20 Examples Of An Uncanny Resemblance Between Actors And The Famous Real People They Played

Imagine being assigned the task of playing the likes of Elvis Presley or Marilyn Monroe - the honor would be great, but the pressure would be immense.

Stephanie

• Published in Film & TV
• April 1, 2022

An actor's job is to convince an audience that they are an entirely different person. They need to make us believe they are the character they've been assigned, and if they do it well, we can completely forget that they are two different people.

It's not an easy job by any means, but what is even more challenging is to portray a real-life person that everyone knows. I mean, imagine being assigned the task of playing the likes of Elvis Presley, Marlon Brando, or Marilyn Monroe - the honor would be great, but the pressure would be immense.

It takes remarkable talent and hard work for an actor to pull off a role like that. But it also takes good genes and incredible makeup.

When an actor who even slightly resembles the person they're playing teams up with an amazing makeup artist, well, magic happens. And as the audience, we are lucky enough to witness that magic unfold on the big screen.

We thought it would be fun to take a look back at some of the most impressive matches between actors and their subjects, and there sure are a lot of them. Keep scrolling to see 20 examples of an uncanny resemblance between actors and the famous people they played.

1. Sissy Spacek as Loretta Lynn in Coal Miner’s Daughter

2. Julianne Moore as Sarah Palin in Game Change

3. Christian Bale as Dick Cheney in Vice

4. Matthew Broderick as Col. Robert Gould Shaw in Glory

5. James Franco as James Dean in James Dean

6. Joe Mazzello as John Deacon in Bohemian Rhapsody

7. Rami Malek as Freddie Mercury in Bohemian Rhapsody

8. Cate Blanchett as Bob Dylan in I’m Not There

9. Eric Elmosnino as Serge Gainsbourg in Gainsbourg: A Heroic Life

10. Gwilym Lee as Brian May in Bohemian Rhapsody

11. Adrien Brody as Salvador Dalí in Midnight in Paris

12. Sean Penn as Harvey Milk in Milk

13. Eddie Redmayne as Stephen Hawking in The Theory of Everything

14. Steve Carell as Bobby Riggs in Battle of the Sexes

15. Jennifer Lopez as Selena Quintanilla in Selena

16. Robert Downey Jr. as Charlie Chaplin in Chaplin

17. Geoffrey Rush as Alberto Giacometti in Final Portrait

18. Daniel Day-Lewis as Abraham Lincoln in Lincoln

19. Salma Hayek as Frida Kahlo in Frida

20. Gary Oldman as Winston Churchill in Darkest Hour

So, there you have it! 20 epic examples of an uncanny resemblance between actors and the famous people they played.

It's incredible to see the similarity between some of these actors and the people they portrayed. But without the talent of the makeup artists and hairdressers involved, the results surely would not have been quite as impressive.

It takes an entire team of professionals to work that kind of magic. And, of course, a great deal of luck when it comes to similar features, stature, and bone structure.

Who do you think is the best match on our list? Feel free to let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.

Stephanie