Nicole Kidman, Cillian Murphy, Christian Bale & More of the Biggest Oscars Transformations
For Nicole Kidman, becoming Virginia Woolf was practically magic.
As the actress prepared to take the screen for 2002’s The Hours, she learned everything she could about the late novelist—from the way she rolled her own cigarettes to writing with her right hand.
“I felt myself opening up,” she told The San Francisco Chronicle at the time. “I’ve always had a lot of things bubbling inside of me, but for whatever reason, I didn’t allow them to come out. At the moment, I am willing to expose myself and give, like, blood.”
She embodied the Mrs. Dalloway author’s mannerisms and accent—and then her looks. And it proved fruitful, as she took home the Best Actress award at the 2003 Oscars. Along with a prosthetic nose, Nicole swapped out her curly red tresses for lived-in brown locks and became a completely different person.
“I did enjoy being anonymous,” she quipped. “It was fun to be able to go out of my trailer and not have anyone know me.”
