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15 Celebrities Who Became Iconic For Playing Real Life People, And Their Resemblances Are Uncanny

Portraying a real-life person as an actor is really challenging, which requires an excellent mindset/skillset when preparing for the role. And it's important that you still explore your role like any other fictional character.
And an actor who portrays a real-life character needs to resemble them. In case they're not exactly a twin of the person they're playing, (and of course, they aren't) some actors seem to have gotten so deeply into the roles that they're somehow starting to resemble them. Every speech, movement, and gesture can bring the character back to life. And if we add awesome hair and makeup to the mix, the likeness is often wonderful.
Today, we have compiled a list of 15 celebrities who have become icons when playing roles. Keep scrolling down and check them out!

#1 James Franco as James Dean in James Dean

celebrities who have become icons when playing rolesSource: Warner Bros/Collection Christophel/East News, © James Dean / Five Mile River Films and co-producers


#2 Saoirse Ronan as Queen Mary Stuart in Mary Queen of Scots

celebrities who have become icons when playing rolesSource: © Mary, Queen of Scots / François Clouet / Royal Collection / Wikimedia Commons, © Mary the Queen of Sots / Focus Features and co-producers


#3 Judi Dench as Queen Victoria in Mrs. Brown

celebrities who have become icons when playing rolesSource: © Queen Victoria / Heinrich von Angeli / Royal Collection / Wikimedia Commons, © Mrs. Brown/ / BBC Scotland and co-producers


#4 Rami Malek as Freddie Mercury in Bohemian Rhapsody

celebrities who have become icons when playing rolesSource: © Live Aid / American Broadcasting Company (ABC) and co-producers, © Bohemian Rhapsody / Twentieth Century Fox and co-producers


#5 Michael Douglas as Liberace in Behind the Candelabra

celebrities who have become icons when playing rolesSource: ASSOCIATED PRESS/East News, © Behind the Candelabra / HBO films and co-producer


#6 Helena Bonham Carter as Queen Elizabeth in The King’s Speech

celebrities who have become icons when playing rolesSource: East News, © The King's Speech / The Weinstein Company and co-producers


#7 Cate Blanchett as Katharine Hepburn in The Aviator

celebrities who have become icons when playing rolesSource: Mary Evans/AF Archive/East News, © The Aviator / Forward Pass and co-producers


#8 Renée Zellweger as Judy Garland in Judy

celebrities who have become icons when playing rolesSource: East News, © Judy / BBC Films and co-producers


#9 Olivia Colman as Queen Anne in The Favourite

celebrities who have become icons when playing rolesSource: © Queen Anne / Workshop of John Closterman / National Portrait Gallery / Wikimedia Commons, © The Favourite / Fox Searchlight Pictures and co-producers


#10 Gary Oldman as Sid Vicious in Sid and Nancy

celebrities who have become icons when playing rolesSource: © Chicago Art Department/Wikimedia Commons, © CC BY 2.0, © Sid and Nancy / Initial Pictures and co-producers


#11 Ingrid Bergman as Joan of Arc in the 1948 movie Joan of Arc

celebrities who have become icons when playing rolesSource: © Engraving of Joan of Arc / Albert Lynch / Figaro Illustré Magazine, 1903 / Wikimedia Commons, © Joan of Arc / Walter Wanger Productions and co-producer


#12 Salma Hayek as Frida Kahlo in Frida

Source: Image Barbara Cushing/Everett Collection/EAST NEWS, East News


#13 Anthony Hopkins as Pablo Picasso in Surviving Picasso

celebrities who have become icons when playing rolesSource: AP/East News, © Surviving Picasso / Merchant Ivory Productions and co-producer


#14 Queen Latifah as Bessie Smith in Bessie

celebrities who have become icons when playing rolesSource: AP/East News, © Bessie / HBO Films and co-producers


#15 Sherilyn Fenn as Elizabeth Taylor in Liz: The Elizabeth Taylor Story

celebrities who have become icons when playing rolesSource: Mary Evans/AF Archive/East News, Courtesy Everett Collection/Everett Collection/East News

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