The Actor is WAY better looking than the real life person being portrayed in the film

[bienville]

In most cases, except perhaps in the case of a bio-film about someone specifically known for good looks, the actors in bio-films tend to be better looking than the real life people they are portraying. After all, they are actors. It's a self-selecting profession favoring folks who are at least presentable.

So, I'm not looking for a list of actors who are better looking than the person they are portraying. That would cover nearly every actor in every bio-pic ever:

• Will Smith is better looking than Muhammad Ali, but not by much. Ali was actually a pretty handsome man.
• Jim Carry is better looking than Andy Kaufman, but really not by much.

These are examples that would NOT COUNT for the purposes of this Thread.

No, what I am looking for is a list of actors who are WAY better looking than the person they are portraying.

Thread inspired by a photo that I saw of Bonnie and Clyde on the front page of USA Today yesterday. I looked at the photo and thought, "Wow, Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway were SO MUCH better looking than Bonnie and Clyde!".

So, to start the ball rolling, I'll offer:

• The aformentioned Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway as being WAY better looking than Bonnie and Clyde.
• Jeffrey Wright was WAY better looking than Jean-Michel Basquiat.

[Koxinga]

Charlize Theron is WAY better looking than Aileen Wuornos. Probably a bit outside of what you had in mind, I realize, but I'll bet a dollar that's the widest range between homely and jaw droppingly beautiful you're gonna get.

[bibliophage]

I was going to say Russell Crowe as John Nash but it turns out the young John Nash (third picture down) wasn't half bad looking.

I hope I don't offend anyone by saying that I think June Carter Cash, even in youth, was a homely woman on the outside. You certainly couldn't say the same of Reese Witherspoon.

[Rubystreak]

Angeline Jolie is far better looking than Christine Collins, the woman she portrayed in Changeling. I found Angie's huge, bright red lips quite distracting in that movie, I have to say.

[jjimm]

Originally Posted by Koxinga

Charlize Theron is WAY better looking than Aileen Wuornos. Probably a bit outside of what you had in mind, I realize, but I'll bet a dollar that's the widest range between homely and jaw droppingly beautiful you're gonna get.

Similarly, Nicole Kidman vs Virginia Woolf. They did a good job of uglifying Nicole.

I am quite shocked that the proposed movie of Shantaram is to star Johnny Depp as Gregory david Roberts, particularly as part of his emotional journey in the book is based on the fact that he is "an ugly man".

[APB]

Garbo - Queen Christina

[Freudian Slit]

Natalie Portman portrayed Anne Frank on Broadway.

[Earl Snake-Hips Tucker]

Robert Walker played Jerome Kern.

Daniel Hugh Kelly played Steven Sohmer, then-husband of soap star Deidre Hall, in a biopic he produced on Hall.

[Sigmagirl]

Salma Hayek.
Frida Kahlo.

Kahlo wasn't hideous. But Hayyyyyyek.

[acetylene]

Denzel Washington is much better looking than Frank Lucas

[An Arky]

George Hamilton as Evel Kneivel

[Annie-Xmas]

Mark Harmon is much better looking than Ted Bundy

[JThunder]

Julia Roberts is way better-looking than Erin Brockovich.

Oh, and Bob Woodward didn't look anything like Robert Redford.

[Bijou Drains]

Ray Liotta looks much better than Henry Hill in Goodfellas.

[Freudian Slit]

Originally Posted by Bijou Drains

Ray Liotta looks much better than Henry Hill in Goodfellas.

Similarly, Lorraine Bracco looked better than Hill's actual wife, Karen.

[John DiFool]

Originally Posted by Freudian Slit

Natalie Portman portrayed Anne Frank on Broadway.

Anne Frank was cute as hell. You have to remember that, in the pictures which commonly circulate around, she was on a starvation diet.

[astorian]

James Caan was waaaay better looking than songwriter/impresario Billy Rose, whom he played in "Funny Lady."

Julie Andrews was FAR prettier and more feminine than the real Maria von Trapp.

[Sigmagirl]

Gary Cooper. Alvin York.

Brad Pitt. Jesse James.

[MoodIndigo1]

Emily Blunt as young Queen Victoria.

[kunilou]

Greer Garson was a lot better looking than Marie Curie.

[Loach]

I don't know about the example in the OP. In the pictures I saw Bonnie was very cute and I never thought Faye Dunaway was that attractive. The real Bonnie Parker was 4-11 and about 90lbs.

[Spoke]

Originally Posted by bienville

[*]The aformentioned Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway as being WAY better looking than Bonnie and Clyde.

I dunno. Bonnie Parker was a pretty attractive woman. So was Faye Dunaway, of course, but I don't know if I'd say she's way better looking than Bonnie Parker.

[palindromemordnilap]

Not a film but

John O'Hurley as J. Peterman

[Loach]

In Band of Brothers Babe Heffron is played by Robin Laing. IRL Heffron is something like 5-3 and a bit troll-like. Robin Laing is over six feet tall and looks nothing like a troll.

[kenobi 65]

Originally Posted by kunilou

Greer Garson was a lot better looking than Marie Curie.

As was Odile Le Clezio.

[corkboard]

Anthony Hopkins/Richard Nixon.

[Little Nemo]

Kevin Costner in JFK and the real Jim Garrison

[labtrash]

John Hurt vs John Merrick in The Elephant Man

No pics needed !

no contest !

[Little Nemo]

Cleopatra is a famous example of this. Here's some of the actresses who've protrayed here: Elizabeth Taylor, Claudette Colbert, Lyndsey Marshal, Theda Bara, and Lilly Langtry. And here's an Egyptian coin from Cleopatra's lifetime that shows what she actually looked like.

[Koxinga]

Originally Posted by labtrash

John Hurt vs John Merrick in The Elephant Man

No pics needed !

no contest !

Well, I saw this image of what John Merrick might have looked like without his condition. I think that guy is a lot better looking than John Hurt.

[Spoke]

James Brolin / Pee Wee Herman

[Alias]

Originally Posted by spoke-

James Brolin / Pee Wee Herman

Ha! I actually didn't know what you meant by that until I clicked the link. Great movie within a movie.

[mbh]

King Mongkut was not bad looking, but Rex Harrison, Yul Brynner and Chow Yun Fat were more handsome.

Anna Leonowens was not bad looking, but Irene Dunn, Deborah Kerr and Jodie Foster were more beautiful.

[TWDuke]

Originally Posted by Annie-Xmas

Mark Harmon is much better looking than Ted Bundy

They are/were both blandly good-looking men. You're comparing an actor's professional headshot to a journalistic photo taken at a criminal proceeding.

[Drum God]

Everyone in A Perfect Storm, but especially Diane Lane. Of course, she's prettier than just about anyone.

[Robot Arm]

Pancho Barnes ran the saloon where the pilots used to hang out at Edwards Air Force Base. She was described in The Right Stuff as somewhat unattractive. So when a TV movie was made about her life, the casting choice was obvious: Valerie Bertinelli.

I disagree on the Julia Roberts/Erin Brokovich one.

[NDP]

Originally Posted by Robot Arm

I disagree on the Julia Roberts/Erin Brokovich one.

So do I. The only problem with Julia Roberts in the role is the fact that Brokovich looks more like Meg Ryan than her.

[Spoke]

Antonio Banderas as Pancho Villa / Pancho Villa

[pravnik]

Originally Posted by Bijou Drains

Ray Liotta looks much better than Henry Hill in Goodfellas.

Oh my yes. Ray Liotta and Henry Hill

[Millit the Frail]

I just learned of this last week on the Dope:

Thomas Kinkade was played by Jared Padalecki.

[pravnik]

I ran across a neat website with photos of actors and the real persons they portrayed: Reel Faces.

[puddleglum]

Johnny Depp played George Jung/ in Blow and at the end of the movie there is a photo of the real George Jung and it is quite horrifying.

[Dewey Finn]

How about Jonathan Rhys Meyers as Henry VIII?

Actually any modern actor is going to have much better teeth and skin than any historical figure prior to the twentieth century.

[xizor]

Joaquin Phoenix (pre-beard)/ Johnny Cash

[Scheidt-Hoch]

Anne Hathaway as Jane Austen
This one is particularly daft since Jane Austen's art was largely based on the difficult choices women in her society had to make when they couldn't get by on their looks.

[Colibri]

Paul Newman

Kris Kristofferson

Emilio Estevez

Val Kilmer

Heck, probably even Michael J. Pollard

and just about anyone else who has played Billy the Kid.

William Bonney was not a real looker.

[PunditLisa]

Originally Posted by Dewey Finn

How about Jonathan Rhys Meyers as Henry VIII?

The young Henry VIII was actually famous for his good looks and athleticism. My problem with casting JRM is that Henry VIII was tall and imposing even before his massive weight gain. There's no disguising the fact that RhysMyers is a puny sort.

Maria Doyle Kennedy, however, was much prettier than Catherine of Aragon. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Catherine_aragon.jpg

Also, Angelina Jolie as Mariane Pearl, the wife of the slain WSJ reporter, Daniel Pearl. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Marianne_Pearl.jpg

[Blank Slate]

I mentioned this in another thread: Robert Redford was far too handsome to play John Dortmunder in The Hot Rock.

[Evil Captor]

So far, IMHO, Garbo as Queen Christina wins the thread. And that's without considering the fact that the painting was undoubtedly intended to flatter Queen Christina. I've seen better-looking basset hounds.

[Diogenes the Cynic]

Johnny Depp plays John Dillinger in a movie that's coming out soon.

Joseph Fiennes was a pretty idealized representation of William Shakespeare.