A night at the movies is a fabulous experience for anyone. A Friday night spent relaxing in a big, comfy chair, digging into a massive tub of popcorn with a huge soda on the side while losing yourself in a fantasy world is nothing short of exhilarating. Not every movie is about dragons and action heroes, however, as there are plenty of unbelievable real-life stories and figures which make for prime entertainment.
Breaking The Fourth Wall When Actors Portray Historical Figures
In this special list, we will be exploring the various movie adaptations revolving around iconic individuals such as Johnny Cash, Abe Lincoln, and Marylin Monroe. Then there are the films which portrayed the lives of more everyday people who found themselves in extraordinary situations, such as Catch Me If You Can and 127 Hours
Walk the Line (2005)
Centered Around the Actions of: Johnny Cash
Main Actor: Joaquin Phoenix
Film Cost: $28 million*
Main Actor Income: $5 million
This is the Academy Award-nominated retelling of country rock star Johnny Cash (played by Joaquin Phoenix) and his long-suffering wife (played by Reese Witherspoon), called Walk the Line. Johnny Cash was not only one of the most iconic artists of the 20th century, but he was also a very troubled individual, who detailed his wildlife in his autobiographies.
Walk The Line
This film is based on two of these books, called Cash: The Autobiography and Man In Black. These cinematic versions of Cash’s personal accounts earned $187 million worldwide. You can get an intimate look into the Cash family’s honest experiences, involving much substance abuse and domestic strife.
The King’s Speech (2010)
Centered Around the Actions of: King George VI
Main Actor: Colin Firth
Film Cost: $15 million*
Main Actor Income: $1 million*
The King’s Speech is a particularly inspiring period drama exploring the development of King George VI (played by Colin Firth), who struggled with being dramatically rushed into kinghood. Royal duties aside, King George VI also had a seemingly unfixable stammer, which forced him to become the client of a weird and wonderful speech therapist named Lionel Logue.
The Kings Speech
The unlikely pair soon developed a friendship, which sustained the king when he was called to take the throne upon his brother’s abdication. Logue is then tasked with perfecting his king’s most nerve-tingling challenge yet: addressing his people and informing them that England will declare war on Germany. This wartime epic takes place in 1939, respectfully reconstructed by writer and director David Seidler, who was so inspired by the brave king that he decided to make a film about him.
Ray (2004)
Centered Around the Actions of: Ray Charles
Main Actor: Jamie Foxx
Film Cost: $40 million*
Main Actor Income: $4 million*
You cannot talk about the blues without mentioning Ray Charles. The artist in question’s biography formed the basis of Ray, an unflinching biopic written by James L. White and directed by Taylor Hackford. Ray brings the bittersweet collection of events that made up the world-famous musician’s turbulent upbringing and rise to stardom.
Ray
Ray was raised within a sharecropping plantation, where he witnessed his baby brother drown in a tub, causing him to go blind. Regardless of his challenges, Ray’s mother influenced him towards singing and songwriting, leading to the foundations of what would soon become a household name.
Lincoln (2012)
Centered Around the Actions of: Abraham Lincoln
Main Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis
Film Cost: $65 million*
Main Actor Income: $6-8 million*
Lincoln showcases the invaluable contributions of one of America’s most celebrated presidents, Abraham Lincoln, who is played by Daniel Day-Lewis. Steven Spielberg, who produced and directed Lincoln, follows the former president’s championing of the American Civil War. Tony Kushner wrote this wartime epic, using writer Doris Kearns Goodwin’s descriptions of the events, called Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln.
Lincoln
It isn’t often that a movie about a seemingly perfect historical figure also illustrates their personal struggles in a frank way. The American history drama achieved a huge success, earning $275 million within the box office. Lewis was joined by other acting legends such as Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Tommy Lee Jones.
The Doors (1991)
Centered Around the Actions of: Jim Morrison
Main Actor: Val Kilmer
Film Cost: $38 million*
Main Actor Income: $6 million*
Not every movie on this list was a massive box office success, with The Doors only earning a meager $34 million, which cost its studio $4 million in losses. The movie did go on to become something of a cult film, steadily growing in its fan base in time. These fans were namely followers of The Doors and its lead singer, Jim Morrison.
The Doors
The reckless vocalist is portrayed by Val Kilmer. Morrison’s place as a godlike icon throughout the counterculture scene of the 1960s is dramatically showcased in The Doors. Kilmer adequately showed just how much Morrison battled with substance abuse, not to mention his obsession with death. Despite the movie’s cult following, the actual band did not think too highly of it.
Capote (2005)
Centered Around the Actions of: Truman Capote
Main Actor: Philip Seymour Hoffman
Film Cost: $7 million*
Main Actor Income: $1 million*
Capote fleshes out the life and times of the titular playwright and novelist, Truman Capote. You might recognize him for creating In Cold Blood and Breakfast at Tiffany’s. The former work is the focus of this movie. Capote follows the writer’s experiences which shaped the writing of this true-crime book, which brought him inner conflict while attempting to make sense of the causes of mass murder in Kansas.
Capote
Philip Seymour Hoffman’s believable imitation of Capote earned him an Academy Award. The universally praised biopic earned $50 million within the box office, simultaneously sealing the late Hoffman’s place in the Hollywood elite. Gerard Clarke wrote the biography which Capote revolved around.
Goodfellas (1990)
Centered Around the Actions of: Henry Hill
Main Actor: Ray Liotta
Film Cost: $25 million*
Main Actor Income: $500,000*
Martin Scorsese has directed plenty of infamous mobster movies, but Goodfellas is widely regarded as his crowning achievement, and it’s based on a true story! The movie follows the rise and fall of Henry Hill, a legendary mafia partner. Ray Liotta plays Hill, supported by his fellow goons played by Joe Pesci and Robert De Niro. The mafia accounts written by Nicholas Pileggi in his book Wiseguy formed the basis of the screenplay.
Goodfellas
Hill happened to be one of 20th-century mafia’s biggest members between 1955 and 1980. A failed drug deal led to his arrest, whereupon he decided to become an FBI informant to dodge a certain life sentence. His crucial information led to the convicting of fifty of his previous mafia partners in crime.
Monster (2003)
Centered Around the Actions of: Aileen Wuornos
Main Actor: Charlize Theron
Film Cost: $8 million*
Main Actor Income: $1 million*
Sometimes, Hollywood decides that some of the most chaotic human lives deserve a big-screen adaptation. Aileen Wuornos was a psychotic serial killer who was shaped into a mentally ill murderer at the hands of her victimizing family members. Charlize Theron plays Wuornos and her performance blew any critics’ expectations away.
Monster
Theron is a gorgeous woman, and so her transformation into the heavily disheveled Wuornos was something to behold. Physical makeover aside, Theron captured Wuornos’ personality and frightening antics perfectly.
Catch Me If You Can (2002)
Centered Around the Actions of: Frank Abagnale, Jr.
Main Actor: Leonardo DiCaprio
Film Cost: $52 million*
Main Actor Income: $20 million*
Some movies’ plots might not convince you that they were based on real-life events, even if the introduction states so. Catch Me If You Can is one such story about the master con artist Frank Abagnale (played by Leonardo DiCaprio) and the tireless FBI agent Carl Hanratty (played by Tom Hanks) who tracked him down. Abagnale provided the film with its content through his autobiography. The said con artist specialized in check forging and assuming false identities.
Catch Me If You Can
Starting at the tender age of 15, Abagnale would go on to impersonate a lawyer, corrections officer, airline pilot, and a doctor. Even the prison system could bend to his will, having fled federal prison on two occasions. Ironically, Abagnale would end up as an FBI Academy lecturer upon his release!
Saving Mr. Banks (2013)
Centered Around the Actions of: Walt Disney
Main Actor: Tom Hanks
Film Cost: $35 million*
Main Actor Income: $750,000*
Disney aficionados eat your hearts out! Saving Mr. Banks brings viewers an exclusive insight into the production of the timeless historical Disney classic, Mary Poppins. The legendary Walt Disney is played by Tom Hanks, while the actual Mary Poppins writer, P.L. Travers, is played by Emma Thompson. The film revolves around the fortnight’s worth of meetings held between Travers and Disney discussing the rights to the story and eventual movie.
Saving Mr Banks
Travers insisted on Disney telling her tale as accurately as possible, as Mary Poppins went beyond the innocent story of a magical nanny. It also detailed her father’s battles with alcohol abuse. The author was then partly involved in the film’s writing.
Gorillas in the Mist (1988)
Centered Around the Actions of: Dian Fossey
Main Actor: Sigourney Weaver
Film Cost: $12 million*
Main Actor Income: $105,000*
The celebrated anthropologist and primatologist, Dian Fossey, wrote her essential work on primate conservation, titled Gorillas in the Mist. The book would go on to receive a movie adaptation of the same name, with Sigourney Weaver playing Fossey. Fossey was widely regarded as the modern leader in primate understanding and protection, having spent much of her life in Rwanda, where she battled poaching and developed safe spaces for her beloved animals.
Gorillas In The Mist
As one could imagine, Rwanda was not the safest of places for a rebellious conservationist at the time. The corrupt government was only too happy to adhere to her rival poachers’ demands, leading to her assassination on a dark December day in 1985. She was discovered butchered in her bed.
I’m Not There (2008)
Centered Around the Actions of: Bob Dylan
Main Actor: Cate Blanchett (among others)
Film Cost: $20 million*
Main Actor Income: $2 million*
Using an unorthodox style, I’m Not There illustrates the colorful life of legendary music artist Bob Dylan with a mixture of fascinating methods and actors. Incredibly, Cate Blanchett brings Dylan’s post-electric period to life. More of his life phases are characterized by Richard Gere, Ben Whishaw, Christian Bale, Marcus Carl Franklin, and Heath Ledger.
Im Not There
This movie avoids the use of narrative, with a very experimental flair that evades even mentioning Dylan until the final credits rolls. The legend himself does appear in the movie, but the footage is taken from a show he performed in 1966. This film was universally applauded, netting Blanchett an Academy Award nomination and a Golden Globe
Jobs (2013)
Centered Around the Actions of: Steve Jobs
Main Actor: Ashton Kutcher
Film Cost: $30 million*
Main Actor Income: $9 million*
Steve Jobs might be universally recognized as the pioneer of Apple, but to those who knew and worked with him, he was something of an intense character. Jobs then take this controversial figure and highlights some of his most groundbreaking moments. Jobs commences in 1974, where the young Jobs is enrolled at Reed College, then moving through his career with Apple, ending with his introduction in 2001 of the iPod.
Jobs
Jobs is expertly portrayed by Ashton Kutcher, with his Apple co-founder and second-in-command, Steve Wozniak, being played by Josh Gad. The film was a real audience and critic pleaser alike, being selected by experts to conclude the 2013 Sundance Film Festival. This was a massive achievement for Joshua Michael Stern, the film’s director.
Milk (2008)
Centered Around the Actions of: Harvey Milk
Main Actor: Sean Penn
Film Cost: $20 million*
Main Actor Income: $1 million*
Harvey Milk happens to be one of the most essential gay rights advocates of our time, the film Milk doing the man much justice. It follows his struggles against the oppressive laws and societal prejudices set against homosexuals during the 1970s. Milk also happened to be one of the rare openly homosexual politicians, although he did not admit to his sexuality until entering his forties.
Milk
With the psychedelic backdrop of the counterculture of the 60s inspiring Milk to become a gay-rights activist, the rest of the movie details his dramatic clashes with policymakers, police, and homophobes in general. Milk was tragically murdered in cold blood in a hateful assassination by Dan White, his forerunner.
Bohemian Rhapsody (2018)
Centered Around the Actions of: Freddie Mercury
Main Actor: Rami Malek
Film Cost: $52 million*
Main Actor Income: $8 million*
Named after one of the band Queen’s (which the movie is largely about) mega hits, Bohemian Rhapsody also serves as a biopic of the band’s vibrant lead singer, Freddie Mercury. When Rami Malek was called to embody the singing legend, he knew he had his work cut out for him. The singer was not only a tremendous vocalist, but he also possessed a larger than life personality.
Bohemian Rhapsody
While Mercury lit up countless millions of peoples’ lives with his music, his own was sadly put out. At just 45 years old, Mercury succumbed to the AIDS virus. Malek, however, honored the prematurely taken icon fantastically, being appropriately awarded with an Academy Award for his efforts.
The Social Network (2010)
Centered Around the Actions of: Mark Zuckerberg
Main Actor: Jesse Eisenberg
Film Cost: $50 million*
Main Actor Income: $600,000
When Ben Mezrich wrote The Accidental Billionaires, which detailed the developments of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, he probably didn’t expect it to be turned into a film. The tensely laid out foundations of Facebook, and how a young maverick Zuckerberg (played by Jesse Eisenberg) established the company are excitingly illustrated by The Social Network.
The Social Network
Zuckerberg ran into his fair share of trouble while forging Facebook, with the Winklevoss twins (each of which are brilliantly portrayed by Armie Hammer) and their lawsuit against Zuckerberg being played out in the film. The Social Network would be nominated eight times for various Academy Awards, three of them coming to fruition.
The Theory of Everything (2014)
Centered Around the Actions of: Stephen Hawking
Main Actor: Eddie Redmayne
Film Cost: $15 million*
Main Actor Income: $250,000
Stephen Hawking’s phenomenal genius and turbulent physical deterioration are inspiringly detailed in The Theory of Everything. Stephen Hawking is well recognized as one of the greatest minds of our time, having altered our basic understanding of science and the universe around us.
The Theory Of Everything
The film intimately details his struggles with Lou Gehrig’s Disease, which Hawking was diagnosed with at just 21 years of age. Despite suffering from a steady decline in health and mobility, Hawking proceeded to revolutionize humanity’s relationship with existence itself. The film then went on to earn various Academy Awards.
Hitchcock (2012)
Centered Around the Actions of: Alfred Hitchcock
Main Actor: Anthony Hopkins
Film Cost: $15 million*
Main Actor Income: $800,000*
The man that needs no introduction. Alfred Hitchcock was the master of 20th-century horror and was a director deserving of a biographical film. Hitchcock is a movie about his filmmaking genius. But it also brings his personal life to the fore, specifically his relationship with his wife, portrayed by Helen Mirren throughout the production of Psycho.
Hitchcock
Psycho is undoubtedly one of the most important movies in the trade in general, not just for the horror and thriller genres. Hopkins did justice to the influential director, as supported by critics.
Ali (2001)
Centered Around the Actions of: Muhammad Ali
Main Actor: Will Smith
Film Cost: $107 million*
Main Actor Income: $20 million*
Will Smith had his work cut out for him when he took on the role of one of boxing’s most acclaimed boxers, Muhammad Ali, in the film Ali. He had to gym like a maniac, become well acquainted with Islam, and train to become a believable boxer. He passed with flying colors, simultaneously honoring Ali’s memory and evolving as an actor. Michael Mann wrote and directed the film.
Ali
Ali spans across a decade of Muhammad Ali’s life, ranging between 1964 and 1974. Despite the screenplay only covering ten years in his life, these were some of the boxer’s most explosive. He reclaimed his belt from Sonny Liston, became a conscientious objector during the Vietnam War, and converted to Islam.
127 Hours (2010)
Centered Around the Actions of: Aaron Ralston
Main Actor: James Franco
Film Cost: $18 million*
Main Actor Income: $2 million*
127 Hours retells the brutal experience which Aron Ralston endured while hiking in the Bluejohn Canyon in Utah. Ralston (played by James Franco) fell while climbing around the slot canyon, his arm then becoming trapped by a boulder. Utah’s experiences are recorded in a found-footage style.
127 Hours
Viewers are then firmly placed next to Franco’s Ralston as he struggles to free himself. As one can imagine from the film’s title, Ralston spent 127 hours trapped in this canyon, eventually having to make some agonizing decisions if he wanted to survive.
The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)
Centered Around the Actions of: Jordan Belfort
Main Actor: Leonardo DiCaprio
Film Cost: $100 million*
Main Actor Income: $25 million*
Jordan Belfort was something of a wild character during the 1980s, earning his title of “Wolf of Wall Street” through drug-fueled partying and, of course, having a massive presence in Wall Street. Martin Scorsese masterfully directed Leonardo DiCaprio as the reckless Belfort.
The Wolf Of Wall Street
Stratton Oakmont, which was the firm belonging to Belfort, would go on to become a completely exploitative Wall Street firm. There wasn’t anyone who Belfort and his cronies were afraid of defrauding, even government members. Of course, Belfort’s financial crimes were eventually discovered, and he was subsequently arrested.
Erin Brockovich (2000)
Centered Around the Actions of: Erin Brockovich
Main Actor: Julia Roberts
Film Cost: $51 million*
Main Actor Income: $20 million*
The real-life character of Erin Brockovich was very accurately and passionately played by Julia Roberts, who greatly deserved her Oscar for the role. The movie Erin Brockovich follows the brave pursuit of justice by the titular lawyer during the Anderson v. Pacific Gas and Electric case which Brockovich initiated.
Erin Brockovich
Upon uncovering a deadly poisoning of a town’s water source called Hinkley in California, Brockovich decided that she had to act, all while being a junior law clerk. Most of the film then centers around the budding lawyer’s battle against a heartless corporation.
The Blind Side (2009)
Centered Around the Actions of: Leigh Anne Tuohy
Main Actor: Sandra Bullock
Film Cost: $29 million*
Main Actor Income: $5 million*
Sandra Bullock played Lee Ann Tuohy in The Blind Side, a true story about Tuohy’s relationship with football player Michael Oher, played by Quinton Aaron. When Lee Ann adopted Michael, she inspired him to discover his natural football skills. Oher then went on to realize his dreams of playing for the NFL, thanks to Touhy’s influence, and would later play for the NFL team, the Ravens.
The Blind Side
The writer Michael Lewis detailed Oher’s triumphs in his biography, called The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game, which provided for the film’s screenplay. Bullock was awarded with an Academy Award and a Golden Globe for her role.
My Week With Marilyn (2011)
Centered Around the Actions of: Marilyn Monroe
Main Actor: Michelle Williams
Film Cost: $10 million*
Main Actor Income: $400,000
This film takes place, as its title suggests, throughout a week in the timelessly sensational Marilyn Monroe’s life. Michelle Williams played Monroe, with Eddie Redmayne playing her confidant, Colin Clark. Clark was a novice film director at the time he escorted Marylin through the streets of London. Monroe spent some time in the British capital while shooting The Prince and the Showgirl.
My Week With Marilyn
This film was interested in revealing what Marilyn was really like, beyond the glitz and glam of her Hollywood persona. If you would like to watch a film where Marilyn is portrayed as a real person, with human issues, then this movie is perfect for you.