26 Amazing Actors Vs. The Real Life People They Played

2017-2018 edition.

1. Gary Oldman as Winston Churchill in Darkest Hour

Focus Features, Walter Stoneman / Getty Images

Nominated for six Academy Awards, Darkest Hour focuses on Churchill's first few months as Prime Minster, when Hitler was close to invading Britain.

Fun Fact: On average it took Oldman and his make-up team roughly three full hours to get into the Winston Churchill make-up every day.

2. Margot Robbie as Tonya Harding in I, Tonya

Neon, Chris Cole / Getty Images

Nominated for three Academy Awards, I, Tonya follows the life and career of Olympic ice skater, Tonya Harding, including the planned attack on her competitor, Nancy Kerrigan.

Fun Fact: Even though Robbie had ice-skating training for the role, there was no way she'd be able to do Harding's infamous triple axel, as only eight women in history have ever done one. So in the film the trick is done with the help of CGI.

3. Sebastian Stan as Jeff Gillooly in I, Tonya

Neon, Chris Wilkins / AFP / Getty Images

Stan stars alongside Margot Robbie in I, Tonya, playing Tonya Harding's ex-husband, Jeff Gillooly.

Fun Fact: After the events of the film, Gillooly changed his name to Jeff Stone and remarried. He now lives in the same town as Harding, although they don't see each other or speak.

4. Meryl Streep as Katharine Graham in The Post

20th Century Fox, Evening Standard / Getty Images

In The Post, Meryl plays Katharine Graham, the owner of The Washington Post, who struggles with publishing the classified government Pentagon Papers.

Fun Fact: This role gave Streep her 21st Academy Award nomination, the most of any actor in history. Of the 21 nominations, she has (so far) won three...which is a travesty, TBH.

5. Tom Hanks as Ben Bradlee The Post

20th Century Fox, Afp / AFP / Getty Images

Hanks stars as The Washington Post editor-in-chief Ben Bradlee, alongside Meryl Streep in The Post.

Fun Fact: Despite being two Hollywood heavyweights, Hanks and Streepe hadn't met before filming the movie.

6. Emma Stone as Billie Jean King in Battle of the Sexes

Fox Searchlight Pictures, Frank Barratt / Getty Images

Battle of the Sexes chronicles the famous 1973 tennis match between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs.

Fun Fact: Stone actually brought King to the Golden Globes with her as her date, and they were the definition of #Goals.

7. Steve Carell as Bobby Riggs Battle of the Sexes

Fox Searchlight Pictures, Keystone / Getty Images

Carell plays three-time Wimbeldon champion Bobby Riggs, alongside Emma Stone in Battle of the Sexes.

Fun Fact: Over 30,000 people attended the real "Battle of the Sexes" tennis match in 1973, while over 90 MILLION people tuned into ABC to watch from their homes worldwide.

8. James Franco as Tommy Wiseau in The Disaster Artist

A24, TPW Films

Based on the book of the same name, The Disaster Artist chronicles Tommy Wiseau's making of The Room.

Fun Fact: Franco won a Golden Globe for his insanely accurate portrayal of Wiseau and, upon accepting the award, Wiseau joined him on-stage and tried to steal the mic from him, which Franco quickly finessed away.

9. Dave Franco as Greg Sestero The Disaster Artist

A24, TPW Films

Starring alongside his brother, Dave Franco portrays Greg Sestero, an actor in The Room who later went on to write the memoir The Disaster Artist.

Fun Fact: Sestero’s character in The Room, Mark, was named after Matt Damon...no, seriously. Wiseau had an obsession with Damon, but misheard his name as “Mark” at some point and stuck with it.

10. Taylor Kitsch as David Koresh in Waco

Paramount Network, therightperspective.org

Kitsch stars in the 2018 miniseries, Waco, which follows the tragic events surrounding the 51-day standoff between cult leader David Koresh and the FBI in 1993.

Fun Fact: The role was almost too much for Kitsch to handle. "I almost pulled out a month and a half [before the filming began]," he said. "I think I was in too deep. You spend eight hours a day in this 1,000-square-foot apartment in Austin playing guitar and reading about this tragedy every single day. "

11. Claire Foy as Queen Elizabeth II in The Crown

Netflix, Keystone / Getty Images

Golden Globe-winning series The Crown, centers on the life and reign of Queen Elizabeth II.

Fun Fact: The series planned to follow the Queen throughout different stages of her life, which means when Foy signed on, she knew she would only be playing the character for two seasons.

12. Chadwick Boseman as Thurgood Marshall in Marshall

Open Road Films, Wiki/Public Domain

Years before he would become a Supreme Court Justice, Marshall follows Thurgood Marshall as he fights to defend a black man wrongfully-accused of rape.

Fun Fact: Boseman shot Captain America: Civil War, then Marshall, then Black Panther, which means he had to bulk up, then slim down, then bulk up again in a short amount of time.

13. Ross Lynch as Jeffrey Dahmer in My Friend Dahmer

FilmRise, Wiki/Public Domain

My Friend Dahmer follows the life of serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer during his last year of high school, just a few weeks before he would kill his first victim.

(Fun) / Not-So Fact: The movie is based on the graphic novel of the same name by John Backderf, who had befriended Dahmer in highschool.

14. Jessica Chastain as Molly Bloom in Molly's Game

STXfilms, Afp Contributor / AFP / Getty Images

Based on the memoir of the same name, Molly's Game tells the story of Molly Bloom, who ran a high-stakes poker game catered to the rich and famous, before being arrested by the FBI a few years later.

Fun Fact: In real-life, multiple A-list celebrities participated in Bloom's infamous game. Among the confirmed are Ben Affleck, Tobey Maguire, and Leonardo DiCaprio.

15. Zoe Kazan as Emily V. Gordon in The Big Sick

Amazon, Dimitrios Kambouris / Getty Images

Nominated for an Academy Award, The Big Sick follows the relationship between comedian Kumail Nanjiani and his now-wife Emily V. Gordon, who fell into a coma in the early months of their relationship.

Fun Fact: After the film's release, Nanjiani found the entire film illegally uploaded onto Pornhub under the "interracial" section. LOL.

16. Christopher Plummer as J. Paul Getty in All the Money in the World

TriStar Pictures, George W. Hales / Getty Images

All the Money in the World details the events of the kidnapping of John Paul Getty III, the grandson of oil tycoon, J. Paul Getty, who, at the time, was the richest person in the world.

Fun Fact: After replacing Kevin Spacey in the film, Plummer managed to re-shoot all of his scenes in nine days.

17. Hugh Jackman as P.T. Barnum in The Greatest Showman

20th Century Fox, Henry Guttmann / Getty Images

The Greatest Showman is a musical-drama inspired by the early creation of Barnum & Bailey Circus.

Fun Fact: It took Jackman over seven years to get the film made, from conception to release.

18. Judi Dench as Queen Victoria in Victoria & Abdul

BBC Films, Wiki/Alexander Bassano

Victoria & Abdul follows the late-in-life friendship of Queen Victoria and her Indian attendant, Abdul Karim.

Fun Fact: While being hailed as one of the most talented actresses of our time, Dench has never won an Academy Award in the Best Actress category, though she did win one for Best Supporting Actress for Shakespeare in Love.

19. Demetrius Shipp Jr. as Tupac Shakur in All Eyez on Me

Summit Entertainment, Rock & Roll Hall of Fame

All Eyez on Me is a biographical drama that tells the life of rapper Tupac Shakur.

Fun Fact: Besides looking strikingly like the late rap artist, Shipp's father, Demetrius Shipp Sr., actually PRODUCED music for Tupac on the album The Don Killuminati: The 7 Day Theory, specifically on the track “Toss It Up.”

20. Domhnall Gleeson as A.A. Milne in Goodbye Christopher Robin

Fox Searchlight Pictures, Brewster Publications

Set between World War I and World War II, Goodbye Christopher Robin is a biographical drama about A.A. Milne, the creator of Winnie the Pooh.

Fun Fact: Much more than just a children's author, Milne's writing talent actually led to his being tapped to join a secret propaganda unit, MI7b, in 1916.

21. Saoirse Ronan as Mary, Queen of Scots in Mary, Queen of Scots

John Mathieson / Focus Features, François Clouet / Royal Collection Trust

Scheduled for release on Nov. 2, 2018, Mary, Queen of Scots follows the 18-year-old ruler who returns to Scotland to rightfully claim the throne, creating a rivalry with Queen Elizabeth I.

Fun Fact: Ronan has already been nominated for three Academy Awards, and is only 23 years old.

22. Margot Robbie as Queen Elizabeth I in Mary, Queen of Scots

Splash News, Michael Bowles / Getty Images

Margot Robbie stars as Queen Elizabeth I in Mary, Queen of Scots alongside Saoirse Ronan.

Fun Fact: Before becoming one of the most recognizable actresses in recent years, one of Robbie's first jobs was working at Subway.

23. Geoffrey Rush as Albert Einstein in Genius

National Geographic, Topical Press Agency / Getty Images

Nominated for a Golden Globe and 10 Emmy awards, Genius is an anthology docu-drama that follows the life of society's groundbreakers. The first season stars Geoffrey Rush as Albert Einstein, exploring his life before and after he became a famous physicist. The second season of the National Geographic show will focus on the life of Pablo Picasso.

Fun Fact: Rush's wife in the film, Emily Watson, also play his wife in the film The Book Thief (2013).

24. Felicity Jones as Ruth Bader Ginsburg in On the Basis of Sex

Participant Media, Twitter: @womensmarch

Long before she would become a Justice herself, On the Basis of Sex follows a young Ruth Bader Ginsburg as she fights a gender discrimination before the Supreme Court.

Fun Fact: RBG was one of only nine women in her class of 500 at Harvard Law...AND she was also taking care of her 14-month-old baby at the time.

25. Jennifer Hudson as Aretha Franklin in Franklin's Untitled Biopic

Alberto E. Rodriguez / Getty Images, Theo Wargo / Getty Images

Though it's in early stages, it was recently announced that Jennifer Hudson will portray Aretha Franklin in an untitled biopic, set to start filming in 2019.

Fun Fact: Franklin actually handpicked Hudson for the role herself.

26. Tom Hanks as Mr. Rogers in You Are My Friend

Pascal Le Segretain / Getty Images, Family Communications Inc. / Getty Images

Hanks will star as Mister Rogers in You Are My Friend, which follows the friendship between the beloved TV personality and journalist Tom Junod.

Fun Fact: All of the cozy cardigans worn by the beloved Mr. Rogers on his show were knitted for him by his mother.