The most famous female characters played by men

2024 Author: James Gerald | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 14:00

November 7 is the birthday of the legendary Soviet film actor Georgy Millyar. He played more than a hundred roles, but most of all he became famous for his participation in the productions of fairy tales - "Vasilisa the Beautiful", "Frost", "Fire, Water and Copper Pipes" - the friendship between Millyar and the director of fairy tales, Alexander Rowe, lasted more than 30 years. Especially popular in his performance was the image of the main Russian witch - Baba Yaga.

For a long time, the director could not decide who to entrust this image. Many women passed the audition, but in the end he realized that no woman can be truly ugly on screen. And he proposed an experiment to Millyar. He was inspired by a quarrelsome neighbor in a communal apartment.

Soon, the actor became so associated with this character that he received the name Yagi as a nickname. However, he did not at all correspond to the character of his heroine - he came from an intelligent family with French roots, Millyar knew French and German perfectly, was a real gentleman and had excellent manners.

But not only Millyar successfully embodied the character of the opposite sex. We decided to recall some more striking examples.

Alexander Kalyagin - Donna Rosa d'Alvadorez

The most striking domestic film "with disguises" - "Hello, I am your aunt!" The role of Aunt Rosa glorified Alexander Kalyagin, and it is not surprising: he plays brilliantly in this picture. A well-known fact: during the filming of the film, in order not to get out of the way, Alexander Kalyagin did not take off his heels even during the lunch break. True, in his book "Alexander Kalyagin" the actor admitted that he wore women's clothes not at all in order to better get used to the role … "The fact is that these breaks were short, and there were queues in the buffet," Kalyagin writes. - If you completely change your clothes: take off your stockings, cape, skirt, etc., you can stay hungry. This I have never allowed myself! So I took off … just the wig. They looked at the aunt with a bald head, to put it mildly, in surprise …"

Kalyagin borrowed the poses and gestures of Donna Rosa from his mother, aunts and girls, with whom he was ever in love. According to the actor, he really wanted to understand what these creatures feel in skirts, stockings and other details of the toilet.

Dustin Hoffman - Dorothy Michaels

The image of Dorothy Michaels can be called an example of a brilliant transformation: Dustin Hoffman played the heroine of the movie "Tootsie". In order to turn into a woman, the actor had to work hard. Firstly, Dustin seriously worked on pronunciation: in order to make his voice similar in timbre to a woman's, he began to speak with an accent inherent in southerners. Secondly, the actor learned to walk in heels for a long time: Dorothy's gait had to be light. Thirdly, so much makeup was applied to Hoffman's face every day that it could be knocked down with a crowbar. Fourthly, the actor had to shave his face and hands thoroughly every day so that the skin was smooth like a woman. False eyelashes and glued on nails were another torment for Dustin. He copied the facial expressions and gestures of his mother from memory so that the image came out more reliable.

John Travolta - Tracy Turnblood

In 2007, John Travolta played Edna Turnblad, the mother of the main character, a plump girl who dreams of becoming a dancer, in the musical Hairspray. The producers of the film had to persuade the Hollywood alpha male for a long time: a year and two months were spent on negotiations. As a result, John agreed to wear "breasts", an oversized woman's dress and a ridiculous tall wig. “I had to seriously struggle with my masculinity,” laughs Travolta. - As a result, I said to myself: "Johnny, the best thing you can do is to act in a movie. Your male ego should not stand in your way when it comes to a good role."The most difficult part was performing dance numbers in all this ridiculous outfit. And this is taking into account the fact that for this role I had to "put on weight" by a dozen kilograms."

The actor did not have to "gorge" on real excess weight: special belly pads and a soft spot helped. But how hot it was in all this! The game was worth the candle: for this role, Travolta was nominated for a Golden Globe as a supporting actor, and the film itself grossed $ 200 million worldwide.

Robin Williams - Mrs Doubtfire

In 1993, the movie "Mrs. Doubtfire" was released, in which Robin Williams played the role of the nanny of his own children. The plot is as follows: a father is separated from his children due to a divorce. He decides to disguise himself as a nanny and take a job in his own house so that he can see the children. Robin got used to the image so well that it is simply impossible to recognize him on the screen! But what's on the screen: once Robin decided to check the believability of his character and left the set as he was - in makeup, a wig and a lady's dress. Not only did not a single person recognize him as a star, so one compassionate guy also helped the artist cross the street! It took make-up artists 5 hours daily to transform a man into an elderly lady. This means that Robin had to get up 5 hours before filming - in fact, at night.