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  1. #1
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    Default Best actor/actress for portraying a real-life person in a film or tv show?

    Billboard magazine released an article of 'Actors Who Were Oscar-Nominated for Playing Real Musicians & Singers'.

    Who, IYO, has been the best actor or actress to portray a real-life person (NOT just a musician or singer - ANY real-life person) all-time?

    https://www.billboard.com/lists/acto...in-elvis-2022/

  2. #2
    Not a Newbie Member JBatmanFan05's Avatar
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    Bruno Ganz for his portrayal of Adolf Hitler in the Oscar-nominated film Downfall (2004).

    Daniel Day-Lewis as Abraham Lincoln.

    There are so many bests.
    Last edited by JBatmanFan05; 01-25-2023 at 08:32 AM.
    Things I love: Batman, Superman, AEW, old films, Lovecraft

    Grant Morrison: “Adults...struggle desperately with fiction, demanding constantly that it conform to the rules of everyday life. Adults foolishly demand to know how Superman can possibly fly, or how Batman can possibly run a multibillion-dollar business empire during the day and fight crime at night, when the answer is obvious even to the smallest child: because it's not real.”

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    Invincible Member Kirby101's Avatar
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    I wouldn't begin to pick, there are so many. But I have a thought that there are two different things at play. One is people who perfectly mimic the real life person. The other is actors who turn in brilliant performances as real life people, even if it is not an exact replication.
    There came a time when the Old Gods died! The Brave died with the Cunning! The Noble perished locked in battle with unleashed Evil! It was the last day for them! An ancient era was passing in fiery holocaust!

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    Not a Newbie Member JBatmanFan05's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Kirby101 View Post
    I have a thought that there are two different things at play. One is people who perfectly mimic the real life person. The other is actors who turn in brilliant performances as real life people, even if it is not an exact replication.
    I can see this distinction. An helpful example of "not an exact replication" great performance might be Kirk Douglas as Spartacus in Spartacus, since we have little to no idea what the real Spartacus was actually like (so there couldn't possibly be any replication short of using a time machine). Jesus is another a real life person where that could be the case.

    Then there'd be far more recent real life people where artistic license is employed a lot, but you get a great performance nonetheless. Probably none of the great actors who have perhaps greatly performed Richard Nixon have ever been much of a true replication of him (since he was too non-imitatable in his appearance, accent, etc).
    Last edited by JBatmanFan05; 01-25-2023 at 09:21 AM.
    Things I love: Batman, Superman, AEW, old films, Lovecraft

    Grant Morrison: “Adults...struggle desperately with fiction, demanding constantly that it conform to the rules of everyday life. Adults foolishly demand to know how Superman can possibly fly, or how Batman can possibly run a multibillion-dollar business empire during the day and fight crime at night, when the answer is obvious even to the smallest child: because it's not real.”

  5. #5

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    Oscar Isaac in show me a hero.

    Ranbir Kapoor in Sanju

  6. #6
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    I would say Sissy Spacek as Loretta Lynn in Coal Miner’s Daughter.

    I grew up watching Loretta on Hee Haw and all kinds of shows. Spacek made you believe she was Lynn. You could close your eyes and listen and it sounded like Loretta.

  7. #7
    Invincible Member Kirby101's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by JBatmanFan05 View Post
    I can see this distinction. An helpful example of "not an exact replication" great performance might be Kirk Douglas as Spartacus in Spartacus, since we have little to no idea what the real Spartacus was actually like (so there couldn't possibly be any replication short of using a time machine). Jesus is another a real life person where that could be the case.

    Then there'd be far more recent real life people where artistic license is employed a lot, but you get a great performance nonetheless. Probably none of the great actors who have perhaps greatly performed Richard Nixon have ever been much of a true replication of him (since he was too non-imitatable in his appearance, accent, etc).
    Frank Langella in Frost/Nixon was an amazing performance. He got the nuance of Nixon without doing an imitation. Gary Oldman in Darkest Hour is another.
    There came a time when the Old Gods died! The Brave died with the Cunning! The Noble perished locked in battle with unleashed Evil! It was the last day for them! An ancient era was passing in fiery holocaust!

  8. #8
    Mighty Member Peter Parker's Avatar
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    Val Kilmer as Jim Morrison.

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    Ultimate Member j9ac9k's Avatar
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    Jim Carrey as Andy Kaufman
    Denzel Washington as Malcolm X
    Charlize Theron as Aileen Wuornos
    Gary Oldman as Sid Vicious
    Larry David as George Steinbrenner

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  11. #11
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    Quote Originally Posted by JBatmanFan05 View Post
    Bruno Ganz for his portrayal of Adolf Hitler in the Oscar-nominated film Downfall (2004).

    Daniel Day-Lewis as Abraham Lincoln.

    There are so many bests.
    It's easy to overlook him standing next to Ganz 's phenomenal portrayal of Hitler, but Ulrich Matthes as Joseph Goebbels was eerily similar to the real deal in Downfall. From the staccato diction to the gaunt, skeletal facial features.
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  12. #12
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    Ben Kingsley as Gandhi. Martin Landau as Bela Lugosi in Ed Wood. Robert Downey Jr. as Charlie Chaplin in Chaplin.

    Among actresses, Sally Field in Sybil is one of my favorite performances ever, but I hesitate to call it a portrayal of a real person since that story was apparently highly fictionalized. I might go with Cate Blanchett in Elizabeth or the aforementioned Sissy Spacek in Coal Miner's Daughter.

  13. #13
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    Felix Dadaev, one of Josef Stalin's doubles.

  14. #14
    Not a Newbie Member JBatmanFan05's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jim Kelly View Post
    Felix Dadaev, one of Josef Stalin's doubles.
    I can't say I cared at all for that film/show, too many actual people died in the production of it.
    Last edited by JBatmanFan05; 01-26-2023 at 11:41 AM.
    Things I love: Batman, Superman, AEW, old films, Lovecraft

    Grant Morrison: “Adults...struggle desperately with fiction, demanding constantly that it conform to the rules of everyday life. Adults foolishly demand to know how Superman can possibly fly, or how Batman can possibly run a multibillion-dollar business empire during the day and fight crime at night, when the answer is obvious even to the smallest child: because it's not real.”

  15. #15
    Astonishing Member krazijoe's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by j9ac9k View Post
    Jim Carrey as Andy Kaufman
    Denzel Washington as Malcolm X
    Charlize Theron as Aileen Wuornos
    Gary Oldman as Sid Vicious
    Larry David as George Steinbrenner
    I know it was makeup but damn, they turned one of the most beautiful women in the world, into a monster...Well, not a monster but someone that was not even close to her attractiveness. Totally got into the role and nailed it. You would NEVER have guessed it was her. She deserved that award.

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