geller is employed as a recurring backstory in the show, with her character binge-eating junk food, suffering from low self-esteem and grudging the lack of attention from boys. In real life, Cox is he picture of poise on the carpet or during interviews, but she gives her sleek persona a backseat to do justice to the character that she’s playing. The 3 hours that she took to have her prosthetic makeup put on translated into the vivacious ‘Fat Monica’ who decided to channel her love for food in a different way by changing her lifestyle and taking up the mantle of a chef.
Susan Sarandon and Jessica Lange for Feud

The story of two Hollywood legends: Bette Davis and Joan Crawford has been perfectly showcased by Susan Sarandon and Jessica Lange in this Hollywood retro-glam Ryan Murphy series. To preserve their naturally expressive faces, the make-up artist decided to stick to contouring and playing with vintage colors to play up the era. From garish dresses to grotesque wigs, the actresses even had to take the help of voice coaches to master these actresses’ lilting accents. They both sat and listened to their interviews and watched their films as a part of the complicated research to play these divas. Ryan Murphy’s vision to transform the fued into a fiercely feminist touchstone has only been possible because of the lead actresses’ stalwart performances.