h the release of this week's “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood,” Quentin Tarantino is pairing his love of pop culture references with his penchant for historical revisionism in a sprawling portrait of the film industry in 1969. While Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio play fictional actors, the film features characters such as Sharon Tate, Bruce Lee, Roman Polanski, and Steve McQueen.
To get you ready for the movie, here are seven more great performances by actors portraying real actors.
Robert Downey Jr. in “Chaplin”
While the 1992 Richard Attenborough-directed biopic was criticized for applying too wide a lens to Chaplin's sprawling life, Robert Downey Jr. received near-universal praise for his performance as the comedy icon. And for good reason. His Oscar-nominated performance cemented his transition from heartthrob to serious movie star to one of the best actors of his generation.
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Martin Landau in “Ed Wood”
Martin Landau famously described his role of Bela Lugosi as using his own career comeback to give Lugosi the final role he deserved. Tim Burton's tribute to B-movie king Ed Wood is full of memorable performances, but few of them shine as brightly as Landau, who took home the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for his performance.
Photo : Touchstone/Kobal/Shutterstock
Jim Carrey as Andy Kaufman
Jim Carrey's performance as the famously eccentric comedian was so intense, it gave us two movies. The 1999 biopic “Man on the Moon” was a competent tribute to Andy Kaufman, with Carrey running through the comic's greatest hits with impressive detail.
But the far more interesting film is 2017's “Jim & Andy: The Great Beyond,” a documentary following Carrey's incredible transformation into Kaufman. His intense method acting reveals the similarities between the two men, and the difficult time Carrey had separating himself from the persona. The result is one of the most captivating entertainment industry documentaries in recent memory.
Photo : Universal/Kobal/Shutterstock
Willem Dafoe in “Shadow of the Vampire”
Before Daniel Day-Lewis and Jared Leto, there was Max Schreck. Willem Dafoe plays the hardcore method actor in this film about the making of “Nosferatu.” Schreck only worked at night and never broke character, frightening the crew of the horror classic. “Shadow of the Vampire” is notable for its application of silent film techniques to tell the story of one of the great silent films of all time.
Photo : Jean-Paul Kieffer/BBC/Delux/Metrodome/Kobal/Shutterstock
Cate Blanchett in “The Aviator”
Cate Blanchett won her first Oscar for playing Katharine Hepburn in Martin Scorsese's Howard Hughes biopic. In a lesser film, the eccentric businessman's relationship with the star might have been reduced a historical footnote. But Blanchett's performance, equal parts plane-loving adventurer and deeply concerned lover, is one of the film's highlights.
Photo : Warner Bros/Kobal/Shutterstock
Ben Affleck in “Hollywoodland”
“Argo” and “Gone Baby Gone” rightfully receive credit for reintroducing us to Ben Affleck in the aftermath of “Gigli.” But his mid-career renaissance really began with “Hollywoodland,” turning in a stellar performance as George Reeves, TV's Superman. A murder mystery about the actor's suspicious death, Affleck's flashback performance is the beating heart of the film, scoring him a much-needed Golden Globe nomination.
Photo : Focus/Kobal/Shutterstock
Michelle Williams in “My Week With Marilyn”
This breezy crowd-pleaser of a film is elevated by Williams' Golden Globe-winning performance as Marilyn Monroe. Portraying the star on vacation and away from the pressures of Hollywood allowed for a fresh portrait of a woman that many only know through her onscreen personas.