14 of the best celebrity cosplayers

Living out his dream of playing a superhero, the Harry Potter star cast a magic spell on oblivious fans as he mingled with the crowds at Comic-Con in 2014 while donning a full Spider-Man suit and speaking in an American accent. No one noticed him – and there wasn't a drop of Polyjuice potion in sight.

Another day, another Spider-Man costume. The Game of Thrones actress caused a stir when she revealed on Instagram that she had walked freely among fans at Comic-Con by wearing a mask of the superhero. Jaqen H'ghar would be proud.

When Huw Jackman was told he could never walk around San Diego unnoticed, what did he do? He donned his full Wolverine costume and spent an entire morning mingling with the Comic-Con crowds without a single person recognising him. Touché.

So good was his disguise that there aren't any photos of his endeavours – his disguise only came to light during an X-Men panel later that day. See his revelation in the video above, around 46:10.

The Hobbit director had an Unexpected Journey (see what we did there?), sneaking into San Diego Comic-Con disguised as an Evil Jester to avoid being mobbed by fans. He managed to walk around the event and pose for pictures without anyone knowing who he really was.

Doing what he does best: the comedic actor entertained Comic-Con audiences by walking onto the convention stage dressed in a handmade costume of his villainous character from the animated movie Megamind.

The blue make up was there, the black cape was intact. "The first rule of Comic-Con is to show up in your own costume," he proclaimed. And his effort was pretty decent, if you ask us...

Pity the woman who blanked Matt Smith at Comic-Con. Of course, she didn't actually know it was the Doctor Who star muttering in her ear in an American accent – while he eschewed full cosplay, the actor was disguised by a Bart Simpson mask, wandering carefree through the corridors, and even posing with a picture of his Doctor.

Proving anything is possible at Comic-Con, the Breaking Bad actor shocked fans in 2013 when he revealed on stage that he had walked around the convention unnoticed wearing a Walter White mask.

Jamie Lee Curtis is our new hero. No stranger to cosplaying at conventions, the actress and long-time fan of Warcraft attended the world premiere of the movie dressed as an orc – wearing green paint, a warrior dress and headpiece.

Well known for his comedic performances, the funnyman turned up to an interview on The Ellen DeGeneres Show in 2013 dressed as his supervillain Gru from the Despicable Me films. He looked just like Gru, he sounded (sort of) like Gru – but we don't think the world's greatest criminal would be caught dead shimmying his hips to the Bee Gees...

The Amazing Spider-Man panel at Comic-Con in 2011 had a rather special opening courtesy of the film's star Andrew Garfield. The actor – disguised as his famous superhero character – interrupted the panel's introduction under the guise of asking a question before removing his mask, much to the delight of the scores of fans crowded into Hall H. He went on to deliver a heartfelt speech about what the character means to him – before joining the Spider-Man team up on stage.

Determined to walk the convention floor in peace, the actor went undercover at Comic-Con in 2013 as his character from Shaun of the Dead, adding a Boba Fett mask for the finishing touch. Little did he know, two years later he'd be disguising himself on the set of an actual Star Wars film.

Fans got more than they bargained for earlier this year when David Tennant appeared at a Wizard World convention in New York dressed as the Doctor. But forget the Converse and the long trench coat. Tennant gave Peter Capaldi a run for his money, donning a velvet jacket and shades to transform into the Twelfth Doctor.

Well, this one was a turnout for the books. In 2014, the former Hills star tried her hand at cosplay for a special Comic-Con appearance. Ditching the fake tan and shades, and with the help of some blue body paint and a red wig, she transformed herself into the X-Men supervillain Mystique. An impressive effort.

In the build up to the release of Deadpool, we got used to Ryan Reynolds disguising himself to surprise unsuspecting fans. But as a lifelong Star Wars fan, the actor turned to Darth Vader to conceal his identity when he took to the Comic-Con floor in 2015. Fooled us, it did.