Why movie stars love channeling their characters on the red carpet

At the Wearable Art Gala earlier this month, Beyoncé’s look was the mane event.

The “Halo” hitmaker, 37, showed up at the formal affair in full lioness mode, clad in a custom Georges Hobeika caped catsuit adorned with an embellished feline face — one of three wild looks the Grammy winner’s team commissioned from the Lebanese designer.

“I wanted to do something strong and daring for her, a real statement piece,” Hobeika told Page Six Style. “Beyoncé is one of the few women in the world who has the stature and presence to pull off wearing a lion’s head, so I knew I had to go for it. She is a source of motivation for so many women around the world, and I believed that expressing her strength as a lion was the best way to represent her fearlessness.”

It also, of course, dovetailed perfectly with the star’s upcoming role as Nala in Disney’s live-action version of “The Lion King,” adding Beyoncé to the ever-growing list of movie stars who choose to channel their onscreen alter egos offscreen, too. Call it “method dressing.”

While it’s true that Hollywood heavyweights have been dressing to match their characters for years, the industry’s recent uptick in reboots, biopics and adaptations means there’s more style inspiration to mine from these beloved characters than ever before.

Lady Gaga‘s “A Star Is Born” press tour, for instance, was essentially one long sartorial salute to the actresses who played Ally Maines before her, from the Barbra Streisand-inspired silver Givenchy she wore to the film’s premiere to the Judy Garland-esque Valentino Haute Couture she chose for the Golden Globes.

Her commitment to dressing in character pales in comparison’s to Blake Lively‘s, however. Who could forget the summer the “Gossip Girl” alum outfitted herself exclusively in suits as a nod to her role as the murderous, menswear-loving Emily Nelson in “A Simple Favor”?

Lively’s even taken to wearing looks inspired by her husband Ryan Reynolds‘ big-screen projects. When he showed up at the premiere of “Deadpool 2,” Lively was on his arm in a red and black Brandon Maxwell jumpsuit inspired by the foulmouthed superhero; when “Detective Pikachu” opened in May, she channeled the cuddly Pokemon critter in a yellow Retrofete slip dress. On both occasions, even Lively’s choice of clutch and nail art nodded to the theme, with not a single detail overlooked.

The practice of dressing to suit one’s role isn’t just limited to famous ladies; at the US premiere of “Rocketman” earlier this month, Taron Egerton showed up in the same custom patched denim jacket he wore to sing “Tiny Dancer” in a memorable scene from the movie, which in turn was inspired by one of Elton John‘s real-life wardrobe treasures.

And while promoting the latest “Fantastic Beasts” film late last year, style darling Ezra Miller dressed up like a high-fashion Hedwig the owl, complete with a feathered Givenchy couture cape.

But it’s Marvel’s current box office domination that truly seems to have pushed the trend into overdrive — fittingly, considering cosplay has always been such an integral part of comic book culture.

When Brie Larson began hitting the press circuit to promote “Captain Marvel” earlier this year, she did so in an array of outfits that paid obvious homage to the superhero: first a red Christopher Kane dress with a pointy bedazzled bodice, then a blue Valentino gown with a dramatic cape, and finally a glitzy Rodarte look covered in eight-point stars — a clear nod to the symbol her character wears on her suit. At one point, she even carried a “Captain” clutch.

Even more on the nose, though, were the makeshift Infinity Gauntlets Larson and her fellow Marvel star Scarlett Johansson sported at the premiere of “Avengers: Endgame” in April; Larson combined colorful custom rings and a coordinating bracelet by Irene Neuwirth, while Johansson went for a similar Thanos-inspired style by Sonia Boyajian.

It’s true that having a major movie star show up to promote a buzzy blockbuster dressed like the film’s hero gives social media, style outlets and superfans something to talk about. And it could very well be that stars’ “end game” when it comes to cosplaying their characters is purely commercial in nature. But Hobeika offered another, more forward-thinking explanation.

“Immersing in a role and ‘becoming’ the character is how actors bring movies to life and make them relevant,” the designer said. “I love seeing actors merge their real lives with who they are on the silver screen; it makes them truly timeless via the characters they’ve created.”

Just ask Catherine O’Hara, who turned up at the 2019 Tony Awards in a Beetlejuice-inspired, black-and-white striped Marc Jacobs — more than 30 years after she played Delia Deetz in the Tim Burton classic — to the delight of fans and fashion critics alike.

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