17 Actors Who Successfully Portrayed Real-Life People In Movies and TV Shows

It’s hard to portray a famous character, but it’s even harder when this character is a real-life person. Normally, actors have to imagine or create their character’s personalities. Still, when it comes to a real person, actors need to carefully study the facial expressions, gestures, movements, and other things of the person they are going to portray on-screen.
Viewers seem to notice every single detail of those actors’ performances because they’re probably fans who know the characters very well. If there’s something wrong, no matter how big this mistake is, the actors’ portrayals are likely ridiculous and become an eyesore to viewers.
Thankfully, many actors managed to successfully cope with that task. Let’s take a look at these 17 actors who played people in real life and nailed it. Scroll down and check them out!

#14 Evan Rachel Wood as Madonna, Weird: The Al Yankovic Story

#15 Jalyn Hall as Emmett Till, Till

#16 James Franco as Hugh Hefner, Lovelace

#17 Sienna Miller as Tippi Hedren, The Girl

Source: The Birds / Alfred J. Hitchcock Productions, The Girl / Warner Bros.

#1 Jessica Chastain as Tammy Wynette, George & Tammy

#2 Susan Sarandon as Bette Davis, Feud

#3 Elizabeth Debicki as Princess Diana, The Crown

#4 Bradley Cooper as Leonard Bernstein, Maestro

#5 Kristen Stewart as Jean Seberg, Seberg

#6 Angela Bassett as Tina Turner, What’s Love Got to Do with It

#7 John Travolta as Robert Shapiro, American Crime Story

#8 Kenneth Branagh as Laurence Olivier, My Week With Marilyn

#9 Mark Rylance as Maurice Flitcroft, The Phantom of the Open

#10 Jessica Lange as Joan Crawford, Feud

#11 Trevante Rhodes as Mike Tyson, Mike

#12 Kerry Washington as Anita Hill, Confirmation

#13 Naomi Ackie as Whitney Houston, I Wanna Dance with Somebody

#14 Evan Rachel Wood as Madonna, Weird: The Al Yankovic Story

#15 Jalyn Hall as Emmett Till, Till

#16 James Franco as Hugh Hefner, Lovelace

#17 Sienna Miller as Tippi Hedren, The Girl