Face-Off: The 'Iron Lady' vs. 'Albert Nobbs'

Meryl and Glenn, we hardly recognize you! To turn Streep into the Iron Lady, prosthetic makeup designer Mark Coulier says his biggest challenge was "finding the fine line between doing enough to turn Meryl into Margaret Thatcher without doing too much. I'm proud of the younger version because people don't really notice the nose prosthetic."

To bring Albert Nobbs to life, -- in which Close disguises herself as a man to survive in 19th-century Dublin -- makeup artist Matthew Mungle (an Oscar winner for 1992's Dracula) relied on several techniques, including dental plumpers, face casting and prosthetic ear-lobe extensions. After enduring endless makeup tests, Close recalls, "I thought I'd have the burden of my very well-known face. And what Matt did alleviated that."