1. Naomi Grossman
Naomi Grossman is well-known by the fans of the TV show American Horror Story for playing the role of Pepper. Her character was so beloved that she was the first one to appear in two different seasons. Pepper, who is suffering from microcephaly, is sent to a mental asylum for a crime she didn’t commit in the second season, American Horror Story: Asylum. Pepper then appeared in the fourth season, American Horror Story: Freak Show, where we learn more about her story and past as she is performing in a circus freak show.
Naomi Grossman didn’t know she was auditioning for the role of Pepper. When they offered it to her, she discovered she would have to shave her head completely to play the role! It was worth it because Pepper was the role that helped her gain more opportunities in Hollywood.
2. Anne Hathaway
Anne Hathaway’s breakthrough role was in The Princess Diaries. She played the lead role of Mia Thermopolis, a clumsy young teenager who suddenly discovers she is royalty. She then goes through a serious and much-needed makeover that sees her losing her glasses and changing her hairstyle.
In 2012, Hathaway shot to stardom and was cast as Fantine in the on-screen adaptation of the musical, Les Misérables. In the musical based on Victor Hugo’s book, Fantine is one of the saddest characters and has a genuinely tragic life. Hathaway had to lose a lot of weight and cut her hair off for one of the scenes. She also had to sing, of course. She got rave reviews for her performance and ultimately won an Oscar for it!
3. Taryn Manning
When actress Taryn Manning was asked to play the role of Tiffany “Pennsatucky” Doggett in the Netflix series Orange Is the New Black, she was over the moon. She said she loved the concept and accepted it immediately when they offered the role. Tiffany Doggett, her character on the show, can only be described as a redneck (and proud of it).
The character Tiffany doesn’t have good looks or dental hygiene, mostly due to her drug addiction before being sent to jail. The beautiful Taryn Manning was already a well-known actress before the role of Tiffany. She acted in the series Sons of Anarchy and the movie 8 Mile.
4. Elisabeth Moss
Before she was the leading role in The Handmaid’s Tale, a lot of people knew Elisabeth Moss for her role as Peggy Olson on Mad Men. She was the secretary of Don Draper, the show’s main character. In the first season, she is frowned upon for her appearance in comparison to the other women. A lot of disparaging remarks are made both about her, and her choice of attire in the office.
In the beginning, the character of Peggy is both homely and innocent. Throughout the show, she became a real feminist who starts to denounce the double standards between women and men, not only in her firm, but also in society – which was quite brave to do in the sixties!
5. America Ferrera
America Ferrera’s breakthrough was when she got cast as Betty Suarez on Ugly Betty. Betty Suarez is an intelligent, talented, and ambitious woman, but doesn’t know much about fashion and has braces. In the show, her impeccable curriculum helps her to land a job at a famous fashion magazine, and we follow her as she tries to fit in in a world of frivolous people where everything is about appearance.
Ugly Betty made a star of America Ferrera. Still, a lot of people could only see her as the de-glam Betty Suarez. At the end of the show, Betty finally becomes the swan she was always supposed to be. People were impressed when they would see Ferrera on the red carpet because she looked nothing like her character.