Five actors who excel at playing real people
Actors sure do have it tough.
Being presented with a character that you know nothing about, that nobody has ever seen before, and being asked to bring it to life sounds daunting already, so surely it’s much easier to play a real person, someone who actually exists, whom you can research.
Well, not exactly, as playing a historical or popular figure comes with its own set of pitfalls. Viewers expect an entirely different level of preparation and detail when they’re watching a ‘character’ they already know, so there’s the distinct possibility that an actor might upset their subject’s fans, family, or, if they’re still alive, the person themselves.
That’s never seemingly been an issue for this lot as these five fab thesps have made a habit out of stepping into the shoes of real people and absorbing everything about them, be it politicians, musicians, criminals, or fellow actors; they’ve all gotten the ‘biopic’ treatment at their hands, and they’ve never looked better. So, do not adjust your television sets, you are not watching the real thing.
Five actors great at playing real people:
Angela Bassett
Younger fans will almost certainly know Angela Bassett for her role as Queen Ramonda in the two Black Panther films, becoming the first Marvel actor to win a major award at the 2023 Golden Globes. However, older fans (sorry everyone) will know her for something very different, for at those same awards, 19 years earlier, Bassett scooped a ‘Best Actress’ prize for her role in What’s Love Got to Do with It, which music fans will know was a biopic of the great Tina Turner, whom the actor brilliantly brought to life.
Just one year earlier, she played another real-life figure in Spike Lee’s Malcolm X, Betty Shabazz, wife of the title character, played by Denzel Washington, and was by his side through most of the key periods of his life. She played Betty again in the 1995 film Panther, while on TV, she portrayed two very different women: Katharine Jackson, Michael Jackson’s mother and matriarch of the pop dynasty, and legendary civil rights activist Rosa Parks, even lending her voice to Michelle Obama on an episode of The Simpsons.
Bassett’s natural charisma and presence perfectly fit the shoes of these larger-than-life figures, but she’s also demonstrated a vulnerability that allows audience members to identify with these goliath celebrities.
Steve Coogan
Before you get agitated, no, Alan Partridge isn’t a real person, although Steve Coogan has given that character so much depth and backstory, he might as well be. When he’s not bringing Norwich’s favourite son to life, the Lancashire-born comedian and actor can usually be found taking on some very different challenges. A cult favourite among Cooganites is 24 Hour Party People, an exploration of Manchester’s music scene, he plays Tony Wilson, who ran the famous Hacienda nightclub and managed a number of famous bands.
This isn’t the only time director Michael Winterbottom has made him play a slightly shady British businessman, wherein he’s portrayed porn king Paul Raymond in The Look of Love as well. However, if you wanna talk shady, then you can’t get much worse than the disgraced radio and TV presenter, Jimmy Saville, whom Coogan portrayed in the BBC series The Reckoning. Watching him wear Saville’s distinctive look is nothing short of chilling, an incredibly brave decision and a massive risk, which Coogan pulled it off with aplomb.
Meryl Streep
Even the most ardent critics of Margaret Thatcher would admit that Meryl Streep did a fantastic job in The Iron Lady; actually, that’s not true, some people hate everything Thatcher has ever been associated with, and for good reason, so maybe most people would agree that the American star nailed so many of the familiar traits of one of Britain’s most infamous leaders. The voice, the facial expressions, the ruthless streak, Streep got it all right, and her ‘Best Actress’ Oscar was very well deserved, even if the rest of the film wasn’t quite up to Academy standards.
Though this is Streep’s most famous outing as a real person, it’s far from the only time she’s ever done it, for many of her 21 Academy Award nominations have come from portraying genuine subjects; from nuclear safety campaigner Karen Silkwood in Silkwood, to bumbling chef extraordinaire Julia Child in Julie & Julia, to newspaper publisher Katharine Graham in The Post, to the eponymous opera singer in Florence Foster Jenkins.
Streep is undoubtedly one of the greatest actors of all time, so it’s no surprise that she’s aced so many of these challenging roles, and where even the greats can trip over the foibles of real people, she, on the other hand, never loses her balance.
Anthony Hopkins
Most of Anthony Hopkins’ most famous roles are rarely ever based in reality; Hannibal Lecter isn’t a real person, thankfully. That’s the great thing about Tony, though, that he’s been in so many great films that there’s always something to cling to. Early in the Welshman’s lengthy career, he found success with The Lion in Winter, although Richard the Lionheart is basically a mythical figure at this point, he did still exist, so he still counts. His penchant for playing leaders continues throughout his life, as he’s lent his talents to movies about US presidents, British prime ministers, and popes.
As he’s gotten older, Hopkins has settled into his mature status, which has brought him many new opportunities to play gentlemen of an aged variety. Alongside the aforementioned Pope Benedict XVI, he also portrayed another famous figure, Sigmund Freud, in Freud’s Last Session, where he brought the ageing psychoanalyst to life opposite Matthew Goode’s CS Lewis.
Then there’s One Life, in which he plays Nicholas Winton, dubbed ‘The British Schindler’, who helped evacuate over 600 Jewish children from Czechoslovakia to escape the Nazis. The film itself is completely fine, but Hopkins’ portrayal of an older Winton is captivating.
Michael Sheen
For my money, there is no actor working today who is as good at disappearing into well-known roles as Michael Sheen, such that there’s just something about him that is tailor-made for playing real people, and he’s got the CV to prove it.
His best-known alter ego is former Prime Minister Tony Blair, whom Sheen has played three times for director Peter Morgan, as part of what is known as the Blair trilogy. The actor lays bare all of the complications that make him Britain’s most fascinating modern politician, and like Thatcher, even if you disagree with Blair’s actions, these movies will grab you.
Another of Sheen’s best performances comes in The Damned United, in which he plays acerbic football manager Brian Clough. Once again, he captured everything that made him both hero and villain, even if you’re a Leeds fan, while his other conquests have ranged from NHS founder Nye Bevan to journalist David Frost, comedian Kenneth Williams to quiz show host Chris Tarrant. Through his voice, body language, and general aura, Sheen has proven that he can slip into the guise of just about anyone, even if he does think only he should be allowed to play Welsh people.
