# Actor/Actress is LESS good looking than the real thing **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 7, 2014, 9:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actor-actress-is-less-good-looking-than-the-real-thing/695019 "2014-08-07T09:57:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![5\_time\_champ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/5/278dde/32.png) [@5\_time\_champ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/5_time_champ)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2014, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actor-actress-is-less-good-looking-than-the-real-thing/695019/21 "2014-08-08T00:17:06Z")
Neigh, neigh we have done this a million times, [Candace Bushnell](https://www.google.com/search?q=candace+bushnell&safe=off&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=whLkU47xLsacyASg6ILwDA&ved=0CAkQ_AUoAg&biw=1194&bih=683#facrc=_&imgdii=_&imgrc=RezOif8dhIjx8M%253A%3BDJ9QVdoJRO7DLM%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fstatic4.imagecollect.com%252Fpreview%252F1442%252Fe4d484e163ec6e9%3Bhttp%253A%252F%252Fimagecollect.com%252Fevents%252Fexclusive-candace-bushnell---archival-pictures---photolink---104280-photos-104280%3B400%3B459) aka [Carrie Bradshaw](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/10/08/sarah-jessica-parker-candace-bushnell_n_755455.html) is much, much more attractive than Sarah Jessica Parker. ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_s\_Son](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@Jim\_s\_Son](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_s_Son)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2014, 9:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actor-actress-is-less-good-looking-than-the-real-thing/695019/22 "2014-08-08T09:46:31Z")
I remember Mary Harmon, widow of college football coach Paul “Bear” Bryant, complaining that Gary Busey was ugly compared to her handsome husband. The film was 1984’s “The Bear” and apparently it’s a good thing it’s not on TV. IIRC one of the reasons she authorized it was the idea it would provide jobs to the people of Alabama…and it was filmed in Georgia, Texas, and California ---
**Author:** ![mcgato](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac8455/32.png) [@mcgato](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mcgato)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2014, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actor-actress-is-less-good-looking-than-the-real-thing/695019/23 "2014-08-08T13:34:23Z")
In the movie “The Blind Side” about the Tuohy family adopting a dirt poor Michael Oher who has gone on the play in the NFL, the real life Tuohy women may be more attractive than the actresses that played them in the movie. [Lily Collins and Sandra Bullock](http://images4.fanpop.com/image/photos/21300000/The-Blind-Side-lily-collins-21307103-1706-960.jpg) played [Collins](http://www.leighannetuohy.com/collins-tuohy/) and [Leigh Ann](http://www.leighannetuohy.com/leigh-anne/), respectively. Granted that the actress playing the daughter was younger in the movie than the picture of the real life daughter. Also, there wasn’t a whole lot of glamming up the women in the movie either. Still, the Tuohy women are very attractive, in my opinion. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2014, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actor-actress-is-less-good-looking-than-the-real-thing/695019/24 "2014-08-08T13:47:51Z")
> [@Jim\_s\_Son](#): > > I remember Mary Harmon, widow of college football coach Paul “Bear” Bryant, complaining that Gary Busey was ugly compared to her handsome husband. [It must have been love.](http://sav-cdn.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/superphoto/Bear%20Bryant%20FBI%20Footb_Stur.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2014, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actor-actress-is-less-good-looking-than-the-real-thing/695019/25 "2014-08-08T13:52:15Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > [It must have been love.](http://sav-cdn.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/superphoto/Bear%20Bryant%20FBI%20Footb_Stur.jpg) [Here’s a younger Bear.](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/03/Bear_Bryant_1945.jpg) Not really any better. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2014, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actor-actress-is-less-good-looking-than-the-real-thing/695019/26 "2014-08-08T14:27:58Z")
> [@Bayard](#): > > [Naomi Watts](http://www.imdb.com/media/rm2997933568/nm0915208?ref_=nmmi_mi_all_evt_25) played CIA agent [Valerie Plame](http://ww1.prweb.com/prfiles/2012/04/24/9440131/Valerie-Plame-Wilson-photo.jpg) in _Fair Game_. I don’t know if Valerie Plame is _more_ attractive, but she is really, really good looking. Too close to call. Valerie Plame’s definitely a sexy babe who’s welcome to spy on me any time, but… hotter than Naomi Watts??? No way, man! On the other hand, [Eva Peron’s](http://dspace.lrri.org:8080/xmlui/bitstream/handle/123456789/315/6760-47.jpg?sequence=1) definitely more beautiful than [Madonna.](http://www.syndrome-madonna.com/Syndrome/Filmographie/Madonna1487.jpg) And while I agree that Erin Brockovich is better-looking than Julia Roberts, that’s sort of damning with faint praise. 😉 > [@Lemur866](#): > > Seems like lots of these are Hollywood biopics where someone is portraying a famously hot movie star. That’s kind of cheating. It should be something like the poor bastard playing Richard Nixon is much less hot than the real Richard Nixon. That’s gonna be a tough condition to meet, since Hollywood’s notorious for casting actors/actresses who are WAY too good-looking for the role… best example I can think of would be Charlize Theron in _[Monster,](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monster_%282003_film%29)_ who through a miracle of makeup managed to appear even more hideous & scary than the real [Aileen Wuornos.](http://static.rcgroups.net/forums/attachments/1/1/5/8/1/2/a5851962-120-charlize-theron-aileen-wuornos-newmarkets-monster-503056.jpg) And speaking of serial killers – while I’ve never seen the film he was in, [Michael Reilly Burke](http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_xCLQ1bYFdfc/SoGHCRLdZ8I/AAAAAAAAAls/gB3iXJ5lppA/s1600-h/ted+bundy.jpg) doesn’t seem handsome enough to play Ted Bundy. ([Mark Harmon’s](http://assets.nydailynews.com/polopoly_fs/1.1378471.1371764508!/img/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/gallery_1200/mark-harmon-ted-bundy.jpg) a tossup.) ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2014, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actor-actress-is-less-good-looking-than-the-real-thing/695019/27 "2014-08-08T15:20:00Z")
> [@buddha\_david](#): > > That’s gonna be a tough condition to meet, since Hollywood’s notorious for casting actors/actresses who are WAY too good-looking for the role… best example I can think of would be Charlize Theron in _[Monster,](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monster_%282003_film%29)_ who through a miracle of makeup managed to appear even more hideous & scary than the real [Aileen Wuornos.](http://static.rcgroups.net/forums/attachments/1/1/5/8/1/2/a5851962-120-charlize-theron-aileen-wuornos-newmarkets-monster-503056.jpg) My best example is Pancho Barnes (seen [here](http://kpbs.media.clients.ellingtoncms.com/img/photos/2010/06/14/PB-Amelia_tx700.jpg?8e0a8887e886a6ff6e13ee030987b3616fc57cd3) with Amelia Earhart). She was an aviation pioneer, gunrunner, and owner of a bar and dude ranch that became a hangout for test pilots from Edwards Air Force Base. She was, by all accounts, ugly as a mud fence and swore like a sailor. In the TV movie about her life, she was played by Valerie Beritinelli. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2014, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actor-actress-is-less-good-looking-than-the-real-thing/695019/28 "2014-08-08T15:34:40Z")
> [@buddha\_david](#): > > And speaking of serial killers – while I’ve never seen the film he was in, [Michael Reilly Burke](http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_xCLQ1bYFdfc/SoGHCRLdZ8I/AAAAAAAAAls/gB3iXJ5lppA/s1600-h/ted+bundy.jpg) doesn’t seem handsome enough to play Ted Bundy. Actually I think he looks quite a lot like him. ---
**Author:** ![Heart\_of\_Dorkness](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/4bbf92/32.png) [@Heart\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heart_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2014, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actor-actress-is-less-good-looking-than-the-real-thing/695019/29 "2014-08-08T15:49:20Z")
> [@buddha\_david](#): > > That’s gonna be a tough condition to meet, since Hollywood’s notorious for casting actors/actresses who are WAY too good-looking for the role… best example I can think of would be Charlize Theron in _[Monster,](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monster_%282003_film%29)_ who through a miracle of makeup managed to appear even more hideous & scary than the real [Aileen Wuornos.](http://static.rcgroups.net/forums/attachments/1/1/5/8/1/2/a5851962-120-charlize-theron-aileen-wuornos-newmarkets-monster-503056.jpg) Actually, both of those pictures are Ms. Theron. [This is the real Aileen Wuornos](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aileen_Wuornos). They did do a great job on her makeup, but I’d say it was primarily her acting that made her scary. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2014, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actor-actress-is-less-good-looking-than-the-real-thing/695019/30 "2014-08-08T17:00:34Z")
> [@buddha\_david](#): > > That’s gonna be a tough condition to meet, since Hollywood’s notorious for casting actors/actresses who are WAY too good-looking for the role. Yes, listing actors who are much better looking than their real life counterparts is pointless, since 99% of the time the actors are much better looking than the character they’re based on. (Most egregious? [ClaireDanes vs Temple Grandin](http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_PTMvDjd2vQE/TQvHh9Xn4GI/AAAAAAAAA4A/HrBSR-feYoE/s1600/Temple%2BGrandin%2Band%2BClaire%2BDanes.jpg).) Show me a movie where someone who looks like Temple Grandin plays Claire Danes, and we can talk. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2014, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actor-actress-is-less-good-looking-than-the-real-thing/695019/31 "2014-08-08T18:28:48Z")
> [@Slithy\_Tove](#): > > Marcia Gay Harden, Deborah Kara Unger and Kate Beckinsdale have all played Ava Gardner. MGH, to her credit, didn’t rely on the makeup department, but used her talents as a better actor but lesser beauty to portray a lesser actress but greater beauty. To be clear, Ava Gardner was a legendary beauty and her personality apparently took that to 11. But any attempt to portray Kate Beckinsale as anything other than profoundly beautiful leaves me 😕. ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2014, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actor-actress-is-less-good-looking-than-the-real-thing/695019/32 "2014-08-08T18:53:24Z")
Everyman Jimmy Stewart was a lot older, and not as dashing, as the young Lindbergh that he played in _Spirit of St. Louis_. ---
**Author:** ![Whitney\_Harper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f0a364/32.png) [@Whitney\_Harper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whitney_Harper)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2014, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actor-actress-is-less-good-looking-than-the-real-thing/695019/33 "2014-08-08T19:10:35Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > Such questions will always be a matter of personal taste, but the real [Erin Brockovich](http://www.aceshowbiz.com/images/wennpic/wenn5237463.jpg) could give Julia Roberts a run for her money. I could never understand why Hollywood thinks Julia Roberts is such a beauty; as personally I would rate her as “attractive” and barely average-looking. ---
**Author:** ![Whitney\_Harper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f0a364/32.png) [@Whitney\_Harper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whitney_Harper)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2014, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actor-actress-is-less-good-looking-than-the-real-thing/695019/34 "2014-08-08T19:18:20Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > Dorothy Stratten. She was a thousand times hotter than Mariel Hemingway, who has never done much for me (though I did once have a Russian girlfriend who looked remarkably like her): > > [http://iv1.lisimg.com/image/2478576/600full-dorothy-stratten.jpg](http://iv1.lisimg.com/image/2478576/600full-dorothy-stratten.jpg) Yes, the late Dorothy Stratten was a great beauty. In addition, I had read some articles/interviews about her, and she also seemed like a very sincere, intelligent person. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2014, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actor-actress-is-less-good-looking-than-the-real-thing/695019/35 "2014-08-08T19:25:59Z")
The real Burt Munro was a tall, lean, playful, charismatic dude even at the age when he set the world’s speed record on his Indian; he was portrayed by the pudgy, uncharismatic, though excellent actor Anthony Hopkins in The World’s Fastest Indian. ---
**Author:** ![HelenGawn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a88e4f/32.png) [@HelenGawn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HelenGawn)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2014, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actor-actress-is-less-good-looking-than-the-real-thing/695019/36 "2014-08-09T00:08:06Z")
I haven’t seen pictures to verify, but John Wojtowicz claims his real (born female) wife was slim and attractive as opposed to [Susan Peretz](http://www.imdb.com/media/rm3665210112/nm0673403?ref_=nm_ov_ph), who played her counterpart in **Dog Day Afternoon.** ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2014, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actor-actress-is-less-good-looking-than-the-real-thing/695019/37 "2014-08-09T02:38:48Z")
> [@StGermain](#): > > In the book _Pride and Prejudice_, oldest sister Jane was remarked as being the most beautiful of the Bennet sisters, one of the most beautiful girls in the county. Susannah Harker, who played her in the BBC miniseries didn’t meet that, IMHO.[In this picture](http://www.imdb.com/media/rm1499445760/nm0363117?ref_=nmmi_mi_all_sf_1), she’s the one wearing the cross in the back. I’m not sure if any of the adaptations of _Pride and Prejudice_ have had a Jane who was clearly more attractive than Elizabeth, although it’s of some significance to the plot of the novel that Jane is an obvious beauty while Elizabeth is initially considered “tolerable, but not handsome enough” for Mr. Darcy to even dance with. Similarly, in the novel _Emma_ everyone seems to agree that Harriet Smith is a very pretty girl, and Emma thinks that Harriet is pretty enough that she might expect to marry up. Emma is described as being good-looking as well, but Harriet is prettier or at least more conventionally attractive. Austen doesn’t usually spend a lot of time on physical descriptions, but she emphasizes that Harriet is a curvy, blue-eyed blonde while Emma is a slim, hazel-eyed brunette. But adaptations of _Emma_ tend to make the title character prettier/more conventionally attractive (and often blonder) than Harriet. ---
**Author:** ![Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellis_Aponte_Jr)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2014, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actor-actress-is-less-good-looking-than-the-real-thing/695019/38 "2014-08-09T07:37:07Z")
> [@HelenGawn](#): > > I haven’t seen pictures to verify, but John Wojtowicz claims his real (born female) wife was slim and attractive as opposed to [Susan Peretz](http://www.imdb.com/media/rm3665210112/nm0673403?ref_=nm_ov_ph), who played her counterpart in **Dog Day Afternoon.** He’s probably right. [![](https://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/9d8cc7c44a22939640af236c6255b7301733f31f/c=135-181-1963-1554&r=x383&c=540x380/local/-/media/USATODAY/popcandy/2014/07/16/1405518978000-dog-lover.jpg) ](https://www.gannett-cdn.com/-mm-/9d8cc7c44a22939640af236c6255b7301733f31f/c=135-181-1963-1554&r=x383&c=540x380/local/-/media/USATODAY/popcandy/2014/07/16/1405518978000-dog-lover.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2014, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actor-actress-is-less-good-looking-than-the-real-thing/695019/39 "2014-08-09T16:29:48Z")
I remember **Eve** once posting that she thought Beulah Annan, the real-life inspiration for the Roxie Hart character in _Chicago_, was better looking than most of the actresses who’ve played the role on stage or screen. I had a hard time finding photos that were really of Annan, but the book _The Girls of Murder City_ had this one: [The Girls of Murder City: Fame, Lust, and the Beautiful Killers Who Inspired ... - Douglas Perry - Google Books](http://books.google.com/books?id=0QGjESHbcFwC&pg=PT17&source=gbs_selected_pages&cad=2) ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2014, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actor-actress-is-less-good-looking-than-the-real-thing/695019/40 "2014-08-09T16:48:00Z")
I think Emily Blunt was no where as pretty as the real Queen Victoria of that time period. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actor-actress-is-less-good-looking-than-the-real-thing/695019.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actor-actress-is-less-good-looking-than-the-real-thing/695019.md?page=3)