A-Listers Get Ugly To Land Dream Roles

Breaking away from the beautiful Hollywood pack isn't easy but for these ladies, who managed to shed their perfectly plucked and primped visages, the results were frighteningly epic. Now hoping to jump on the ugly bandwagon is Gwyneth Paltrow who sheds her always flawless complexion and perfectly coifed bombshell locks for a less than flattering look in her forthcoming Steven Soderbergh film, "Contagion."

Like Charlize Theron who won the 2003 Best Actress Academy Award for her role in "Monster" and Nicole Kidman who did the same for her "The Hours" transformation, is getting ugly the key to sitting pretty when award season rolls around?

Check out Paltrow, Theron, Kidman, Christina Ricci, Cameron Diaz and Mariah Carey's breakthrough roles which had them bending the stereotypes of beauty and showing something much more significant than just a pretty face -- a stellar performance.

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Gwyneth Paltrow, "Contagion" (2011)

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Comments

[Virginia Shifflet]

02:07 AM on 08/21/2011

Yeah I have to say, I watched "Being John Malcovich" and kept looking at Cameron Diaz's character and trying to figure out who she was, where I'd seen her before. They did a GREAT job making her look different!

[Lindsay Smith85]

03:59 PM on 07/22/2011

Leaving Halle Berry in "Monster's Ball" off this list? Epic FAIL, HuffPo.

[XtfrM2]

07:38 AM on 07/22/2011

"The Hours" - that film was such an embarrassment.

[writeon1]

09:40 PM on 07/21/2011

Pretty subjective headline stating they are getting "ugly." http://newsy1.wordpress.com

[bunny10]

02:22 PM on 07/20/2011

She is a beautiful woman. The whole package. She is 5'11'' with a lovely figure, pretty face., intelligence and class.........Even without make up anyone can see her lovely features

[cpmavrick]

08:54 AM on 07/20/2011

Just goes to show ya, these "movie stars" can look pretty good with makeup and horrid without it. Men on the other hand, really don't care what we look like.

[mimidec67]

10:43 PM on 07/19/2011

Gwyneth is not a pretty woman even with makeup.She is ordinary at best.

[Lindsay Smith85]

04:00 PM on 07/22/2011

Agreed. I'd say she's below average.

[faultroy]

02:11 PM on 07/19/2011

Two points I want to make: 1) Notice they only picked one one gender--where is the male representation? 2) This is more about the celloid fraud image that we have come to accept from Hollywood as the new normal. Actresses are people that have Chameleon like qualities. With make up, they can look like a million bucks. That, combined with the plastic surgeries, gives them an incredible advantage over the average person. Which makes me wonder why people give actresses so much credence. It's all fake--even the things that they say. So why give them more power than they deserve?

[Donnie Ness]

01:42 PM on 07/19/2011

This isn't her getting ugly. She really looks like this.

[TMitch2011]

09:37 PM on 07/18/2011

How did Halle Berry and Monster's Ball NOT make this list? That's what she won her award for.

Berry's considered beautiful by most folks, and it took her to get "ugly" by H'Wood's standards (regular looking by everyday standards) for her to win that award.

So really, in the land of La-La (land of lies), you have to glam up to be noticed and get a career going, but just be yourself sans make-up to win awards. Talk about doublespeak!

And good point SmackyDoodle!

[Italo Babini]

08:11 PM on 07/18/2011

WHAT A WASTE OF TIME AND INTELLIGENCY.

[AngryHarpy]

04:19 AM on 07/19/2011

Ask yourself that I guess since intelligency is not a word.

[SmackyDoodle]

07:36 PM on 07/18/2011

All they did was not put their makeup on

[cmfrtblebbw]

06:20 PM on 07/18/2011

Noone's ever going to beat Charlize Theron for "Monster". The rest are still fluff, with rubber noses.

[markinmissouri]

08:59 PM on 07/23/2011

i totally agree. charlize is a beautiful woman. every time i see photos of her i CANNOT believe they made her look so bad. also an AWESOME performance. oscar well deserved.

[hohonu maluhia]

06:14 PM on 07/18/2011

Oh my gosh, the truth comes out - movie stars are regular people who have days when they look good and days when they look bad. I always thought part of being an exceptional star included the ability to transform your appearance with and without the benefit of the makeup artist. Being beautiful everyday is something that alludes most of us and even perpetuates eating disorders in young ladies who feel they have to live up to an unrealistic stereotype of beauty. These talented actresses are all beautifully talented and that's what makes me watch them, not how pretty they look on any given day.

[llh748]

05:33 PM on 07/18/2011

P.S. THEY DO NOT NEED TO HAVE A FLICK LIKE THIS. LIFE IS BAD ENUFF AS-IS.