Top Ten Portrayals of Historical Figures in Historical Movies
Some movies are just great at portraying historical characters. These can old movies (mostly older movies) or newer ones. These items are listed in their respective spots because have multiple reasons.I would ask you to consider these reasons when voting:
1. Historical Accuracy - Are they accurate and actually represent their person?
2. Resemblance - Does the actor actually look like the Historical Character they are playing?
3. Overall Acting - Do they play the character well?
If you are submitting an item I request you list in the format Actor-Person-Movie. Without further ado let's get into it.
Tom Cruise was nominated for an Oscar and won a Golden Globe for playing Ron Kovic. Ron Kovic himself was so moved by this performance that he gave his Bronze Star to Cruise.
T.E. Lawrence, also known as The Lawrence of Arabia, has to be one of the most fascinating people of all time. I think Peter O'Toole plays him to near perfection. If you look up pictures of the two, or if you know anything about Lawrence, you will see an amazing resemblance between them. And to top it all off, Peter O'Toole's performance is known as one of the best ever.
Philip Seymour Hoffman won an Oscar for playing Capote. He captured Truman's mannerisms and speaking perfectly. Spot-on.
While Braveheart is not an accurate movie, I still think Mel Gibson perfected his role as William Wallace. One of his best performances, if not his best performance ever.
Al Capone is one of the most unique figures in history, and he is very hard to play, but Robert De Niro actually does great. He actually studied Al Capone before playing him and gained 30 pounds before starting filming.
The Newcomers
Gary Oldman did a great job with Winston Churchill. He gets his accent down pretty well, and he just had an all-around great acting performance.
Liam Neeson plays Schindler great. One of his best film roles ever, if not his best ever.
One of the most underrated movies in my book. Waterloo is a masterpiece, and Rod Steiger is the perfect actor to play Napoleon.
One of the most legendary movie performances ever, but unfortunately, 300 is not the most accurate movie, so Gerard Butler was forced down the list. But to be honest, the character by itself is very accurate. Butler even says some of the same lines Leonidas says based on records.
Phoenix has a perfect depiction of the Emperor and antagonist Commodus. You really see the madness in him at first, but then by the end, when you start thinking about it, you feel sorry for him.
One of the most accurate depictions of Abraham Lincoln to date. Daniel Day-Lewis did a great job.
Another very underrated movie. It is notably Michael Caine's first major role in a movie.