Genuine Ugly Duckling Transformations in Movies

[bubastis]

Not in the "She's all That", beautiful girl-wearing-glasses style. That really boils me. can anyone suggest any movies where a really, truly plain looking girl is transformed into a beauty? Best I can suggest is Carrie.

[audiobottle]

The Princess Diaries actually manages to make the girl go from frumpy, not-a-second-glance, into a very attractive girl.

Please don't tell my friends I've seen it. Or that I rented it from Netflix. Or that I rented the second one too (which was not as good, mainly because of that stupid birthday party scene).

[monica]

Didn't Jawbreaker do that?

[Hey, It's That Guy!]

Originally Posted by monica

Didn't Jawbreaker do that?

But that was Judy Greer, who was hot to begin with, just dressed sort of frumpy and acted mousy before her "makeover."

[Fern Forest]

"Love Potion No. 9" was pretty effective as I recall with Sandra Bullock.

[Flander]

I don't have any have any examples relating to the OP, I just wanted to request, if possible, a before and after photo of any examples given.

[ENugent]

Although glasses did figure into it, I think that My Big Fat Greek Wedding had a real transformation of the heroine (mostly in the very beginning of the movie).

[panamajack]

Drew Barrymore did at least a halfway decent job of trying to look unattractive in Never Been Kissed (I think that was it. She gets left at the door by her prom date or something.)

[Otto]

The classic of the genre is Now, Voyager. Bette Davis goes from a plain neurotic wallflower to a vital attractive woman. Bette Davis was never a classic beauty but the transformation is quite good.

Davis had another transformative role in Pocketful of Miracles, in which she goes from a blowsy drunken apple seller to looking like a Lady For A Day (which is the name of the original version of the story, with May Robson in the part). If one wanted to contort the definition beyond all reason, one could include Davis's final film, Wicked Stepmother, in which her character magically transforms into Barbara Carrera.

[John Carter of Mars]

My all-time "most impressive" in this area is Talia Shire's performance as Adrian in the first Rocky movie.
She starts off as a plain, shy and socially inept girl. By the movie's end she is attractive, well dressed and confident. This aspect of Rocky never gets much mention, but I think it's one of the movie's main accomplishments.

[kaylasdad99]

According to the MAD Magazine parody of Love Story, the sicker Ali McGraw's character got, the more attractive she became.

[MrDibble]

I think Toni Collete in Muriel's Wedding certainly qualifies.
flander , do your own Googling.

[Dan Norder]

Originally Posted by monica

Didn't Jawbreaker do that?

One of the major reasons I didn't like that movie is that the "after" in the before and after of that girl was just hideous. I couldn't believe anyone would take that character seriously as a cool, attractive girl.

[Fortean]

There’s also Maggie Gyllenhaal in Secretary. She goes from a cardie-hugging, shy introvert to a short-skirted, high heeled sex bomb – and all through the powers of S&M!

[GuanoLad]

I've always thought Jamie Lee Curtis's brief transformation scene in True Lies was very well done.

[Maastricht]

The 1995 movie Sabrina comes to mind. Actress Julia Ormond at the start of the movie looks plain, wearing dresses and having really long hair, in a sweet but dull manner. I was a bit worried when I saw that, because I still feel pretty in dresses and long hair. Maybe I look like the before Julia pic without knowing. Our ideas of pretty sometimes can overshadow what really suits us best.

[C K Dexter Haven]

Damn, Otto beat me to it. POCKETFUL OF MIRACLES is the most incredible character change imaginable, Davis is amazing. The whole movie, of course, is one of the most soppy-sweet things you can imagine. I love it.

[Robot Arm]

The Girl Most Likely To...

Stockard Channing plays an overweight, frumpy woman who has a disfiguring car accident, undergoes cosmetic surgery, and comes out of it a babe. She then sets out to get revenge on all the guys who mistreated her before.

And it just came out on DVD about a month ago.

[Beadalin]

It might depend on what you think of her looks to begin with, but I thought Brittany Muprhy's transformation/makeover in Clueless was pretty dramatic.

[FriarTed]

Originally Posted by Fortean

There’s also Maggie Gyllenhaal in Secretary. She goes from a cardie-hugging, shy introvert to a short-skirted, high heeled sex bomb – and all through the powers of S&M!

My god, Yes! Even her scars were sexy!

[FriarTed]

The original LIFE AND LOVES OF A SHE-DEVIL is the most radical Ugly Duckling transformation I've seen.

[Elendil's Heir]

Originally Posted by Fortean

There’s also Maggie Gyllenhaal in Secretary. She goes from a cardie-hugging, shy introvert to a short-skirted, high heeled sex bomb – and all through the powers of S&M!

Why would she be hugging Cardassians? Although, come to think of it... I could easily believe that, as a society, they're really into S&M.

[Zebra]

Strickly Ballroom has a well done one.

Dirty Dancing is supposed to be one but she has the same level of attractivenss for me through the entire movie.

[Zebra]

Oh and My Fair Lady, of course.

[Alias]

Cher in Moonstruck goes from a tired-looking Italian widow with graying hair and a pretty dull wardrobe to. . .well, Cher. Tada!

[Maastricht]

Bette Davis and Cher (from the movies mentioned) both are women with strong features, who can look ugly or amazing depending on how you depict them.

It would be really hard to do such a transformation on Julia Roberts or Michelle Pfeiffer.

How about the opposite: beauty Charlize Theoron as truly plain-looking woman in "Monster"? Or the stunning Johnny Depp, his thick hair shaved into male pattern baldness, in the movie "Fear and loathing in Las Vegas"?

[Maastricht]

Originally Posted by Maastricht

How about the opposite: beauty Charlize Theoron as truly plain-looking woman in "Monster"? Or the stunning Johnny Depp, his thick hair shaved into male pattern baldness, in the movie "Fear and loathing in Las Vegas"?

Or recently, Cameron Diaz as mousy woman in being John Malcovich.

[Ethilrist]

Originally Posted by William V.

Why would she be hugging Cardassians? Although, come to think of it... I could easily believe that, as a society, they're really into S&M.

Speaking of Star Trek, there's 7 of 9's transformation...

[Feydeau]

Originally Posted by Alias

Cher in Moonstruck goes from a tired-looking Italian widow with graying hair and a pretty dull wardrobe to. . .well, Cher. Tada!

I'll have to watch Moonstruck again. She was a widow?

[Otto]

Originally Posted by Feydeau

I'll have to watch Moonstruck again. She was a widow?

IIRC she married her first husband for love and he died tragically, which fed into the whole bit with Olympia Dukakis telling her not to love the man she marries or marry the man she loves because it will only lead to misery. I seem to recall something about Loretta's having "bad luck" with men as well but it's been ages since I've seen it.

As for the reverse transformations, the examples given don't apply since they are not transformations of the character within the course of the film from beautiful to ugly. An actual example would be Bette Davis in Mr. Skeffington who went from a beautiful young woman to an ugly old woman over the course of the story. Not to imply that old people are inherently ugly, but there are a lot of examples of attractive actors being aged through makeup with the result of being...not so attractive.

[Ethilrist]

And one for the ladies: Jerry Lewis in The Nutty Professor.

[GuanoLad]

Clark Kent into Superman

[Otto]

Originally Posted by GuanoLad

Clark Kent into Superman

Which would be a terrific example of the "glasses equals ugly" trope that the OP specifically didn't want.

Oh, and yet another Bette Davis example, involving the end of a film so despite its being 40 years old I'll spoiler it:

SPOILER:

In What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? Davis caked on her makeup every day, layering it new without washing off the old in imitation of what starlets in the earliest days of Hollywood supposedly did. She looks old, worn, lined and hideous. In the final sequence, when she's dancing on the beach, there's a near-complete transformation and she looks almost completely unwrinkled. Davis always claimed that it was completely from within. But there has been speculation that she had her makeup redone over the day's lunch break, that she had a "mini-facelift" with tape to pull her skin taut or that the lighting was redone so as to burn the wrinkles out.

[Bryan Ekers]

In Loaded Weapon 1, Allyce Beasley asks "Can I change before we go?" She leans forward to unravel her hairbun and when she leans back, she's Kathy Ireland.

The film is also notable for being the only non-Trek film to feature William Shatner and James Doohan.

[Cervaise]

Originally Posted by Zebra

Strickly Ballroom has a well done one.

This was going to be my nomination.

(Apropos of nothing, Exit to Eden has been in heavy rotation on the crap movie channels lately. Did that movie kill Paul Mercurio's career dead or what?)

[GuanoLad]

Originally Posted by Otto

Which would be a terrific example of the "glasses equals ugly" trope that the OP specifically didn't want.

I was talking more about how Christopher Reeve's portrayal of Clark was so markedly different to his Superman, but even so, I knew it wasn't really what was looked for.

[Flander]

Originally Posted by MrDibble

flander , do your own Googling.

Meh, too much effort.

BTW, this reminded me of an old movie I saw in school about a man who made a deal with the devil where he couldn't wash or groom himself for 7 years in order to get a girl (I think). If I remember, it was a pretty decent transformation. Anyone know the movie?

[DocCathode]

Originally Posted by Flander

Meh, too much effort.

BTW, this reminded me of an old movie I saw in school about a man who made a deal with the devil where he couldn't wash or groom himself for 7 years in order to get a girl (I think). If I remember, it was a pretty decent transformation. Anyone know the movie?

That sounds like a version of the folktale The Dirty Old Soldier. IIRC the story is from Russia. In the eighties a version was filmed as an episode of (title may be off) Fairy Tale Theatre. The soldier's deal with the devil is actually that he gets a very large amount of money if he agrees not to wash, comb his hair, trim his nails, or even wipe his nose for seven years. He gets some money upfront and there are other conditions.

If the film you saw had an opening sequence featuring an animated minstrel changing clothing styles as he sung about his name in different countries (OTTOMH 'In Germany, I'm Yohann. In Sweden, I am Yann. In Russia, I am Ivan. In America, I'm John!') It was Fairy Tale Theatre.

[Cardinal]

Originally Posted by Fern Forest

"Love Potion No. 9" was pretty effective as I recall with Sandra Bullock.

Yeah it was, but they "cheated" by giving her a bad tooth gap before the potion. That's not a makeover, that's serious cosmetic dentistry.

I have a student with little, gapped teeth the like of which I've never seen before, and it's got an effect, unfortunately.

[Otto]

Originally Posted by Cervaise

(Apropos of nothing, Exit to Eden has been in heavy rotation on the crap movie channels lately. Did that movie kill Paul Mercurio's career dead or what?)

Nope. Most of his credits after that, though, seem to be from Australia.

[Dangerosa]

Sandra Bullock does it a second time in Miss Congenality - I love the "eyebrows, there should be two" line.

[bubastis]

Originally Posted by DocCathode

If the film you saw had an opening sequence featuring an animated minstrel changing clothing styles as he sung about his name in different countries (OTTOMH 'In Germany, I'm Yohann. In Sweden, I am Yann. In Russia, I am Ivan. In America, I'm John!') It was Fairy Tale Theatre.

Holy crap! I used to watch that show! I always thought I'd dreamt it. This is all getting a bit too real.

[Spectre of Pithecanthropus]

Originally Posted by Otto

Which would be a terrific example of the "glasses equals ugly" trope that the OP specifically didn't want.

Not really, because Clark Kent is just supposed to be working as a reporter who wears glasses. I never got the impression that he was supposed to be ugly per se, on account of the glasses.

[Seren]

Originally Posted by Dangerosa

Sandra Bullock does it a second time in Miss Congenality - I love the "eyebrows, there should be two" line.

Wasn't that in A League of Their Own? Which also had a few transformations, but the girls were almost all pretty to start with and Marla's makeover wasn't that amazing.

[Don Draper]

You can see my personal favorite "ugly-duckling-takes-off-her-glasses-and-beccomes-a-smokin'-hot-babe!" scene right here.

[Otto]

Originally Posted by Spectre of Pithecanthropus

Not really, because Clark Kent is just supposed to be working as a reporter who wears glasses. I never got the impression that he was supposed to be ugly per se, on account of the glasses.

This is stupid and I have already allowed it to consume far too much of my life.

[Ethilrist]

Originally Posted by Art Vandelay, Architect

You can see my personal favorite "ugly-duckling-takes-off-her-glasses-and-beccomes-a-smokin'-hot-babe!" scene right here.

I'm partial to Bailey Quarters taking off her glasses and coming on to Johnny Fever, myself, but she's kinda smokin' hot with the glasses on, so I guess that doesn't really count...

I'll be in my bunk...

[elfkin477]

This is cheating a little since the transformation takes place over two movies, but they changed Rachel Weisz from bookish to beauty in such a dramatic way in the Mummy movies, that I was over 1/2 way through The Mummy Returns before I was sure it was the same actress.