Biopic Actors and the Real-Life People They Played

Meryl Streep plays Emmeline Pankhurst in Suffragette

Focus; Topical Press Agency/Getty Images

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Michael Fassbender plays Steve Jobs in Steve Jobs

Universal; Bob Riha Jr—Getty Images

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Ellen Page plays Stacie Andree in Freeheld

Lionsgate; Tom Spader—AP

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Joseph Gordon Levitt plays Philippe Petit in The Walk

Sony Pictures; Dave Pickoff—AP

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Johnny Depp plays James 'Whitey' Bulger in Black Mass

Warner Brothers; AP

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André Benjamin plays Jimi Hendrix in All Is By My Side

Patrick Redmond—XLrator Media; Photoshot/Getty Images

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Adrien Brody plays Harry Houdini in Houdini.

History Channel; Hulton Archive/Getty Images

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Chadwick Boseman plays James Brown in Get On Up.

Universal Pictures; Gilles Petard—Redferns/Getty Images

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Ashton Kutcher plays Steven Jobs in Jobs.

Open Road Films; Tom Munnecke/Getty Images

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Cate Blanchett plays Bob Dylan in I'm Not There.

Weinstein Co.; Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

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James Franco plays James Dean in James Dean.

Getty Images (2)

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Meryl Streep plays Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady.

Weinstein Co.; Hulton Archive/Getty Images

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Benedict Cumberbatch plays Julian Assange in The Fifth Estate.

Disney; Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images

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Anthony Hopkins plays Alfred Hitchcock in Hitchcock.

Fox Searchlight; NBC/Getty Images

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Salma Hayek plays Frida Kahlo in Frida.

Miramax; Popperfoto/Getty Images

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Gary Oldman plays Sid Vicious in Sid and Nancy.

MGM; Richard E. Aaron—Redferns/Getty Images

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Denzel Washington plays Malcolm X in Malcolm X.

Warner Bros.; Truman Moore—The LIFE Images Collection/Getty Images

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Leonardo DiCaprio plays J. Edgar Hoover in J. Edgar.

Warner Bros.; Bachrach/Getty Images

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Ben Kingsley plays Gandhi in Gandhi.

Columbia; Gamma-Keystone/Getty Images

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Michelle Williams plays Marilyn Monroe in My Week With Marilyn.

Weinstein Co.; NBC/Getty Images

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Joaquin Phoenix plays Johnny Cash in Walk the Line.

20th Century Fox; David Gahr/Getty Images

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Daniel Day-Lewis plays President Abraham Lincoln in Lincoln.

20th Century Fox; Culture Club/Getty Images

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Don Cheadle plays Miles Davis in Miles Ahead.

Brian Douglas, Ton Pouw—AP

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Demetrius Shipp Jr. plays Tupac Shakur in All Eyez on Me.

Summit Entertainment; Raymond Boyd—Getty Images

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