Winston Churchill was under terrible pressure to pursue a surrender of Britain to Nazi leader Adolph Hitler in May of 1940. (Today that's almost unthinkable, but it was very real at the time.) He chose - at terrible risk - to believe that they could defeat the Nazis and he committed Britain to continuing to resist assimilation.
Gary Oldman starred in "Darkest Hour" as Churchill (he received the Golden Globe award for Best Actor). He underwent hours of prosthetics and makeup every day, partly because (as he says here) it would have been unhealthy for him to put on 50-60 pounds for the part.
Above is Gary Oldman being himself on the left, and on the right is Gary being Winston Churchill. Quite a transformation.
Oldman is friends with Larry Arnn, president of Hillsdale College, and spoke there recently. He said he had the unforeseen advantage of going into makeup first, very early in the day, before other actors:
"I was ready and dressed as Churchill when the director arrived and the other actors for rehearsal. They never saw me as "Gary" for three months. They only met me as Winston. . .The background artists and extras and various people would line the corridor waiting to go on the set. I would emerge from the dressing room, made up completely as Churchill, and walk down that corridor. Some of the women curtsied; the men would come to attention and salute."
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