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64 Actors Who Look Like The Historic People They Played
When selecting the cast for a biopic, or biographical movie, the director must walk a fine line between selecting someone for their physical similarity vs. selecting them for having the thespian talent required to play the part. Here's a list of actors who definitely succeeded on the physical similarity side of things.
It's not just the actor who does all the work – casting experts and makeup artists also play a huge role in making these famous figures come to life on the big screen.
Many consider biopics to be some of the most difficult and rewarding roles in Hollywood. Most historical figures have a wealth of information available about them, and it is the actor's job to understand and embody all of this available information, all while portraying a historical figure that many people may have strong feelings about.
(h/t: twistedsifter)
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Jamie Foxx as Ray Charles in Ray
Val Kilmer as Jim Morrison in The Doors
Ben Kingsley as Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi in Gandhi
Bruno Ganz as Adolf Hitler in Downfall
Denzel Washington as Malcolm X in Malcolm X
Morgan Freeman as Nelson Mandella in Invictus
Other than being older black men, they don't really look that much alike.
Andre 3000 as Jimi Hendrix in Jimi: All Is By My Side
Adrien Brody As Salvador Dali In Midnight In Paris
Gary Oldman and Chloe Webb as Sid Vicious and Nancy Spungen in Sid and Nancy
Gary Oldman - Yes! But Chloe Webb definitely older and not that type of... of everything. I mean tottaly unsimilar.
Hellen Mirren as HM Queen Elizabeth II in The Queen
I know my eyesight isnt as good as it used to be, but im sure Hellen Merron looks nothing like the Queen,, To Slim and To Young.
Anthony Hopkins as Alfred Hitchcock in Hitchcock
Salma Hayek as Frida Kahlo in Frida
Sean Penn as Harvey Milk in Milk
Eddie Redmayne And Felicity Jones as Jane And Stephen Hawking in The Theory Of Everything
Charlize Theron As Aileen Wuornos In Monster
Cate Blanchett as Bob Dylan in I’m Not There
Geoffrey Rush as Peter Sellers in The Life and Death of Peter Sellers
No one could play Sellers apart from Geoffrey I hope one day he'll be cast as Ian Fleming
Audrey Tautou as Coco Chanel in Coco Before Chanel
Philip Seymour Hoffman as Truman Capote in Capote
Sam Riley As Ian Curtis In Control
Edie Sedgwick & Andy Warhol (sienna Miller / Guy Pearce)
Benicio Del Toro As Ernesto "che" Guevara
He definitely has strong similar features. And wins because he is Benicio del Toro.
Hannah Taylor-gordon As Anne Frank In Anne Frank: The Whole Story
Jared Leto As Mark David Chapman In Chapter 27.
John Hurt As Joseph Merrick In The Elephant Man
I believe this is more a merit of the makeup staff than of the casting.
Glenn Miller And James Steward In The Glenn Miller Story
Reese Witherspoon and Joacquin Phoenix as June Carter Cash and Johnny Cash
Stephen Fry As Oscar Wilde
Sherilyn Fenn As Elizabeth Taylor In Liz: The Elizabeth Taylor Story
Ralph Fiennes as Charles Dickens in The Invisible Woman
Jim Carrey as Andy Kaufman in Man On The Moon
Joaquin Phoenix/ Johnny Cash
Will Smith As Muhammad Ali
Colin Firth as King George VI in The King's Speech
Nicole Kidman As Virginia Woolf
A prosthetic nose doesn't make them magically look alike. Great actress, but no.
Benedict Cumberbatch As Stephen Hawking In "hawking"
James Franco As Allen Ginsberg In Howl
Ian Curtis As Sam Riley (joy Divivsion) In Control
Óscar Janeada As Cantinflas In Cantinflas.
Gary Busey As Buddy Holly
Vincent D'onofrio As Orson Welles
Steve Carell As John Du Pony
Jesse Eisenberg as Mark Zuckerberg in The Social Network
Daniel Bruhl as Niki Lauda in Rush, Chris Hemsworth as James Hunt, same film.
