Whether it's in biopics or in other historical movies, playing an important person often leads to some of the most amazing performances put on film. There are far too many to count, much less list here, but we do think you'll agree that this list of 32 actors playing famous people rank among the best.
Ben Kingsley - Gandhi
starring Ben Kingsley as the revered leader of India and icon to peaceful protestors all over the world is an amazing movie. At the heart is Kingsley's amazing, transformative performance. He looks and sounds just like Gandhi, it's almost uncanny.
Margot Robbie - Tonya Harding
, it's safe to say that many were skeptical. It took the actor all of about 30 seconds of screen time in the movie to prove those skeptics very wrong. Robbie is fantastic as the troubled skater with a family life that you wouldn't wish on anyone.
Paul Dano - Brian Wilson
-era Wilson, is simply amazing. He completely disappears into the role.
Reese Witherspoon - June Carter Cash
as June and Johnny Cash. Really both deserve to be on this list, but we've the honor to Witherspoon if only because she won Best Actress at the Oscars in 2006.
Robert Downey, Jr - Charlie Chaplin
for playing the legendary actor and Hollywood trailblazer. It's a movie that doesn't get talked about much these days, but it's still great. Especially Downey's performance.
Natalie Portman - Jackie Kennedy
.
Meryl Streep - Margaret Thatcher
where she played the first female prime minister of the United Kingdom, Margaret Thatcher.
Rami Malek - Freddy Mercury
It's not all about the prosthetic teeth, as Malek nailed so many nuances and mannerisms of the icon rock star. Just as in real life, the performance at Live Aid at the end of the movie brings down the house.
Val Kilmer - Jim Morrison
was probably a seminal film for you. Val Kilmer blew audiences away as the late Jim Morrison. It was so good you'd swear you were watching the real Morrison as he rose to fame and then burned out quickly before tragically becoming a member of the "27 Club" in 1971.
Denzel Washington - Malcolm X
.
Faye Dunaway - Joan Crawford
. It's scary and mesmerizing. Joan Crawford was one of the most beloved actors in Hollywood in the Golden Age in Hollywood, but this movie changed the public's opinion of her forever - and not for the better.
Jennifer Lopez - Selena
, she was the legend we all know today. It's a groundbreaking performance.
David Oyelowo - Dr, Martin Luther King, Jr.
Everyone in America has heard the powerful voice of Martin Luther King, Jr. hundreds of times. His speeches are part of everyone's education. That makes David Oyelowo's turn as the civil rights leader that much harder - and that much more impressive. It's just fantastic.
Cate Blanchett - Bob Dylan
Compare that to Blanchett and you'll realize just how great she was.
Daniel Day-Lewis - Abraham Lincoln
just may be the best. It frankly could be the greatest acting performance of all time. There's an argument for it, at least. He's simply incredible and brings the tragic president to life like no one else has before or since, and likely never will.
Cillian Murphy - J. Robert Oppenheimer
. It's a subtle, smoldering performance, just like the personality of the real Oppenheimer. Playing the scientist in his greatest moments in life and his lowest, it's a fantastic showing by the Irish actor.
Cynthia Erivo - Harriet Tubman
, they had the good sense to cast Cynthia Erivo as the former slave-turned-freedom fighter. She's amazing.
Forest Whitaker - Idi Amin
as the brutal dictator of Uganda, Idi Amin. He's so good there are even moments where viewers might feel compassion for the man, despite his worst tendencies as the leader of the country.
Jessica Chastain - Tammy Faye Bakker
If you were around in the 1980s, you remember all the insanity around Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker. Jim Bakker crying on TV with Tammy Faye right next to him is something no one will forget. Jessica Chastain's turn as the evangelical preacher's wife is just as memorable.
Philip Seymour Hoffman - Truman Capote
The role completely takes control of the actor in the best way. It might as well been the writer himself. You completely forget there is even an actor behind the role.
Daniel Kaluuya - Fred Hampton
, but it paid off brilliantly as Kaluuya nails the role.
Gary Oldman - Winston Churchill
may just be the best. His reading of those famous speeches is just mesmerizing.
Angela Bassett - Tina Tuner
Bassett's performance is transcendent and certainly deserved the Oscar nomination she received. She should've won it!
Austin Butler - Elvis Presley
that critics of the actor complained that even months later he was still talking like the King of Rock and Roll. he wasn't, but that does say something about how good he was in the Baz Luhrmann-directed bio flick.
Jesse Eisenberg - Mark Zuckerberg
was first announced, many were confused as to how someone could make an interesting movie about the founding of Facebook. It turns out, that if you get a great writer like Aaron Sorkin, a great director like David Fincher, and someone like Jesse Eisenberg to play the Mark Zuckerberg, you can make it look easy. The movie is great, and Eisenberg's performance is pitch-perfect.
Leonardo DiCaprio - Howard Hughes
, Leonardo DiCaprio fully embodies everything about the director and businessman. He takes on his greatest triumphs and sinks to the depths of Hughes' despair in the lowest points of his mental illness with the same gusto.
Charlize Theron - Aileen Wuornos
Serial killer Aileen Wuornos was a terrifying person. A true monster, as the name of the movie about her is called. That's not to say a viewer can't have some sympathy for the circumstances that brought her to the point of murder, but you can't excuse her. Charlize Theron does an incredible job bringing all of that to the role in
Sean Penn - Harvey Milk
Harvey Milk.
George C. Scott - George Patton
is amazing. Even though the opening scene of him making a speech in front of the flag is fictional, it sets the tone perfectly and the movie never lets up.
Cate Blanchett - Katharine Hepburn
as Howard Hughes, but he's not the only great performance in the movie. Cate Blanchett as the iconic Katharine Hepburn is, well, iconic. There's just no better word for either. It's not only a spot-on impression, the portrayal nails everything that was great about Hepburn.
Robert De Niro - Jake LaMotta
legendary. Scorsese's direction is pretty great too.
Helen Mirren - Queen Elizabeth II
. The late Queen was an icon in every sense of the word and playing her could not have been easy, yet, when you have the talent of Helen Mirren, it looks easy. It surely wasn't.
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