Is that Danny Dyer? Former Eastenders actor incognito in new television role - other actor transformations

He’s a far cry from the rough Eastenders character that led him to become a television star, but everyone’s favourite ‘ard man Danny Dyer couldn’t look more different if he tried. Images have emerged of the former Human Traffic actor, 45, with a mop of hair and a dubious-looking moustache as he filmed scenes for his upcoming Disney+ series, featuring David Tennant.

“Rivals” is based on the famous novel series, the Rutshire Chronicles, by author Jilly Cooper, who has called the county home for the last forty years and has been filming in a 16th century country house. The stories cover scandals in the world of show-jumping and polo playing in "numerous different sexually charged scenarios", with Disney+ adding the series will be a "raw exploration of a complicated moment in British history when class, race, sex, wealth and sexual liberation meant that, for the very privileged few, there were no limits to what they could achieve."

The behind-the-scenes images showed Tennant was in a rather formal outfit, very much in keeping with the novels, which are set in upper-class society of 1980s Britain. David was spotted in a bow tie, and accompanied by a large and comfortable looking puffer coat in-between scenes. Dyer however wasn’t quite as dapper looking, in a suit complete with open shirt, a mustache and a wig.

Speaking about her novels being picked up by the House of Mouse, author Jilly Cooper couldn’t believe her works were commissioned by the media giant: “I am so, so excited. Throughout my childhood, my favourite word was ‘Disney’, and by a miraculous coincidence, greater-than-ever Disney are joining forces with an utterly brilliant drama company, Happy Prince, to turn my novel into a TV series.”

"I know they will bring the boardroom battles and love triangles of my characters to life – particularly those of my devastatingly handsome hero. I cannot wait to see who will be stepping into his shoes…let the hunt for our Rupert Campbell-Black commence!”

Dyer’s unusual appearance, in contrast to his usually suave, Jack-the-Lad fashion sense when papped by cameras coming out of restaurants and bars, isn’t the most drastic of transformation though; spare a thought for these performers who went to great lengths to transform for their roles.

Brendan Fraser - The Whale

We’d be remiss not to congratulate Brendan Fraser once again for his well earned Academy Award win this month, but it was undergoing a gruelling routine of adding prosthetics to his build, which he already bulked up a little for, that led him to Oscar glory. 

In Darren Aronofsky’s The Whale, Brendan Fraser played a morbidly obese English teacher who tries to restore his relationship with his teenage daughter, played by Stranger Things’ actress Sadie Sink. He told members of the media in attendance at the Venice International Film Festival (via Variety), "I developed muscles I did not know I had. I even felt a sense of vertigo at the end of the day when all the appliances were removed; it was like stepping off the dock onto a boat in Venice.” 

“That [sense of] undulating. It gave me appreciation for those whose bodies are similar. You need to be an incredibly strong person, mentally and physically, to inhabit that physical being."

Christian Bale - Vice

We could have opted for the extreme lengths that Christian Bale shed weight for his role in 2004’s The Machinist, which saw the Pembrokeshire actor literally skin and bones, before packing on weight for his next role in Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight trilogy.

But instead, we’ve gone the opposite end of the scale (pun intended) and instead chosen Bale’s role as Dick Cheney in the Adam McKay movie Vice, released in 2018. The transformation was stunning, with Bale eerily capturing the voice of the former Vice Presidents and his idiosyncratic mannerisms. But it was the large weight gain and thinned hair that had people talking the most.

Bale gained 45 pounds, shaved his head, bleached his eyebrows and exercised to thicken his neck for his role as Cheney, which he said he achieved his hefty physique for the film by eating a lot of pies. He also had to study about heart-attack prevention, as part of his method - this approach actually ended up saving Adam McKay's life, as he suffered a heart attack during post-production.

Emma Thompson - Matilda the Musical

“I have played unpleasant people before, but as I’ve gotten older, I’ve had an opportunity to branch out into evil, which I’ve enjoyed very, very much,” Emma Thompson told Netflix regarding her role as Agatha Trunchbull in the 2022 film Matilda the Musical. 

“I was really scared because Bertie Carvel, who originated the part in the musical, was such a brilliant actor, and he’s big and tall,” Thompson continued. “So I thought, ‘Oh, I don’t know how I’m going to follow that.’ It was such a challenge, and I suppose that’s what drew me to it — the challenge of it.”

That transformation saw Thompson receive an extension of her chin, a brightening of her blood vessels, and a tight and severe cinch of her hair. Every day, she would arrive on set at 5 a.m., where she was greeted by a team of six people who laboured for two hours applying her prosthetics and getting her fully into costume. 

Robert De Niro - Raging Bull

One of the original moments of an extraordinary transformation that stunned cinema goers stems from Martin Scorsese’s celebrated 1980 film, Raging Bull. For his role, celebrated actor Robert De Niro had to bulk up and slim down to portray boxing great Jake LaMotta during the prime of his boxing career.

But the more head-turning transformation comes at the end of the film, when a retired LaMotta was reciting a monologue in front of a mirror before addressing patrons of his club. De Niro ballooned up by 60lbs (27.2 kg/just over 4 stones), which was a record at the time in terms of transformations for a movie role. That would subsequently be beaten by Vincent D’Onofrio for his role as Private Pyle in Stanley Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket seven years later.

Martin Scorsese was, at one stage, so startled by Robert De Niro's weight gain that he shut down production, fearing for the actor's health.

John Leguizamo - Spawn

The 5’6” comedian John Leguizamo’s transformation for the cult-classic Spawn in 1997 was so spectacular that you had to listen closely to his voice to recognise it was him (if you hadn’t read the VCR or DVD case.) Portraying Spawn’s nemesis, The Violator, Leguizamo not only had to donne a full body prosthetic to play the grotesque, clown faced character, but also had to don a hairpiece and false teeth to truly transform into Todd McFarlane’s nightmarish villain.John Leguizamo described wearing the fatsuit as "Like a penis wearing a condom," and in his final act playing the grotesque villain method acted out a scene by eating live waxworms on pizza for this film. He then vomited immediately after the take was wrapped, proving that suffering is all part of the art of method acting.