CNN
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During the Fall-Winter 2025 haute couture shows in Paris, Morticia Addams — the eerie and elegant matriarch from “The Addams Family” movie franchise — can be seen slinking around the cobblestoned streets of the French capital. Tall, ghostly pale, and with long jet-black hair cascading down her back, this Addams could pass, at a quick glance, for the actor Anjelica Huston, who played Addams in the 1990s films.
Underneath the flowing tresses, though, is a muscular 31-year-old man: Alexis Stone, a performance and makeup artist known to 1.3 million Instagram followers and hundreds of thousands more on TikTok.
While multiple TikTok creators today adeptly use makeup to drastically alter their facial features to resemble particular celebrities, Stone’s work goes beyond full-face treatments into whole-body transformations, presented live and in public. Using prosthetics, special effects makeup and bespoke enhancements (such as custom scents), the result is often on par with the kind of execution one might see on the big screen.
<div data-uri="cms.cnn.com/_components/video-resource/instances/cmcvx4fg800063b6nxv4rwhph@published" data-component-name="video-resource" data-editable="settings" class="video-resource" data-fixed-ratio="16×9" data-canonical-url-path="/2025/07/09/style/video/alexis-stone-makeup-morticia-addams-ldn-digvid" data-parent-uri="cms.cnn.com/_components/video-resource/instances/cmcvtk3xj00003b6n3luoc6gu@published" data-video-id="me7ab1d88e76b262333a8a01526bc34b15fd77acb6" data-media-id="me7ab1d88e76b262333a8a01526bc34b15fd77acb6" data-live="" data-analytics-aggregate-events="true" data-custom-experience="" data-asset-type="hlsTs" data-auth-type="none" data-content-type="mediasource-clip" data-medium-env="" data-autostart="disabled" data-show-ads="true" data-source="CNN" data-featured-video="true" data-headline="This artist's uncanny transformations have captured the internet. CNN gets an inside look" data-has-video-player="true" data-description="<p>Transformative makeup artist Elliot Joseph Rentz, better known as Alexis Stone, has impersonated hundreds of famous characters over the course of his career — from Mrs Doubtfire to Cruella Deville, Lana Del Rey and Jack Nicholson. Working with a team, he takes the discipline of movie makeup and prosthetics into the real world, often fooling press and the public. CNN gained unique access inside his home and studio in Scotland ahead of the latest — and potentially last — collaboration with Balenciaga, under creative director 'Demna,' becoming Anjelica Huston's legendary interpretation of Morticia Addams for the occasion.</p>" data-duration="04:21" data-source-html='<span class="video-resource__source"> – Source:
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By <span class=”byline__name”>Angelica Pursley</span>, <span class=”byline__name”>Max Burnell</span>, <span class=”byline__name”>Phil ClarkeHill</span>, <a class=”byline__link vossi-byline__link” href=https://www.cnn.com/profiles/kati-chitrakorn><span class=”byline__name”>Kati Chitrakorn</span></a> and <span class=”byline__name”>Ivana Scatola</span>, CNN
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Published
8:17 AM EDT, Wed July 9, 2025
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“I think people have an idea that we go to a Halloween shop and buy these things over the counter, but everything is handmade and takes decades of experience to put together,” said Stone. In June, he gave CNN a tour of his apartment in Glasgow, Scotland. Here, in his home, is where the prototypes and final looks are developed.
Impersonating Huston as Addams was an eight-week process that required intensive research, said Stone. “We wanted to reference as close to the original Addams as possible, from the original wig to her iconic black, torn sequin gown (both sourced from the film’s costume department),” explained Stone. On a long wooden table are Polaroids, taken by hair stylist and wig designer Paul Huntley in the ’90s, of Huston and her late costar Raul Julia, who played the role of husband Gomez Addams. “All the pictures are originals so please be careful with them,” reads an accompanying message.
“There are a lot of moving parts, from sculpting and mold-making to the hair team, who will get started on the wigs and eyebrows. Occasionally, I have contact lenses that are custom-made,” said Stone. The room where he primarily does his prosthetic development has a giant mirror and ring light, as well as shelves of paints, face molds, and other workshop tools — the sort of setup seen in the 2024 TV remake of “The Day of the Jackal.”
“It is the same kind of production, lead times and budgets that you see in the film and TV industry — except we’re doing it for real life,” Stone noted. Those budgets, he said, can reach six figures.
A form of escapism
Stone, whose legal name is Elliot Joseph Rentz, attends Paris Fashion Week twice a year under the guise of a celebrity, a famous character or a celebrity playing a famous character. Those personalities have included Jack Nicholson, Lana Del Rey, Madonna, Adele, Jennifer Coolidge, and Glenn Close as Cruella de Vil from the 1996 film remake “101 Dalmatians”.
The makeup artist left his hometown, Brighton, England, aged 16 and bounced around London, Manchester, Luleå in Sweden, and New York, before settling on Glasgow. Coming from what he described as a “broken” family, Stone became interested in the idea of morphing into someone else from a young age. “When I was a kid, I loved being unrecognizable, wearing wigs, fat suits and clip-in teeth, and I think that naturally evolved. Soothing my inner childhood by dressing up wasn’t necessarily a direction I was aiming for, but it’s something I fell into, and it’s been an interesting journey,” Stone said.
In 2018, Stone achieved international notoriety as he convinced social media followers that he had undergone extensive plastic surgery over a span of six months, including a botched procedure — only to later reveal that it was all a hoax. “At the core of my work is really this expression of identity and using the power of makeup,” said Stone.
The turning point in Stone’s career was attending Balenciaga’s runway show in March 2022 as Robin Williams’ character in “Mrs. Doubtfire.” “I wasn’t well versed in the world of fashion, but Demna (the brand’s designer) had stumbled across my work, and we decided to work together,” said Stone. Since then, Stone has been a front row fixture at fashion week — attending the shows of Balenciaga as well as Diesel, Jean Paul Gaultier and Hugo Boss — always in the uncanny likeness of a familiar face.
Today, it’s not uncommon to see a celebrity lookalike at a fashion event. A Kate Moss doppelganger (who dubs herself “Fake Moss”) created a social media frenzy in 2023 when she was spotted in an Aldi supermarket in Manchester ahead of the Chanel show. In 2024, she walked the runway for the up-and-coming label Marine Serre. Last year, the fashion label Alexander Wang garnered attention for using lookalikes of Ariana Grande, Taylor Swift, Beyoncé and Kylie Jenner in an advertising campaign. The ad, posted by the brand on Instagram and TikTok, was captioned “100% certified authentic.”
“Brands love to be part of these viral stunts,” said Stone. “It is, in essence, the ultimate marketing campaign because it’s this sort of moving billboard, and so many people recognize these cult or classic characters, having watched them growing up. For brands, this is a way of being part of that magic.”
‘The whole room ended up stinking’
Stone’s appearances have resulted in plenty of coverage in fashion magazines, including Vogue and Grazia, and have fascinated the public. “Does Alexis Stone get paid to pretend he’s an old lady celebrity or what? What’s his deal?” reads the title of one Reddit forum thread. Other users chimed in, complimenting Stone for his “incredibly talented” ability to blend like “a chameleon”.
To date, Stone has experimented with at least 250 celebrity metamorphoses. Among his most successful looks was emulating Meryl Streep as Miranda Priestly from “The Devil Wears Prada” in 2024. A single Instagram post shared by Stone of his transformation into the ruthless character achieved a remarkable $1.4 million in earned media value — the monetary worth of media exposure a brand receives, including mentions, shares and articles — with a whopping 59.6% engagement rate, according to analytics firm Lefty. (The average engagement rate for media and entertainment posts on Instagram is 3%, according to social media management platform Hootsuite.)
Key to Stone’s success is his all-encompassing approach. When the visual artist set out to become a replica of Jack Nicholson last year, not only did he have custom dentures (created by a special effects expert) that mimicked the actor’s distinctive grin; he also worked with a perfumer to develop a custom fragrance that smelled like tobacco, capturing what he thought Nicholson might have smelled like. “It becomes more of an immersive experience rather than just visual,” said Stone. When he wore the scent to the show, he said, “the whole room just ended up stinking.”
To create his looks, Stone has worked with various prosthetics and special effects experts, including Neill Gorton, the prosthetics designer known for his work on films like “Saving Private Ryan” (1998), “Children of Men” (2006) and “Doctor Who” (2005), and dental technician Dominic Mombrun of “Morbius” (2022), “The Substance” (2024) and “The Count of Monte-Cristo” (2024). When it comes to getting dressed for the final reveal at Paris Fashion Week, Stone noted: “There’s always an army of at least 10 people helping me.”
Ensuring the accuracy of each persona he adopts is essential — especially for “characters that are so beloved by millions of people,” Stone explained. “People are so protective of some of these characters. When you reference individuals who are either no longer with us, or touched us on a deeper level, it is personal — so people can be very critical.” Case in point: the criticism around the costuming of enduring style icon Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy in “American Love Story.”
Asked whether he had a preference for emulating older adults, Stone explained that signs of aging, such as fine lines, were easier to recreate than youthful skin. “I’m a six-foot-tall muscly man, so as much as I would love to be Kylie Jenner, there are physical limitations,” he said. Sometimes there are requests for looks that Stone will decline, because there “has to be a personal element to why I’m connected to that character,” he said. “If I’m spending three months studying them, detail by detail, I need to be stimulated to some degree.”
In the case of Addams, Stone viewed her as “this morbidly beautiful and maybe not-very-optimistic character, and I thought I could lean into that.”
A curtain call?
This couture season marks Balenciaga’s last runway under Demna, whose exit was announced in March. When there is a new designer at a luxury house, it’s not uncommon for there to be changes in the brand’s designs as well as across its retail and marketing touchpoints. While Stone has been invited to attend events and work with other fashion labels, it is Balenciaga that he has the deepest and longest-standing relationship with.
“I’m often asked, ‘What happens after Balenciaga?’, and I think of a Linda Evangalista quote where she said, ‘The goal is to get out of fashion as quickly as you get into it,’” said Stone, laughing. “I have such a beautiful bulk of work behind me; this would be a natural time to pause and catch my breath.”
Despite the perceived glamour of working in fashion, beneath the surface there is plenty of effort and compromise, Stone explained. “I love fashion shows, but they’re not the most relaxing of environments. We’re talking 4am starts, six hours before the show begins.” Wearing heavy makeup and prosthetic looks isn’t particularly enjoyable either, he added. “It’s hot, it’s sweaty, it’s not designed to be experienced and lived in, outside of a movie set. I love it once I can sit back and watch the visuals we’ve created. But in the moment, when there are so many moving parts, it’s very stressful.”
For now, fans can take comfort that this won’t be the last they’ll see — or hear — of Stone. Over the past three years, the creative production company Division has been trailing Stone as they film a documentary on the performance artist. The release date has not yet been set.
“I don’t know if I’ll ever fully understand why people take such interest in what I do,” Stone mused. “Perhaps it’s because, as humans, we have days where we want to feel more visible, and other days where we want to feel invisible or unrecognizable. I think that’s something we can all relate to, to some degree.”