Tom’s penchant for completely transforming into a film character hit its peak in 2008 when he starred as Les Grossman in Tropic Thunder, complete with a fat suit, a bald cap and large, prosthetic hands.
“He wanted to have big, thick forearms that were hairy…and he wanted to dance,” said his co-star, Ben Stiller, on Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend.
The role was instantly iconic and paved the way for his next major movie transformation in Digger, the 2026 dark comedy about an oil tycoon who tries to fix the global environmental catastrophe that he helped to create.
For the film, Tom transformed into an old man with gray, thinning hair, prosthetic teeth, a pot belly and wrinkles, making him entirely unrecognizable from his usual self.
“It’s everything. It’s the costume, it’s the hair, it’s the makeup, it’s the movement, it’s the voice, it’s the musicality of the character,” Tom said of the transformation at a press event.
“You’re gathering all these different elements… You’re constantly discovering who this person is.”
Read the full article here
