Get Premium
Dark mode theme is available exclusively for premium users. Learn more about the benefits of subscribing.
No fees, cancel anytime.
Dark Mode 
No fees, cancel anytime 
Actors pretend to be other people. It's what actors do. Sometimes they fail. Other times they succeed. And sometimes they embody their characters so completely that you forget you're watching a movie. Take some of the best biopics for example. Did you notice Helen Mirren while watching The Queen, or was it Elizabeth II you saw? What about Peter O'Toole in Lawrence of Arabia, or Daniel Day Lewis in Lincoln? Even now it's difficult to think of Ben Kingsley or Mahatma Gandhi without associating one with the other, because like all of the above, the actor didn't just play a role - they became that role.
In homage to these amazing performances, Bored Panda has compiled a list of the most accurate real-life portrayals to ever hit the silver screen. Take a look at the pictures below and vote for the most convincing!
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
Eddie Redmayne And Felicity Jones As Stephen Hawking With His Wife Jane Wilde In The Theory Of Everything (2014)
RELATED:
#2
Jamie Foxx As Ray Charles In Ray (2004)
#3
Robert Downey Jr. As Charlie Chaplin In Chaplin (1992)
#4
Ben Kingsley As Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi In Gandhi (1982)
#5
Val Kilmer As Jim Morrison In The Doors (1991)
#6
Daniel Day‑Lewis As Abraham Lincoln In Lincoln (2012)
Luis Sancho 8 years ago
I know he looks the part, but I read somewhere that Lincoln seemed to have a high toned voice, instead of the gravely sounding voice on the movie...would be wonderful to have had recording technology when he was alive.
#7
Cate Blanchett As Bob Dylan In I'm Not There (2007)
#8
Meryl Streep As Margaret Thatcher In The Iron Lady (2011)
#9
Charlize Theron As Aileen Wuornos In Monster (2003)
Maria Ivanova 8 years ago
She was amazing in this role! It is more than difficult for pretty woman like her to become such a monster!
#10
Jennifer Lopez As Selena Quintanilla-Pérez In Selena (1997)
#11
Hellen Mirren As HM Queen Elizabeth II In The Queen (2007)
Liz Miller 8 years ago
Helen Mirren is absolute class, elegance and style. She was born for that role!
#12
Gary Oldman As Ludwig Van Beethoven In Immortal Beloved (1994)
#13
Bruno Ganz As Adolf Hitler In Downfall (2004)
#14
Salma Hayek As Frida Kahlo In Frida (2002)
#15
Ashton Kutcher As Steve Jobs In Jobs (2013)
#16
Kirk Douglas As Vincent Van Gogh In Lust For Life (1956
#17
Marion Cotillard As Édith Piaf In La Vie En Rose (2007)
#18
Adrien Brody As Salvador Dali In Midnight In Paris (2011)
#19
Anthony Hopkins As Alfred Hitchcock In Hitchcock (2012)
#20
André 3000 As Jimi Hendrix In Jimi: All Is By My Side (2013)
#21
Gary Oldman And Chloe Webb As Sid Vicious And His Girlfriend Nancy Spungen In Sid And Nancy (1986)
#22
Denzel Washington As Malcolm X In Malcolm X (1992)
#23
Hannah Taylor-Gordon As Anne Frank In Anne Frank: The Whole Story (2001)
Cesi Baca 8 years ago
I remember watching this. The acting was not great. But then I haven't seen any movie about holocaust victims so far that has seemed realistic. It must be close to impossible to duplicate and act out what it was really like living through what must have been hell on earth.
#24
Morgan Freeman As Nelson Mandela In Invictus (2009)
#25
Stephen Fry As Oscar Wilde In Wilde (1997)
#26
Anthony Hopkins As Pablo Picasso In Surviving Picasso (1996)
#27
Geoffrey Rush As Peter Sellers In The Life And Death Of Peter Sellers (2004)
#28
James Franco As James Dean In James Dean (2001)
#29
Robert Downey Jr. As Charlie Chaplin In Chaplin (1992)
#30
Sean Penn As Harvey Milk In Milk (2008)
#31
Hilary Swank As Amelia Earhart In Amelia (2009)
EmaLee Noggle 8 years ago
Amelia is my cousin! My mom has her nose. Still need to see this movie
#32
Audrey Tautou As Coco Chanel In Coco Before Chanel (2009)
#33
Daniel Brühl As Niki Lauda In Rush (2013)
#34
Michelle Williams As Marilyn Monroe In My Week With Marilyn (2011)
Rajani Sarasan 8 years ago
I've never found Michelle pretty.. she seems kinda ordinary to be playing such a diva!
#35
Meryl Streep As Julia Child In Julie And Julia (2009)
#36
Halle Berry As Dorothy Dandridge In Introducing Dorothy Dandridge (2000)
#37
Michael Douglas As Liberace In Behind The Candelabra (2013)
#38
Albert Finney As Winston Churchill In The Gathering Storm (2002)
#39
Jim Carrey As Andy Kaufman In Man On The Moon (1999)
#40
Johnny Depp As James 'Whitey' Bulger In Black Mass (2015)
#41
Benicio Del Toro As Ernesto "Che" Guevara In Che (2008)
Linda Abbott 8 years ago
Just adding a mustache an a beard doesn't make you look like someone. (and the mustache and beard are wrong, too)
#42
Liam Neeson As Oskar Schindler In Schindler's List (1993)
#43
Reese Witherspoon Andjoacquin Phoenix As June Carter Cash And Johnny Cash In Walk The Line (2005)
#44
Emile Hirsch As Christopher McCandless In Into The Wild (2007)
#45
Robert De Niro As Jake Lamotta In Raging Bull (1980)
#46
James Franco As Aron Ralston In 127 hours (2010)
#47
Philip Seymour Hoffman As Truman Capote In Capote (2005)
#48
Peter O'Toole As T.E. Lawrence In Lawrence Of Arabia (1962)
Lily Mae Kitty 8 years ago
I fell in love with those blue eyes. what a beautiful man he was when he was young
#49
Naomi Watts As Princess Diana In Diana (2013)
with a Y and a Z 8 years ago
still the authenticity..they can recreate clothes from the 1800's and not the 90's?
#50
Leonardo DiCaprio As Hugh Glass In The Revenant (2016)
#51
Colin Firth As King George Vi In The King's Speech (2010)
#52
Jeff Daniels As Joshua Chamberlain In Gettysburg (1993)
#53
Ralph Fiennes As Charles Dickens In The Invisible Woman (2013)
#54
Eddie Redmayne As Lili Elbe In The Danish Girl (2015)
#55
Jason Scott Lee As Bruce Lee In Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story (1993)
#56
Ed Harris As Jackson Pollack In Pollack (2000)
#57
Leonardo Dicaprio As Tycoon Howard Hughes In The Aviator (2004)
#58
Jesse Eisenberg As Mark Zuckerberg In The Social Network (2010)
#59
Morgan Freeman As Nelson Mandela In Invictus (2009)
#60
Actor Will Smith As American Boxer Muhammad In Ali (2001)
#61
Nicole Kidman As Grace Kelly In Grace Of Monaco (2014)
#62
Johnny Depp As Hunter S. Thompson In Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas (1998)
#64
Madonna As Eva Peron, The Second Wife Of Argentine President Juan Perón, In Evita (1996)
#65
Angelina Jolie As Mariane Pearl In A Mighty Heart (2007)
#66
Jason Segel As David Foster Wallace In The End Of The Tour (2015)
#67
Bryan Cranston As Dalton Trumbo In Trumbo (2015)
#68
Toby Jones As Alfred Hitchcock In The Girl (2012)
Add New Image
What do you think ?
Lora Yaneva 8 years ago
I'd like to add one actor to the list - Tom Hardy as Britain's most infamous prisoner Charles Bronson in Bronson (2008). Charles-Br...fae9a0.jpg 
Courtney Milner 7 years ago
Ight where's Benedict Cumberbatch as Alan Turning in Imitation Game or Benedict as Stephen Hawking in Hawking
Catherine Doyle 8 years ago
I always find it interesting that only the actresses get commented on how "pretty" they are if they don't look enough like the people they portray. I'll never understand.
Julie Keating 7 years ago
Val Kilmer as Jim Morrison should have been in the list. He was brilliantly cast.
Charlotte Clayforth 7 years ago
Kathy Bates as the unsinkable Molly Brown (Titanic) is absolutely spot on imo. Also Vanessa Kirby as Princess Margaret in The Crown
Nesmelia-Grace Chantengco 7 years ago
There's two repeats on this list. Robert downy jr as Charlie Chaplin and Morgan freedman as Nelson
Laura Lockman 7 years ago
i dont see it, in most of these either too young to play the role or too old.
Hemant Bhatia 7 years ago
Another one from Bollywood..."Neerja" played by Sonam Kapoor 5929b77c-d...09fb11.jpg 
Timmy Griffin 8 years ago
A little Hollywood magic can turn almost anyone in to anyone, but these actors are the doppelgangers of iconic people that left a legacy behind themselves.
Alícia Moreira 8 years ago
Amalia.jpg 
Sandra Barata Belo as Amália Rodrigues in Amália (2008) Barata portrays legendary Portuguese fado singer Amália Rodrigues; songs used in the film are recordings of Amália.
Lora Yaneva 8 years ago
I'd like to add one actor to the list - Tom Hardy as Britain's most infamous prisoner Charles Bronson in Bronson (2008). Charles-Br...fae9a0.jpg
Courtney Milner 7 years ago
Ight where's Benedict Cumberbatch as Alan Turning in Imitation Game or Benedict as Stephen Hawking in Hawking
Catherine Doyle 8 years ago
I always find it interesting that only the actresses get commented on how "pretty" they are if they don't look enough like the people they portray. I'll never understand.
Julie Keating 7 years ago
Val Kilmer as Jim Morrison should have been in the list. He was brilliantly cast.
Charlotte Clayforth 7 years ago
Kathy Bates as the unsinkable Molly Brown (Titanic) is absolutely spot on imo. Also Vanessa Kirby as Princess Margaret in The Crown
Nesmelia-Grace Chantengco 7 years ago
There's two repeats on this list. Robert downy jr as Charlie Chaplin and Morgan freedman as Nelson
Laura Lockman 7 years ago
i dont see it, in most of these either too young to play the role or too old.
Hemant Bhatia 7 years ago
Another one from Bollywood..."Neerja" played by Sonam Kapoor 5929b77c-d...09fb11.jpg
Timmy Griffin 8 years ago
A little Hollywood magic can turn almost anyone in to anyone, but these actors are the doppelgangers of iconic people that left a legacy behind themselves.
Alícia Moreira 8 years ago
Amalia.jpg Sandra Barata Belo as Amália Rodrigues in Amália (2008) Barata portrays legendary Portuguese fado singer Amália Rodrigues; songs used in the film are recordings of Amália.
Related on Bored Panda
