At this year's Academy Award ceremony, renowned actress Meryl Streep stepped into the spotlight when she took home the award for Best Actress. Her role as former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher not only earned recognition in terms of performance, but also for appearance.

Makeup artist J.Roy Helland, who has worked with Streep for the past 37 years, won the award for Best Makeup Artist for his work in transforming the 62-year-old actress into The Iron Lady herself. Although Streep was surprised to earn the Best Actress title, the win for Best Makeup may seem equally as shocking.

In the film Albert Nobbs, which tells the story of two cross-dressing women in 19th century Ireland, makeup artist Mathew W. Mungle had the task of creating a male appearance for actress Glenn Close.

I may be stepping out of my realm in saying this, said Mungle to The Huffington Post. But I think the Academy members go for the obvious in our category. They may go for my work on 'Albert Nobbs,' but they may not. They don't really know how hard it is for us to do something so simple and yet so transformative as to put a nose on a face and blend it in so you don't see it for an entire movie.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 was also nominated in this category.

Here's a look back at some noteworthy films to be honored for their achievement in makeup art.

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