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Celebrity Stars In Their Eyes
The winners and losers when actors play real people
Actors taking on biopics can be a mixed blessing. While many who have portrayed real people on screen have produced uncanny likenesses and gone on to win awards, others have been rubbished for their work. So who matches up and who makes a mockery of it? Let's run a few from the list…

WORDS JAMES WHITE

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Celebrity Stars In Their Eyes
Morgan Freeman
Nelson Mandela, Invictus (2009)

Does He Get It Right? Pretty much spot on, which we suppose is not too difficult when you have the man himself picking you as the only person for the job. Freeman has met Mandela a few times and had long wanted to play him; he'd even set up a biopic that got pushed aside when his old mucker Clint Eastwood approached him about the new project.

Freeman certainly had the look already, and he takes on Mandela's mannerisms spookily well. Some in South Africa have complained about his accent, but he was never going to be able to please everyone.

Awards? Freeman scored an Oscar nomination for the role, as well as being up for a NAACP Image award.

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Have Your Say
Which one of these performances do you think perfectly potrayed their real life counterpart? Register or login now to have your say.

Your Comments
1
Posted on Wednesday February 24, 2010, 21:35 by Hamsterwalt
Tom Hardy as Charles Bronson(prisoner) Read More

2 Hmmm...
Posted on Saturday February 13, 2010, 11:39 by Whatever!
...Am shocked to see no mention of Michael Sheen. Or Daniel Day-Lewis. Agree with chizmund. Would have liked to see who you didn't rate. Should have done eight you think made the grade, eight who didn't. Read More

3 Crowe/Nash
Posted on Friday February 12, 2010, 20:54 by rolo_the_hamster
Russell Crowe as John Nash in A Beautiful Mind. Read More

4 Reese
Posted on Friday February 12, 2010, 16:50 by Simplisico
To be honest Reese Witherspoon doesn't look or act like June Carter Cash at all. And even Titanic Oscar, so that isn't saying much. She's a fine actress though. Read More

5
Posted on Wednesday February 10, 2010, 15:01 by anganthadams
Everyone still missed Reese Witherspoon as June Carter Cash in Walk the Line. And she won the Oscar. Read More

6 Denzel Washington
Posted on Wednesday February 10, 2010, 04:00 by meghane
The first one that came to mind was Denzel Washington as Malcolm X. Read More

7 Kaufman
Posted on Tuesday February 9, 2010, 23:50 by John Firth
Jim Carrey did a cracking job as Andy Kaufman. Don't remember if he did Elvis or not though. Kaufman's Elvis was uncanny. Read More

8 Joaquin Pheonix and RDJ
Posted on Tuesday February 9, 2010, 22:46 by Nicola Brierley
Joaquin Pheonix made a great Johnny Cash! And Robert Downey Jr in Chaplin?? Read More

9
Posted on Tuesday February 9, 2010, 14:13 by JonathanMardukas
Toby Jones' Portrayal of Truman Capote in In Cold Blood was as good if not better than P.S Hoffmans....IMO Read More

10 Philip Seymour Hoffman....
Posted on Tuesday February 9, 2010, 08:09 by jamesjewell1983
as Lester Bangs in Almost Famous Read More

11
Posted on Tuesday February 9, 2010, 02:14 by lona_no_friends
Langella was far better as Nixon than Hopkins was. The rest were good though. Also, what about Jaouquiaan Phoenix for Walk The Line? Read More

12 Frank Langella
Posted on Monday February 8, 2010, 19:16 by pineapple conductor
Why the Hell is hopkins up when Frank Langella is 10X better Read More

13 "Who Made A Mockery Of It?"
Posted on Monday February 8, 2010, 17:21 by chizmund
Nobody, apparently. Was kind of looking forward to seeing who you didn't rate. Read More

14
Posted on Monday February 8, 2010, 15:47 by dunkah
Josh Brolin did a stand up job as Dubya even if the film was a little bland. What is it with Ollie Stone and his uncontroversial films about controversial figurers? And Benicio Del Toro pretty much nailed Che Guevara. More so than Omar Sharif...:P Read More

15 Johnny Depp
Posted on Monday February 8, 2010, 15:21 by Capt.Tightpants
What about Johnny Depp in Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas. Fair enough that it isn't quite the same thing as playing a real person but Raul Duke is at his core Hunter S. Thompson. I find it hard to read any of Thompson's work without hearing Depp's voice. Also seen documentary footage of Thompson and Depp nailed his every speech pattern and weird mannerisms. Read More

16
Posted on Monday February 8, 2010, 15:20 by Toursiveu2
What about... Dennis Quaid as Jerry Lee Lewis in Great Balls Of Fire Joaquin Phoenix as Johnny Cash in Walk the Line Kurt Russell as Elvis Presley in Elvis : The Movie Marion Cotillard as Edith Piaf in La Môme Sean Penn as Harvey Milk in Milk Philip Seymour Hoffman as Truman Capote in Capote Robert Downey, Jr. as Charles Chaplin in Chaplin Paul Rudd, Paul McCartney, Justin Long and Jason Schwartzmann as the Beatles in Walk Hard Jack White as Elvis Presley in Walk Hard Leonardo DiCaprio as Howard Hughes in The Aviator Cate Blanchett as Katharine Hepburn in The Aviator Jude Law as Errol Flynn in The Aviator Kate Beckinsale as Ava Gardner in The Aviator Ed Harris as Jackson Pollock in Pollock Willem Dafoe as Max Schreck in Shadow of the Vampire Johnny Depp as Ed Wood in Ed Wood Martin Landau as Bela Lugosi in Ed Wood Vincent D'Onofrio as Orson Welles in Ed Wood Liev Schreiber as Orson Welles in RKO 231 Christian McKay as Orson Welles in Me and Orson Welles JohnRead More

17
Posted on Monday February 8, 2010, 14:01 by Judge
Martin Sheen in like, half his filmography?! Read More

18 Will Smith???
Posted on Monday February 8, 2010, 13:27 by cj5ar
What about Will Smith in Ali? That was pretty spot on. Read More

19 Does 'he' get it right?
Posted on Monday February 8, 2010, 12:32 by captainamazing
Since two of these actors are women, surely you could've just written 'do they get it right?'. That would've saved you correcting it to 'does she get it right?', which you never did. A bit lazy on this one, eh? Read More

20 Daniel Day Lewis?
Posted on Monday February 8, 2010, 12:13 by edeaston
What about Daniel Day Lewis in My Left Foot? Read More


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