World's most famous actor behind terrifying roles whose face most have never actually seen

Being an actor comes with a range of things you have to do, and usually showing your face is one of them, unless you're Doug Jones.

You may not know his name, but you will surely know his work as he is one of the most prolific working actors in Hollywood today.

With over 150 film and TV credits spanning his more than 30 years of work, including performances in cult classics like Hocus Pocus in 1993, Buffy the Vampire Slayer in 1999, Hellboy in 2004, and Pan's Labyrinth in 2006...Jones is a sensation.

However, what his work relies on is little to do with his looks, and more to do with his frame.

Most recently, he was cast in the CBS series Star Trek: Discovery and Guillermo del Toro's The Shape of Water, both of which saw him face-less (as usual).

Doug Jones was in Hellboy in 2004 (Columbia Pictures)

You might know him most as the Pale Man, who the contortionist portrayed in Pan's Labyrinth and scared children for the last two decades.

Jones, who is now 66 years old, is a one-of-a-kind actor due to his penchant for being case purely as a visual effects actor, usually wearing whole-body prosthetics that are complex and otherworldly.

To be fair, my favourite character of his was that of Billy Butcherson in Hocus Pocus, and he didn't even have any lines except mumbling through his sewn mouth.

However, that shows just how his large 6 foot 3 inch frame can transform into anything and anyone and steal the scene.

But despite his long list of credits, Jones is pretty modest about his fame.

He told Buzzfeed News back in 2017 that he is simply hired because he's 'a tall, skinny guy — with other talents, I hope.'

"It's been too many," Jones said of his distinct type of roles. "I know, I know."

Although, he does recognise that he has a particular set of skills that makes him in high demand for the area he occupies in Hollywood.

As for those he has worked with, they too understand why he's cast.

"A creature performer needs to be a very odd combination of marathon runner and a mime, who can express himself through layers and layers of latex and acrylic and silicon," said del Toro, who has worked with Jones on six different film projects. "It's a very, very rare discipline … [and] there are very, very few that are actual actors, in my opinion, that go beyond being able to work in a suit or under makeup. Doug is a proper actor. When you need that level of finesse, Doug is the only one I've met that I trust with that level of commitment and craftsmanship and artistry."

His Pale Man performance was scary (New Line Cinema)

Though, Jones has also been honest about the downside of being chosen for creature characters, as he revealed to the outlet that it's 'isolating.'

He admitted: "I'm not always in the mood to talk and banter and joke around [on set], because I'm trying to survive the day in a different way than everyone else is."

As for what his original hopes were, would you be surprised to learn that it wasn't to be where he is now?

"I was a goofy fellow who related to Jerry Lewis and Dick Van Dyke and Gilligan's Island," he said. "I thought I would be one of them. I never set out to do costume work. I didn't know that was really a career option."

But with a background in mime, and being able to put his legs behind his head, it seemed like his future was sold from the start.

In fact, all of his roles relate to being a strange creature or eerie character, even before landing his gigs in film.

Was it fate? I sure hope so because fantasy wouldn't be the same without him in it.