When selecting the cast for a biopic, or biographical movie, the director must walk a fine line between selecting someone for their physical similarity vs. selecting them for having the thespian talent required to play the part. Here is a list of actors who definitely succeeded on the physical similarity side of things
20 Actors Who Look Like The Historical People They Played
#1
Jamie Foxx as Ray Charles in Ray
#2
Daniel Day‑Lewis as Abraham Lincoln in Lincoln
#3
Val Kilmer as Jim Morrison in The Doors
#4
Robert Downey Jr. as Charlie Chaplin in Chaplin
#5
Ben Kingsley as Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi in Gandhi
#6
Bruno Ganz as Adolf Hitler in Downfall
#7
Morgan Freeman as Nelson Mandella in Invictus
#8
Ashton Kutcher as Steve Jobs In Jobs
#9
Denzel Washington as Malcolm X in Malcolm X
#10
Andre 3000 as Jimi Hendrix in Jimi: All Is By My Side
#11
Jennifer Lopez as Selena Quintanilla in Selena
#12
Meryl Streep as Margaret Thatcher in The Iron Lady
#13
Adrien Brody As Salvador Dali In Midnight In Paris
#14
Gary Oldman and Chloe Webb as Sid Vicious and Nancy Spungen in Sid and Nancy
#15
Hellen Mirren as HM Queen Elizabeth II in The Queen
#16
Anthony Hopkins as Alfred Hitchcock in Hitchcock
#17
Sean Penn as Harvey Milk in Milk
#18
Eddie Redmayne And Felicity Jones as Jane And Stephen Hawking in The Theory Of Everything
#19
Marion Cotillard As Édith Piaf In La Vie En Rose/la Môme
