The Best Ugly Duckling Transformations In Movies

When
we’re talking about romantic comedies (and some other movies, I
guess), a very popular plot device is the ugly duckling
transformation. It’s where a perfectly physically gorgeous actress
gets paid to look like a much uglier girl in the first half of the
movie, only to turn into her real self in the final act.

And
while we all might claim that real beauty is on the inside, it’s a
tried and true recipe that has carried many movies in the past and
will continue to do so for as long as audiences accept it. Let’s
take a look at some of the movies that did the ugly duckling
transformation the best.

The
Princess Diaries

Well,
this is the most known ugly duckling story, isn’t it? We see Mia
Thermopolis evolve from a typical ugly duckling you wouldn’t look
at twice into a stunning Anne Hathaway.

Moonstruck

This
somewhat ancient movie has character Loretta Castorini turn into a
gorgeous woman that looks suspiciously like Cher, to woo a man that
looks a lot like Nicholas Cage. That’s literally the entire plot of
the movie.

Cinderella

Hey,
it counts – it’s pretty much the original ugly duckling story.
And it still holds up 70 years later, so it deserves a spot on this
list.

Never
Been Kissed

Drew
Barrymore has always been the perfect ugly duckling actress because
she can really tap into a wide range of visual attractiveness with
very minor changes. In this movie, her character Josie Geller does
just that.

Clueless

Nothing
much to be said here, since the movie itself is pretty bland (albeit
executed well). Tai Frasier is an ugly duckling until people give her
a makeover and they discover that she isn’t. And now she won’t
get bullied at school anymore because hot girls get special
privileges!

She’s
All That

Guy
gets into a bet to hit on an ugly girl, Laney Boggs, only to find out
at the end of the movie that she’s actually been gorgeous all this
time. That’s probably paraphrasing the movie a bit, but it’s not
wrong.

My
Fair Lady

We all know the story of how Eliza Doolittle went from duckling to swan. My Fair Lady is still a classic and holds up pretty well if you watch it today. So if you haven’t already, you should.