Nothing makes a heroine (or hero) quite like a physical transformation -- from ugly duckling to swan, from geek to chic, from fat man to Batman...and so on. You get the idea.
That's why the movie makeover is such a time-honored device for showing a character's development, often (but not always) accompanied by a montage of the plucky, waxing, fittings and grooming that usher him or her in the direction of greatness. Below, we round up 13 of our most favorite makeover moments, ever.
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Olivia Newton John in "Grease"
Sandy emerges as a leather-clad sexpot with a perm up to there, and the crowd goes wild.
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Jennifer Lawrence in "The Hunger Games"
In the first film from the franchise, Katniss starts as an un-coiffed huntress and finishes as the Girl on Fire.
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Rachael Leigh Cook in "She's All That"
This might be the one and only time in movie history when a makeover subject's "before" look involved a hat in the likeness of a falafel.
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Julia Roberts in "Pretty Woman"
Although some snide Rodeo Drive beyotches tried to prevent this makeover from happening, they could not, for it was destiny.
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Steve Carrel in "The 40-Year-Old Virgin"
Although Steve's character bailed halfway through being waxed (because Steve himself couldn't stand it), this was, nevertheless, a really excellent makeover scene.
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Emma Watson in "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire"
Hermione's transformation for the Yule Ball was early notice of Emma Watson's eventual "fashion icon" status.
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Anne Hathaway in "The Princess Diaries"
Permanent favorite.
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Anne Hathaway in "The Devil Wears Prada"
In fact, Anne Hathaway might be the de facto queen of the movie makeover scene.
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Anne Hathaway in... "Les Miserables"?
Yeah, yeah, so this scene was actually the opposite of a fun movie makeover, what with the tuberculosis and poverty and pulling of teeth and stuff. But let's not pretend that the super-short cropped haircut wasn't fabulous, okay.
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Brittany Murphy in "Clueless"
Before she called poor Cher "a virgin who can't drive," Tai was treated to a makeover that turned her from a grunge girl into a queen bee.
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Leonardo DiCaprio in "Titanic"
The second man on our list. Look who cleans up real nice, eh, Rose?
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Sandra Bullock in "Miss Congeniality"
So convincing, you could almost forget that Sandra is a total glamazon IRL.
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Lily James in "Cinderella"
THOSE SHOES DOE.
