15 Film Stars You Couldn’t Recognize In Films

Have you ever seen a film where the main character is in full dress up mode and you have no idea who they are?

Sometimes those kinds of films crop up where the star is so disguised that we don’t even recognize them; think of Robert Downey Jr in comedy classic Tropic Thunder and you’re on the right track. Here are 15 film stars that you never knew were in disguise in films that have reached “classic” status.

1. Ron Pearlman: Hellboy

The famous face of FX’s Sons of Anarchy can tip his hat to many Hollywood accomplishments, but did you know that he played the feisty demon Hellboy?

As an actor who had only three leading roles in his carrier, Perlman is likely to be remembered for the comic book character he played. Perlman succeeded in making the not so popular and somewhat obscure comic book anti-hero into an immensely popular movie with sequels.

Ron was the director’s praised choice for the role of Daredevil, as he was physically fit enough for the role. As most actors usually gain or lose some muscular mass for their roles, it is a rare occurrence with the older generation of actors – he was born in 1950.

Being over six feet tall, with a deep, rolling voice, strong jaw line, bold blue eyes, long chin and sturdy appearance, along with the fact the has been taking a lot of roles as non-human or somewhat physically deformed, helped him land the job in this movie. He appeared as non-human in films such as Amoukar in Quest for Fire (1981), Salvatore in The Name of the Rose (1986), Vincent in Beauty and the Beast (1987), Sayer of the Law in The Island of Dr. Moreau (1996), Reinhardt (a vampire) in Blade II (2002), the Reman Viceroy in Star Trek: Nemesis (2002), and Hellboy in Hellboy (2004).

His friend, Guillermo del Toro frequently gives him roles in his films. Perlman describes that the choices he made in his carrier were defined by the way he was born “I was not dealt the best physical hand in the world. My nose didn’t fit my mouth. My forehead didn’t fit my cheeks. And those are traditionally the years when a boy is judged primarily on his looks. So, consequently, I suffered from very low self-esteem. In a sense, I had a beast inside me. That beast was fear and insecurity.”