If you didn’t recognize Emmy Rossum in Angelyne, you’re not alone.
The 35-year-old actress is nearly unrecognizable in the Peacock series, which chronicles the real-life story of pop culture icon Angelyne, the mysterious blonde who dominated Los Angeles billboards in the ’80s. Rossum revealed to E! News that transforming into the billboard queen required major makeup magic and some strategic prosthetics.
“It’s all prosthetics,” she explained about recreating Angelyne’s signature figure. To achieve the star’s famous bust, Rossum donned a 3-pound breastplate that was glued to her torso. The heavy, fake chest piece even gave her blisters, she told The Hollywood Reporter. The transformation didn’t stop there: Rossum wore two different pairs of contact lenses, heavy layers of eye makeup, a platinum blonde wig, and even bleached her dark eyebrows to nail Angelyne’s distinct look.
Her striking physical transformation was a true team effort. “Everyone worked hand-in-hand with my movement coaches and vocal coaches to help create the icon that is Angelyne,” Rossum told E! News.
Being a self-proclaimed “nerd” when it comes to research, Rossum eagerly dove into preparations for the role. She studied endless videos and recordings of Angelyne to perfect every detail. “I worked with a vocal coach, a dialect coach, a movement coach—many, many coaches helped me figure out who my version of Angelyne was,” she shared.
Even Rossum’s personal life got a fun twist during her transformation. The actress made a mini-Angelyne costume for her one-year-old daughter Samantha, whom she welcomed with husband Sam Esmail in May 2021. “She went in spirit as Angelyne for Halloween,” Rossum laughed. “She was just missing a little pink Corvette.”
Meeting the real-life Angelyne also played a key role in Rossum’s preparation, though she joked that she may have been “a little over-prepared” by the time they finally met. But Rossum wasn’t the only one on set getting guidance from their real-life counterparts.
Lukas Gage, who portrays the fictitious filmmaker Max Allen, shared with E! News that the man his character is based on gave him access to the unfinished documentary he made about Angelyne. “It was really, really fascinating,” Gage said. “He might have showed me the actual footage, and I think he needs to release it because it’s really quite good.”
Alex Karpovsky, who plays a fictional journalist based on a Hollywood Reporter writer, also got the chance to meet the real-life reporter. “It was so helpful to see how he carried himself and approached long-form journalism,” Karpovsky said. “We even shot some scenes at The Hollywood Reporter office where he works, at the very desk he uses. That was a neat experience for me.”
It’s safe to say that the entire cast was deeply committed to their transformations, but none more so than Rossum, who truly became Angelyne—fake boobs and all.
