Russell Crowe's shocking transformation for new role

Russell Crowe is unrecognisable as Roger Ailes in a new TV series. Photo / Twitter

It's Russell Crowe — but not as we've ever seen him before.

The New Zealand-born actor, 54, is virtually unrecognisable in full costume, prosthetics and make-up, playing late Fox News chief Roger Ailes for his upcoming Showtime Series The Loudest Voice In The Room.

He's filming in busy Midtown Manhattan, but we're willing to bet he wasn't bothered by any fans stopping to ask for a selfie:

Russell Crowe as Roger Ailes in The Loudest Voice in the Room (for the Kari Skogland Showtime series, not the Jay Roach Focus Features film) photo: @JustJared pic.twitter.com/RpOVSvw7AN

— Erik Anderson (@awards_watch) November 6, 2018

Set for release in 2019, the TV miniseries will track the rise and fall of Ailes, the former chairman and CEO of Fox News in the US who was one of the most powerful men in television until resigning in 2016 amid a slew of sexual harassment allegations. He died a year later.

Russell Crowe (left) is playing former chairman and CEO of Fox News, Roger Ailes (right). Photos / Getty Images

Naomi Watts, Seth Macfarlane and Sienna Miller are set to co-star.

Crowe was spotted on another set sporting a similarly drastic transformation recently, filming his upcoming bushranger movie, True History Of The Kelly Gang based on the 2000 novel by Peter Carey.