This Is How These 30 Well-Known People Of World History Looked In Real Life Compared To Their Movie Portrayals
You might have hated history lessons at school, but I am sure you have enjoyed at least one historical film in your life, if not more. Of course, a lot here depends on Hollywood (and other film industries) creating a compelling story that attracts your attention — but also, we really love seeing historical figures up close in situations that our textbooks never described.
A big part of making a film on real-life events and real people is casting. Good acting is important, but the actors also have to resemble the person they are portraying to a certain degree. Because often the audience won’t notice the historical inconsistencies, but they will most likely criticize the looks of actors in movies that tell the story of one well-known person or another.
Throughout the years of its existence, the film industry has handled quite a number of famous events in history, depicting each of them from the director’s perspective. But it is equally interested in big events in the lives of people of art, science, sports, or public figures. For actors, portraying a real person can be more challenging than a fictional character because you can’t build them solely on your vision, but have to do quite a lot of research. However, it can also be a very rewarding experience.
For this article, we collected some of the best examples of actors playing famous people. In your opinion, who did the best job? Do you have another favorite actor playing a historical figure that didn’t make it to this list? Share with us in the comments!
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Morgan Freeman As Nelson Mandela In "Invictus"
They look so much alike that Mr. Freeman's image was accidentally used on a sign in India honoring Mr. Mandela.
Jamie Foxx As Ray Charles In "Ray"
Stephen Fry As Oscar Wilde In "Wilde"
A witty intellect playing a witty intellect - Stephen Fry was born to play this role.
Eddie Redmayne And Felicity Jones As Stephen Hawking With His Wife Jane Wilde In "The Theory Of Everything"
Denzel Washington As Malcolm X In "Malcolm X"
This was a fantastic movie. It should be required viewing in history classes
Daniel Day-Lewis As Abraham Lincoln In "Lincoln"
Rami Malek As Freddie Mercury In "Bohemian Rhapsody"
Tom Hanks As Mister Rogers In "A Beautiful Day In The Neighborhood"
After the movie was released he learned they were actually related!
Meryl Streep As Julia Child In "Julie And Julia"
Gary Oldman As Ludwig Van Beethoven In "Immortal Beloved"
When I see a picture of Gary Oldman I always have to think of Mr. Zorg
Salma Hayek As Frida In "Frida"
Joaquin Phoenix As Johnny Cash In "Walk The Line"
Both him and Reece Witherspoon were excellent in this movie.
Cate Blanchett As Queen Elizabeth I In "Elizabeth"
Helen Mirren As Queen Elizabeth II In "The Queen"
Evan Peters As Jeffrey Dahmer In "Dahmer"
Angela Bassett As Tina Turner In "What's Love Got To Do With It"
Adrien Brody As Salvador Dalí In "Midnight In Paris"
Chadwick Boseman As Jackie Robinson In "42"
Jason Scott Lee As Bruce Lee In "Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story"
His martial arts talent is genius! Bruce was awesome. Check out Gordon Liu also!
Tom Hanks As Captain Chesley Sullenberger In "Sully"
Cate Blanchett As Bob Dylan In "I'm Not There"
Interesting. I just learned there were six actors who played Bob Dylan in this movie, so each actor represented, or showed a different part of his personality.
Note: this post originally had 101 images. It’s been shortened to the top 30 images based on user votes.
Each image has a "Buy Now" link that sends you to the Amazon page where you can order that movie.
I think that Jim Carrey as Andy Kaufman in Man On The Moon should have been on here.
John Belushi always looked close to Joliet Jake. Should have made a movie about him and Elwood.
No, not. It would´nt be a success. Who´ll ever want to watch it? And what would they call it? Like "Blues brothers" or somethin´ else lousy
Each image has a "Buy Now" link that sends you to the Amazon page where you can order that movie.
I think that Jim Carrey as Andy Kaufman in Man On The Moon should have been on here.
John Belushi always looked close to Joliet Jake. Should have made a movie about him and Elwood.
No, not. It would´nt be a success. Who´ll ever want to watch it? And what would they call it? Like "Blues brothers" or somethin´ else lousy