Check out how actor Zhang Hanyu transforms into Sun Yat-Sen, his character in the film "Bodyguards and Assassins", with the help of makeup artists. [Photo: CFP]

Zhang Hanyu, who plays Sun Yat-Sen in the upcoming Chinese action thriller "Bodyguards and Assassins", is likely to astound the audience with the question, "Is that really him?"

Still pictures show that the famous actor apparently doesn't look like himself. Rather, he resembles his character, revolutionary forefather Sun Yat-Sen (1866-1925), to an astonishing degree.

A series of behind-the-scenes photos released Monday shows why. The photos document Zhang's makeup process for the film. In one of the photos, Hollywood makeup artists carefully apply a skin-color latex mask to Zhang's face, with a black-and-white photograph of Sun Yat-Sen hanging in the background.

"I sat for seven hours everyday for the makeup," Zhang said recently, "But it's definitely worthwhile."

According to director Teddy Chan, he had shot four versions with each featuring a different actor playing Sun Yat-Sen. "Although it was really a hard decision to make, we eventually chose Zhang's version for the completed film."

Sun Yat-Sen is not a major role in "Bodyguards and Assassins", but it is key to the story, which is about a group of vigilantes trying to protect him from assassins on an October day in 1905.

The film boasts an all-star cast, which also includes Donnie Yen, Leon Lai, Nicholas Tse, Eric Tsang and Fan Bingbing. It is produced by Peter Chan.

A pan-Asian release is set for December 18.