Q

How Kazuhiro Tsuji transformed Gary Oldman into Winston Churchill for The Darkest Hour

Special effects makeup artist Kazuhiro Tsuji joined q's Tom Power to describe what it took to turn Gary Oldman into Winston Churchill on screen.
Kazuhiro Tsuji is the makeup and prosthetics artist who transformed Gary Oldman into Winston Churchill in The Darkest Hour. (Getty Images, YouTube/Screenshot)

Originally published on December 21, 2017

Kazuhiro Tsuji has had an incredible career in makeup and prosthetics for film. He turned Jim Carrey into the Grinch, Brad Pitt into Benjamin Button and he worked on Planet of the Apes, to name a few.

A few years ago, Tsuji became exhausted by the industry and took a step back to focus on one of his passions: sculpture. But he knew he had to make his return to Hollywood when Gary Oldman called and said he wouldn't accept the role of Winston Churchill in The Darkest Hour unless Tsuji was the one to transform him.

Tsuji joined q's Tom Power to look back on his career as well as some of the most memorable special effects makeup transformations he's been responsible for.

Kazuhiro Tsuji poses with a bust he created of makeup artist Dick Smith at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences on October 23, 2008 in Hollywood, California. (Stephen Shugerman/Getty Images)

Produced by Vanessa Nigro