Ifans fascinated by his character in 'The Amazing Spider-man'

The "Notting Hill" star plays Dr Curt Connors, an amputee scientist who experiments with drugs to try and replace limbs and subsequently turns into a huge lizard in the film, reported Contacmusic.

"It would entail me sitting in a make-up chair for seven to eight hours with four make-up artists. I emphasise the word artist. They were working on various parts of my body, applying these silicone pieces and painting each scale individually.

"That might sound excruciating but it was actually fascinating to see how these people work. I was able to view in slow motion, over the period of seven hours, this very dramatic physical change," he said.

However, the 43-year-old actor says his patience started to fray at the end of the make-over but his irritability simply helped him get ready to play the villain.