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!