Jessica Biel has traded in red carpet gowns and her perfect long locks for a curly short bob and oversized glasses.
That's right, the actress is practically unrecognizable as accused axe murderer Candy Montgomery in Hulu's true-crime series Candy. So it's no wonder the Internet is abuzz about her transformation. One fan wrote on Twitter, "I don't know who needs to hear this but Jessica Biel is Candy."
The transformation isn't necessarily a flattering one (another user commented, "I know they could have found a better wig for Jessica Biel.") But Biel's co-stars Pablo Schreiber and Timothy Simons defend that it's reflective of the time and the real-life defendant at the heart of the murder case.
"I thought she looked fantastic," Schreiber said in an exclusive interview with E! News. "Seeing photos of Candy Montgomery and then seeing her come out of the trailer the first time, all props to Katie Ballard, our hair designer, to really nail that wig and nail all the wigs, really. I think she did a fantastic job on this show in making looks that just felt incredibly authentic and deserving of the time period."
While Simons felt similarly about Biel's physical transformation, he also took a moment to applaud the nuances of the leading lady's performance.
"I love that every time you talk to her about every one of those little transformative choices, there was always a thought and intention behind it," Simons shared. "That was sort of revealing about all the work that she had done to understand Candy. Like, 'Ok, the reason that the accent is like this is for this reason. The reason that the hair changes here, it's for this reason.'"
For those unfamiliar with the case, Candy is a dramatic retelling of the 1980 killing of Betty Gore at the hands of her friend (and her husband's mistress) Candy Montgomery. After claiming self-defense during her trial, Montgomery was found not guilty. (You can find the whole tragic story here.)
Keep reading for a closer look at Biel's take on Montgomery and other true-crime transformations!