15 Actors Who Were Very Accurate at Portraying Their Real-Life Characters

Hollywood and the whole world is in love with biopics and that’s why so many of them are being produced every year. Just in 2018, there were more than 20 biopics about historical figures and the love about making movies about real people isn’t going anywhere. The movies themselves usually perform really well at the Oscars and viewers are very willing to watch a real story on screen.

Now I’ve Seen Everything has collected 15 big screen transformations that gathered a lot of attention and some of them awards.

Austin Butler as Elvis Presley (Elvis)

Elvis was released in 2022 and as the title indicates, it is a biographical musical about Elvis Presley’s life. Austin Butler portrays the emblematic singer and so far his performance has gotten high acclaim.

Lady Gaga as Patrizia Reggiani (House of Gucci)

The creators of this movie thoroughly studied Patrizia’s appearance and behavior traits. They wanted the actress to look exactly like her, so they even studied the way Patrizia talked, how she dyed her hair, and how she painted her lips.

Kristen Stewart as Princess Diana (Spencer)

A whole crew worked hard to achieve the resemblance between the actress and the princess. Cameramen shot her at a certain angle, with the right makeup and hair, in the proper lighting. Kristen is often shot from behind for this reason. Makeup and costume artists made sure the actress had Diana’s style when it came to clothing and makeup.

Lily James as Pamela Anderson (Pam & Tommy miniseries)

Lily James made a miraculous transformation into Pamela Anderson. Many people still remember Lily in her role of Cinderella. James studied series and interviews that her character had taken part in for a long time, she also had to spend hours in the makeup chair while makeup artists recreated Anderson’s features on her.

Granit Rushiti as Zlatan Ibrahimović (I Am Zlatan)

Zlatan Ibrahimovic is one of the most fascinating figures in modern-day soccer. The movie talks about a few periods of his life, that is why he is portrayed by a few actors. The main role was given to Granit Rushiti who used to play soccer too.

Shirley MacLaine as Coco Chanel (Coco Chanel)

Shirley MacLaine has an incendiary personality just like Coco Chanel had, and this unites them. By the way, Shirley has been an admirer of Chanel’s since a young age. But she couldn’t afford the clothes from this brand, so she had to buy imitations. According to the actress, when she was in her 20s and 30s, she used to wear them all the time.

Yaya DaCosta as Whitney Houston (Whitney)

In 2015, a TV movie directed by Angela Bassett took a dive into Whitney Houston’s rise to fame and her toxic relationship to husband Bobby Brown. Yaya DaCosta portrayed the celebrated singer and delivered a well-balanced performance.

Adam Driver as Maurizio Gucci (House of Gucci)

The resemblance between Adam and Maurizio was achieved mainly thanks to the eyeglasses and hairstyle.

Taron Egerton as Elton John (Rocketman)

The main task of the actor’s transformation was not to make a caricature of Elton John, but to convey the musician’s personality with the help of makeup and costumes. Even the hair on Taron’s chest and arms was dyed because he had to wear a lot of revealing clothing.

Gwilym Lee as Brian May (Bohemian Rhapsody)

When the musician saw Gwilym playing him, he was delighted. According to Brian, it was really impressive to see a younger version of himself.

Jack Farthing as Charles, Prince of Wales (Spencer)

Jack Farthing is British, just like Prince Charles. Perhaps this was one of the things that helped him embody his character so well. By the way, this was not the first time he’s played a historical figure. Earlier, he portrayed John Lennon in a miniseries.

Sebastian Stan as Tommy Lee (Pam & Tommy miniseries)

Stan’s transformation into Tommy Lee included applying a lot of tattoos. He even had 3-D photos taken of his body to determine his body proportions. Then the tattoos were re-created, printed on a special paper, and applied to the actor’s body. This process took roughly 3 hours every day.

Robert Downey Jr. as Charlie Chaplin (Chaplin)

The actor had to accomplish a challenging task. He had to not just look and behave like Charlie Chaplin, but he also had to portray him in different periods of his life. The movie follows Chaplin’s life between the ages of 19 and 83.

Michael Douglas as Liberace (Behind the Candelabra)

Douglas agreed to portray the famous pianist, but filming didn’t start immediately afterward. Only once the actor managed to beat cancer did the filming start. And Douglas did his best. Another factor that helped him get into character is that the movie was shot on Liberace’s actual estates.

Selma Blair as Kris Jenner (The People v. OJ Simpson: American Crime Story)

Kris Jenner, the famous mother of the Kardashians, was played by Selma Blair in the first season of FX’s American Crime Story, also referred to as The People v. O. J. Simpson. The episodes narrate the real story behind the notorious case.

How many of the movies above have you watched and which role captivated you the most?