Leonardo DiCaprio, Meryl Streep and More Actors Who Portrayed Real People in Movies and TV Shows

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Leonardo DiCaprio, Meryl Streep and More Actors Who Portrayed Real People in Movies and TV Shows

Art imitating life. Leonardo DiCaprio, Meryl Streep, Sarah Paulson and more stars made their marks playing real people in movies and TV shows. Many won awards for their onscreen depictions of both beloved and controversial figures throughout history. The American Horror Story actress earned an Emmy for her portrayal of famous prosecutor Marcia Clark in September 2016. Paulson won Best Actress in a Limited Series or Television Movie for her role on The People v O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story. The actress dedicated the win to the “whip-smart, giant-hearted” attorney. Clark later exclusively told Us Weekly how it felt to see Paulson take home the trophy. “To have someone as phenomenal as Sarah play me and then win?” she said. “It feels pretty great.” Three years later, Rami Malek won his first Academy Award for playing late musician Freddie Mercury in the Queen biopic, Bohemian Rhapsody. [jwplayer grQQootH-l3ahXupL] “Thank you, Queen. Thank you … for allowing me to be the tiniest part of your phenomenal, extraordinary legacy. I am forever in your debt,” he said during his 2019 Oscars speech after winning Best Actor in a Leading Role. Margot Robbie has a history of taking on real-life characters, having portrayed figure skater Tonya Harding in 2017’s I, Tonya and Queen Elizabeth I in 2018’s Mary Queen of Scots. The following year, Robbie played the late Sharon Tate in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. American Idol alum Jennifer Hudson transformed into music legend Aretha Franklin in Respect, which hits theaters in August 2021. Ahead of her death in August 2018, Franklin handpicked Hudson to fill her shoes in the film. “I am just taking it one step at a time, one day at a time,” the Dreamgirls actress told Sunday Today in December 2019 of the big role. “All I want to do is pay tribute to her and meet her requests, you know? Like, ‘Aretha said do this?’ — ‘Yes, ma’am.’” Scroll to revisit some of the most iconic onscreen portrayals of real people over the years — including Tom Hanks as Fred Rogers and Jamie Foxx as Ray Charles. [podcast_block]

Credit: The Roku Channel

Leonardo DiCaprio, Meryl Streep and More Actors Who Portrayed Real People in Movies and TV Shows

Art imitating life. Leonardo DiCaprio, Meryl Streep, Sarah Paulson and more stars made their marks playing real people in movies and TV shows. Many won awards for their onscreen depictions of both beloved and controversial figures throughout history. The American Horror Story actress earned an Emmy for her portrayal of famous prosecutor Marcia Clark in September 2016. Paulson won Best Actress in a Limited Series or Television Movie for her role on The People v O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story. The actress dedicated the win to the “whip-smart, giant-hearted” attorney. Clark later exclusively told Us Weekly how it felt to see Paulson take home the trophy. “To have someone as phenomenal as Sarah play me and then win?” she said. “It feels pretty great.” Three years later, Rami Malek won his first Academy Award for playing late musician Freddie Mercury in the Queen biopic, Bohemian Rhapsody. [jwplayer grQQootH-l3ahXupL] “Thank you, Queen. Thank you … for allowing me to be the tiniest part of your phenomenal, extraordinary legacy. I am forever in your debt,” he said during his 2019 Oscars speech after winning Best Actor in a Leading Role. Margot Robbie has a history of taking on real-life characters, having portrayed figure skater Tonya Harding in 2017’s I, Tonya and Queen Elizabeth I in 2018’s Mary Queen of Scots. The following year, Robbie played the late Sharon Tate in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. American Idol alum Jennifer Hudson transformed into music legend Aretha Franklin in Respect, which hits theaters in August 2021. Ahead of her death in August 2018, Franklin handpicked Hudson to fill her shoes in the film. “I am just taking it one step at a time, one day at a time,” the Dreamgirls actress told Sunday Today in December 2019 of the big role. “All I want to do is pay tribute to her and meet her requests, you know? Like, ‘Aretha said do this?’ — ‘Yes, ma’am.’” Scroll to revisit some of the most iconic onscreen portrayals of real people over the years — including Tom Hanks as Fred Rogers and Jamie Foxx as Ray Charles. [podcast_block]

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Evan Rachel Wood as Madonna

The Westworld actress resembled the “Like a Virgin” songstress in a first look image at Weird, the film inspired by the career milestones of Weird Al Yankovic.

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Trevante Rhodes as Mike Tyson

The Moonlight actor was the spitting image of the famed boxer in the first look at Hulu's Mike, set to premiere in August 2022.

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Bradley Cooper as Leonard Bernstein

The Oscar nominee will play the legendary composer in Netflix's Maestro, which Cooper also co-wrote and directed. He underwent a massive transformation involving many prosthetics in order to portray Bernstein in his later years.

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Anne Hathaway and Jared Leto as Adam and Rebekah Neumann in ‘WeCrashed’

Hathaway and Leto played the founders of WeWork in the Apple TV+ miniseries, which began airing in March 2022.

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Amanda Seyfried as Elizabeth Holmes in 'The Dropout'

The miniseries followed Seyfried as Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes. The hit Hulu show explored the rise and fall of the entrepreneur who was convicted of criminal fraud for her involvement in the now-defunct health tech company.

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Elle Fanning as Michelle Carter in 'The Girl From Plainville'

Fanning portrayed the Massachusetts native in the Hulu series that focused on Conrad Roy's death. In 2015, an investigation was started into Michelle's involvement with Conrad's suicide. She was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in 2017. 

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Renee Zellweger as Pam Hupp

The Oscar winner underwent a major transformation to play the convicted murderer in The Thing About Pam, which included wearing a fat suit and prosthetics. "The idea is accuracy," she told Entertainment Tonight in March 2022. "I think, especially in the case of telling this story, it was really important to as closely resemble Pam Hupp as we possibly could, because she seems so familiar. She seems like someone that we recognize and we know."

She continued to defend the decision, saying: "In order for you to better understand how possible it might be that people would project onto her who they are … or what kind of person she might be, it just seemed really important that we got as close to that as we could."

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Austin Butler as Elvis Presley in ‘Elvis’

Butler was tapped to take on the role of the late Elvis Presley alongside Tom Hanks in Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis, which hits theaters in June 2022.

“I feel such a responsibility to Elvis and to [ex-wife] Priscilla and [his daughter] Lisa Marie, and all the people around the world who love him so much,” the actor told The Hollywood Reporter, noting he watched “as much” footage of Presley as he could “over and over” to prepare.

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Julia Garner as Anna Sorokin in ‘Inventing Anna’

Garner is set to play Anna Sorkin/Anna Delvey in Netflix’s 2022 true-crime drama, Inventing Anna. The series, which comes from Shonda Rhimes, will dive into the true story of Sorkin, a woman who pretended to be a German heiress named Anna Delvey and allegedly conned friends and high rollers in New York City out of thousands of dollars while pushing her idea of opening a lavish art club in elite cities across the country. The show will investigate what happened both before and after her plan fell apart and landed her in jail.

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Nicole Kidman as Lucille Ball in 'Being the Ricardos'

Kidman is set to play the iconic I Love Lucy star in the December 2021 Amazon Prime movie. Javier Bardem plays her husband, Desi Arnaz.

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Gillian Anderson as Eleanor Roosevelt in 'The First Lady'

After playing Margaret Thatcher in The Crown, the X-Files alum returned stateside to play Eleanor Roosevelt in the Showtime anthology series The First Lady. The show also features Viola Davis as Michelle Obama and Michelle Pfeiffer as Betty Ford.

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Sebastian Stan and Lily James as Tommy Lee and Pamela Anderson in ‘Pam & Tommy’

Stan and James transformed into Lee and Anderson for the Hulu limited series, which focuses on the former couple’s infamous 1995 sex tape.

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Lady Gaga as Patrizia Reggiani in 'House of Gucci'

The pop star joined the cast of the biographical crime film in November 2019 after Angelina Jolie, Penélope Cruz and Margot Robbie were in talks to play Reggiani, the Italian socialite who hired a hitman to assassinate her ex-husband, fashion mogul Maurizio Gucci, in March 1995. After filming began in February 2021, Reggiani said she was “rather annoyed” that Gaga was playing her “without having had the consideration and sensibility to come and meet” her first.

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Julia Garner as Anna Delvey in 'Inventing Anna'

In October 2019, the Emmy winner was nabbed for the role of fake heiress Anna Delvey (born Anna Sorokin) in the Shonda Rhimes adaptation of New York Magazine's 2018 article "How Anna Delvey Tricked New York’s Party People." Filming began one year later — and Garner expertly tapped into her character’s chaotic energy.

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Sarah Paulson as Linda Tripp in 'American Crime Story: Impeachment'

The Florida native teamed up with director Ryan Murphy once again for a dramatic retelling of the impeachment of former president Bill Clinton. "Linda. American Crime Story: Impeachment has begun principal photography," Paulson wrote via Instagram in November 2020, channeling the civil servant in glasses and thick bangs.

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Sophie Turner as Princess Charlotte in ‘The Prince’ Series

The Game of Thrones alum will step into the shoes of Princess Charlotte, Prince William and Duchess Kate’s daughter, in the upcoming animated parody The Prince, coming to HBO Max in 2021.

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Christian Serratos as Selena in ‘Selena: The Series’

The Walking Dead alum portrays the late “Dreaming of You” singer in a Netflix show premiering in November 2020 titled Selena: The Series.

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Jennifer Hudson as Aretha Franklin in ‘Respect’

The Dreamgirls star portrays the iconic singer in the upcoming biopic, Respect, which follows Franklin’s rise from church singer to superstar. The film is set to hit theaters December 2020.

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Rose Bryne as Gloria Steinem in 'Mrs. America'

The Neighbors star portrayed the acclaimed activist in the Hulu mini-series, which chronicled the political movement to pass the Equal Rights Amendment.

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Cynthia Erivo as Harriet Tubman in 'Harriet'

The Color Purple star portrayed the abolitionist and activist in the acclaimed 2019 biographical film.

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Tom Hanks as Fred Rogers in 'A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood'

The Forrest Gump star stepped into Mr. Rogers’ shoes — and iconic red cardigan! — for the lead role in the 2019 drama, which was based on the 1998 Esquire article “Can You Say … Hero?”

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Anthony Hopkins as Pope Benedict XVI in 'The Two Popes'

The Silence of the Lambs star played the retired Catholic prelate in the 2019 Netflix flick opposite Jonathan Pryce (Pope Francis).

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Margot Robbie as Sharon Tate in 'Once Upon a Time in Hollywood'

In Quentin Tarantino's 2019 comedy-drama, the Wolf of Wall Street actress starred as the 1960s movie star and model.

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Nicole Kidman as Gretchen Carlson in 'Bombshell'

The Oscar winner flawlessly portrays the anchor in 2019's Bombshell, a film about the takedown of Fox CEO Roger Ailes.

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Charlize Theron as Megyn Kelly in 'Bombshell'

In the same film, Theron "becomes the story" as Kelly when she decides to speak up against Ailes.

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Austin Butler as Elvis Presley

The Carrie Diaries alum landed the role in the Baz Luhrmann film, which will follow the late Presley’s journey from poor singer to icon, through the view of his manager Colonel Tom Parker (played by Tom Hanks). Miles Teller, Ansel Elgort and Harry Styles were also in the running for the title role.

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Taron Egerton as Elton John in ‘Rocketman’

The Kingsman star not only portrayed the music icon in the 2019 biographical film, he also sang live for the musical numbers (unlike Bohemian Rhapsody, in which Rami Malek lip-synched as Freddie Mercury). “Our movie is a musical,” Egerton noted to Variety. “It requires an actor who can sing in the lead role. For a biopic, that’s not necessary.”

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Renée Zellweger as Judy Garland in ‘Judy’

The Chicago star completely transformed into icon Judy Garland for Judy, the film that follows the actress’ life and what happened 30 years after The Wizard of Oz.

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Russell Crowe as Roger Ailes in ‘The Loudest Voice’

The Academy Award winner underwent an unnerving transformation for The Loudest Voice, the Showtime miniseries about the rise and fall of late Fox News boss Roger Ailes.

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Connie Britton as Debra Newell in ‘Dirty John’

Britton wowed audiences when she took on the leading role in Bravo’s adaptation of the popular L.A. Times podcast “Dirty John.” Newell told Us Weekly in November 2018 that the Friday Night Lights alum’s interpretation “was pretty spot-on. The way she spoke, her hand gestures and the way she dressed.”

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Darren Criss as Andrew Cunanan in ‘The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story’

The Glee alum took home an Emmy for his scary turn as the man who killed Gianni Versace. “The whole thing is a shocking experience!” he told Us of his win in September 2018.

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Christian Bale as Dick Cheney in ‘Vice’

Bale was unrecognizable after adding 40 pounds to his frame for his role as George W. Bush’s vice president. “I had more fun gaining the weight than losing it!” he told reporters in December 2018.

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Rami Malek as Freddie Mercury in ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’

The Mr. Robot star earned rave reviews (and an Oscar!) playing Queen’s lead singer in the 2018 film.

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Leonardo DiCaprio as Howard Hughes in ‘The Aviator’

The Titanic star's first best actor Oscar nomination stemmed from his role as eccentric billionaire Howard Hughes in the 2005 movie. However, he would not get his hands on the trophy until 2016 for The Revenant.

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Michelle Williams as Marilyn Monroe in ‘My Week With Marilyn’

The Dawson’s Creek alum garnered a Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Motion Picture — Comedy or Musical and an Academy Award nomination for her work in the 2011 flick, in which the actress spent a week traveling around London with Colin Clark (Eddie Redmayne).

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Antonio Banderas as Pablo Picasso in ‘Genius’

Banderas took the reins from Geoffrey Rush — who played Albert Einstein during season 1 — in season 2 of the National Geographic series.

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Sarah Paulson as Marcia Clark in ‘The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story’

Season 1 of Ryan Murphy’s FX anthology series was filled with standout performances from Sterling K. Brown, Courtney B. Vance, John Travolta, Cuba Gooding Jr. and David Schwimmer. Paulson racked up the most awards, including a Golden Globe, an Emmy and a Screen Actor’s Guild Award, for her 2016 role as lead prosecutor in the O.J. Simpson murder trial. “To have someone as phenomenal as Sarah play me and then win?” Clark told Us of the actress’ Emmy Award in September 2016. “It feels pretty great.”

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Claire Foy as Queen Elizabeth II in ‘The Crown’

The actress won a Golden Globe, an Emmy and two Screen Actors Guild Awards for her work as the longest-reigning British monarch, which spanned two seasons of the Netflix show.

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Jamie Foxx as Ray Charles in ‘Ray’

Foxx earned the best actor Oscar in 2004 after portraying the blind musician in the biopic.

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Margot Robbie as Tonya Harding in ‘I, Tonya’

The Wolf of Wall Street actress revisited Harding’s 1994 attack on figure skating rival Nancy Kerrigan. Robbie received critical acclaim and an Academy Award nomination following the 2017 movie.

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Gary Oldman as Winston Churchill in ‘The Darkest Hour’

Oldman disappeared beneath a mountain of prosthetics that made him more Churchill-esque. The actor took home the trifecta of statues for the 2017 film: a Golden Globe, a Screen Actors Guild Award and an Academy Award.

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Meryl Streep as Margaret Thatcher in ‘The Iron Lady’

Though Streep has been nominated for an Oscar 21 times, she took home only her third trophy in 2012 for portraying the late British prime minister.

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Daniel Day-Lewis as Abraham Lincoln in ‘Lincoln’

Day-Lewis won over critics in his part as the 16th president in the 2012 film. The actor won his third Academy Award before announcing his retirement in June 2017.

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Kerry Washington as Anita Hill in ‘Confirmation’

The Scandal alum starred as Hill to Wendell Pierce’s Clarence Thomas in the 2016 HBO movie based on the Supreme Court justice’s confirmation hearings.

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Reese Witherspoon as June Carter Cash in ‘Walk the Line’

A brunette Witherspoon won her first Oscar playing Johnny Cash’s wife and frequent collaborator in the 2005 film.

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Naomi Watts as Princess Diana in ‘Diana’

The Australia native took on the role of the late princess for the 2013 biopic, which depicted Diana’s final two years before her death. However, the movie was not well received.

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Natalie Portman as Jacqueline Kennedy in ‘Jackie’

Portman was nominated for an Academy Award, a Golden Globe and more accolades after she played the titular character in the 2016 flick.

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Octavia Spencer as Dorothy Vaughan in ‘Hidden Figures’

Spencer, Taraji P. Henson and Janelle Monáe all received recognition for their roles as African American women who overcame the odds to become integral to NASA’s operations.

Photo Editor: Nicole Mazza