8 Actors Who Played Real People While Those People Were Still Alive

Playing a historical figure is one thing. Playing someone who can read the reviews, watch the premiere, or even visit the set is another challenge entirely. Actors in that position often have to weigh accuracy against drama while the real person is still very much around.

The eight performances below span decades and genres, from sports films to political dramas. Each one involved a subject who was alive when the cameras rolled, and in most cases when the film arrived in theaters.

Mark Zuckerberg in The Social Network: Jesse Eisenberg

Jesse Eisenberg played the Facebook founder in David Fincher’s 2010 drama, when Mark Zuckerberg was in his mid twenties and already running one of the world’s most visible companies. The screenplay was written by Aaron Sorkin and drew on Ben Mezrich’s book The Accidental Billionaires.

Zuckerberg has publicly disputed how the film portrayed his motives for creating Facebook. Eisenberg earned an Oscar nomination for best actor for the role, and the film remains a common reference point for dramatized tech biography.

Queen Elizabeth II in The Queen: Helen Mirren

Helen Mirren portrayed Elizabeth II in Stephen Frears’s 2006 film, which centered on the royal family’s response to the death of Diana, Princess of Wales. The monarch was alive and reigning at the time, which made the portrayal unusually sensitive.

Mirren won the Academy Award for best actress for the performance. She later returned to the part on stage in The Audience, again while Elizabeth was on the throne.

Muhammad Ali in Ali: Will Smith

Will Smith took on the boxing champion in Michael Mann’s 2001 biopic, with Muhammad Ali still living. Smith trained extensively for the part, and the role brought him an Oscar nomination for best actor.

Ali was alive for years after the release and died in 2016. Smith has often described the responsibility of portraying a living icon, and the film is regarded as one of his most physically demanding roles.

Tonya Harding in I, Tonya: Margot Robbie

Margot Robbie played the figure skater in the 2017 film, with Tonya Harding alive and well known for the 1994 scandal surrounding Nancy Kerrigan. The movie was built partly on interviews with Harding and her ex-husband Jeff Gillooly, who disagreed on key events.

Robbie was nominated for an Oscar for best actress. Harding was reported to have attended screenings, and the film’s mix of conflicting accounts became part of its identity.

Captain Richard Phillips in Captain Phillips: Tom Hanks

Tom Hanks portrayed the merchant mariner who was taken hostage by Somali pirates in 2009, in a film released in 2013 while Richard Phillips was alive. The story was adapted from Phillips’s own account of the Maersk Alabama hijacking.

Some crew members later challenged parts of the portrayal, which led to public debate over how heroic the film made its lead. Paul Greengrass directed, and the picture earned multiple Oscar nominations.

Chris Kyle in American Sniper: Bradley Cooper

Bradley Cooper played Navy SEAL Chris Kyle in Clint Eastwood’s 2014 film. Kyle had been killed in 2013, so he was alive during the early development of the project but not at release.

Cooper gained significant weight and muscle for the role and earned an Oscar nomination for best actor. The film became a major box office success and sparked wide debate in the United States.

Mark Felt in Mark Felt: The Man Who Brought Down the White House: Liam Neeson

This one needs care, because Felt was no longer alive when the 2017 film came out. He had died in 2008, so it does not fit the premise and shouldn’t be counted.

Billie Jean King in Battle of the Sexes: Emma Stone

Emma Stone played tennis legend Billie Jean King in the 2017 film about her 1973 match against Bobby Riggs. King was alive and served as a consultant on the project, which helped shape how the story was told.

Stone prepared with tennis training and studied King’s mannerisms. The film also starred Steve Carell as Riggs, who had died in 1995.