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Lists about actors and actresses and the characters they became, how they disappeared into roles, what they really look like, and more.

Actors can be divas, but sometimes actors &quot;acting out&quot; can actually work in a film's favor.&nbsp;In a few cases,&nbsp;actors who altered their parts--often to the chagrin of producers--actually&nbsp;created&nbsp;<a href="https://www.ranker.com/crowdranked-list/best-movie-characters-of-all-time" target="_blank">unforgettable characters</a>. Some iconic characters&nbsp;turned out quite&nbsp;differently from what was&nbsp;originally written, but some movies earned awards and acclaim they&nbsp;very well might not have garnered without the creative insight of the talent.&nbsp;As most filmmakers will say, the movie process&nbsp;has to be <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/movies-that-were-changed-at-the-last-minute/anncasano" target="_blank">somewhat flexible</a> because there are hundreds of <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/movies-where-actors-were-surprised/anncasano" target="_blank">issues that can arise</a>&nbsp;during&nbsp;the extensive process of creating a film.&nbsp;Actors who changed their characters for the better include big names&nbsp;like Johnny Depp and Al Pacino:&nbsp;their deviant decisions are&nbsp;how iconic characters were born.&nbsp;Here's a list of famous roles that could have looked much different without the actors' vision to guide them.

There&#39;s no shortage of <a href="http://www.ranker.com/list/list-of-all-biography-movies/reference">great biopics</a> coming out of Hollywood, but often times the actor in the movie never gets to meet the real person they&#39;re portraying because, you know, they&#39;re dead and all. Sometimes, though, biopics are made while a person is still alive and in those glorious instances, the actors get to meet the real person they&#39;re playing. It adds a genuine dimension to the character and allows for the most accurate portrayal of a real person possible.

This compilation of <a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/real-ghost-photos/roger-nackerman?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">pictures of real</a> people with the actors who played them in a movie is both heartwarming and interesting for comparison purposes. From behind-the-scenes photos to stars at red carpet premieres, these are some of the best pictures of real people meeting the actor playing them. Some of these people got along so well during the production of the movies, in fact, that they kept in touch after production was completed.

This votable list of celebrities with the people they played in movies is here for you to vote on, so give an upvote to your favorite photos of real people with the actors who played them. And if getting a glimpse behind the scenes of movies interests you, check out the most amazing <a href="http://www.ranker.com/list/100-amazing-behind-the-scenes-photos-from-iconic-movies/jude-newsome">behind-the-scenes photos from iconic films</a>.

Have you ever started filming a movie you thought was a comedy, but it was actually a horror film? Probably not because, chances are, you're not a&nbsp;famous&nbsp;actor (but if it is you, Mr. Murray, humanity doesn't deserve you). But believe it or not, this kind of stuff actually does happen to movie stars. Actors who thought they were making different films (or at least, different kinds of films) are, well, people in <a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/best-movies-based-on-stephen-king-books/ranker-film?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">Stephen King movies</a>, mostly.&nbsp;And then there are actors&nbsp;whose roles were much different than they thought they'd be,&nbsp;including such big names as Charlton Heston, Halle Berry, and the whole freaking cast of The Usual Suspects.It's surprising, but it happens more than you might think. Sure, actors could pay attention to what they're doing, or give a flying muffin about more than just a paycheck, but then we wouldn't have these hilarious stories. Here are some knee-slapping instances of actors coming out the back end of a film with no idea what the world was about to see.

Actresses

Acting may seem like a professional game of pretend, but some roles have blurred the line between fiction and reality for actors. Your favorite films have taken some of the best actors past their breaking points -&nbsp;even to death. Taking one's craft seriously is important, but pushing the limits too far can drive a person insane. Which of your favorite <a href="http://www.ranker.com/list/actors-who-had-to-do-things-they-hated-for-a-role/jacob-shelton">actors have given a bit too much for their art</a>?&nbsp;Hollywood is&nbsp;full of glitz and glam, but it's also full of tales of insanity, woe, and death. Some method actors have taken their process way too far, while others had roles so traumatizing they were never the same again. What were the roles that pushed actors to the limit? Get the rundown right here.&nbsp;

Once movie stars reach a certain level of fame, it can be hard&nbsp;to imagine their earlier days of grinding it out in smaller, supporting roles in forgettable projects. But many of today&rsquo;s major film stars initially made a name for themselves on the small screen. If you&rsquo;re under a certain age, you may not even know that some <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/best-film-actors-who-got-famous-on-tv-first/greg" target="_blank">big-time movie stars</a> first found success on <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/celebrities-who-started-in-daytime-soaps/celebrity-lists" target="_blank">popular television shows</a>.&nbsp;

It used to be that television was viewed as the inferior medium, but these days, TV series&nbsp;certainly rival movies in pop culture cachet, and many movie stars are now vying for buzzworthy streaming television series. But back in the day, television roles could be used as launching pads to transition into film. From Will Smith to Tom Hanks to Melissa McCarthy, here&rsquo;s a rundown of movie stars that younger audiences may not know started out as TV stars.

Robert De Niro

Since the beginning of filmmaking, makeup has always been a part of movie magic.&nbsp;Movies like&nbsp;Back to the Future and Forrest Gump that jump time and span&nbsp;decades just wouldn't work if the characters didn't age.&nbsp;To ensure that the characters age consistently and realistically, filmmakers turn to professional makeup artists to work their magic. From prosthetics to full-on plastic work, makeup effects artists have their work cut out for them. But how accurate is the work of a Hollywood makeup artist in predicting what actors will look like when they actually age?Looking back at film history gives us&nbsp;the chance to see how that makeup artistry held up in comparison to the actual aging process. We can now see how the young actors cast in roles such as Granny&nbsp;Wendy Darling in Hook&nbsp;(Maggie Smith)&nbsp;and&nbsp;wheezing, cane-wielding&nbsp;Mr. Dawes in Mary Poppins (Dick Van Dyke)&nbsp;compare to their real-life older selves.&nbsp;Check out our <a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/list/the-best-actors-working-today/bustermcdermott?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">list of actors</a> in old age makeup vs how they actually aged.&nbsp;Vote up the actors who actually grew up to look like the aged versions of themselves.

The mark of a good actor comes across in not how well they memorize lines but in the mannerisms and quirks they put behind those lines. An actor with accent skills already gives themselves a leg up in this department, for such vocal inflection allows them to adopt parts that may lie outside their background, lending to their versatility. Movie stars who do great accents, such as <a href="http://www.ranker.com/list/actors-doing-american-accents/jessica-lawshe" target="_blank">foreign actors giving impeccable American accents</a>, often trick viewers into thinking that is actually how they talk, a high compliment to someone in the dramatic arts. Conversely, <a href="http://www.ranker.com/list/actors-terrible-at-doing-accents/jessica-lawshe" target="_blank">actors with terrible accent skills</a> hurt not only themselves but the productions they're a part of as well.When it comes to the best movie accents, many of the actors who are great at accents develop quite a reputation for it. Legends like Daniel Day Lewis and Meryl Streep&nbsp;arrived at their legacies by effortlessly and convincingly adopting different manners of speaking. For those of you skeptical of the difficulty behind adopting an accent other than your own, try speaking in a Scottish accent for the rest of the day. Not only will you fail at it, others will remark that acting is probably not for you.

Health

The most committed movie stars have no problem drastically changing their bodies for film roles. Oscar winners like Christian Bale, Matthew McConaughey, and Natalie Portman are among stars who have made severe body transformations, including weight loss as well as weight and muscle gain, when parts have called for it. This photo gallery contains pictures of each actor&#39;s&nbsp;extreme body transformation as the character appeared in each movie role. Sometimes an actor goes above and beyond the call of duty for a role, sometimes at the expense of his own health. Physically transforming EVERY aspect of themselves for the character. Sometimes it takes more than a wig or makeup to really believe the actor is someone else altogether. Sometimes it means gaining 60 pounds of muscle, or losing 40 when he didn&#39;t really have much weight to spare.

Below are a <a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/crowdranked-list/best-actors?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">list of actors</a> who put in the work months before the cameras started rolling and left their mark on cinema forever with these dramatic physical transformations!

Who hasn't lied on a resume in order to get a job? Making&nbsp;it as an A-List <a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/crowdranked-list/the-greatest-film-actors-and-actresses-of-all-time?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">actor or actress</a> is a one-in-a-million chance, so this list of celebrities who lied to get parts shouldn't really surprise anyone. Leave your judgment at the door and check out these famous actors who lied to get movie roles.Do you speak German? Ja. Are you a skilled horseback rider? Of course. How old are you? I’m exactly the age you need me to be to appear in this movie. Language skills can be learned, horseback riding&nbsp;can be taught, and age is just a number. Let’s face it, when young actors desperate for work arrive in <a href="http://www.ranker.com/list/celebrities-who-lie/cari-fortier" target="_blank">Hollywood, lying</a> about a skill set or their age is just a technicality. Unless, of course, that fib comes back to haunt them.One famous actress on this list <a href="http://www.ranker.com/list/celebrities-who-lied-about-their-homes-on-mtv-s-cribs/mariel-loveland" target="_blank">lied</a>&nbsp;that she loved horses, when in fact she was not only terrified of them, but also allergic. Another actor said he had mad volleyball skills, but when it came time to serve and volley, he looked like a fool in front of the film’s cast and crew. Several actors have lied about being able to ride horses. Like, way more than you might expect.&nbsp;Read about those stories and other famous celebrities who lied to get ahead in Hollywood.

Method acting, which was born within the philosophy of the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.britannica.com/art/Stanislavsky-system" target="_blank">Stanislavski&nbsp;system </a>and popularized by the Strasberg Institute, has many famous adherents:&nbsp;from Marlon Brando to Marilyn Monroe. The past 40 years, though, have ushered in a rise of brilliant actors who took method acting way too far. While some of the <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/best-new-shows-with-good-acting/ranker-tv" target="_blank">best overall acting</a> can come from the practice, these stories will leave you wondering if it was really worth the risk.&nbsp;

&quot;Too&nbsp;far,&quot; of course, is a subjective term. For many, the insane commitment&nbsp;simply comes with the territory. But as is the case with almost any experiment, things can backfire. Heath Ledger -&nbsp;who may have actually sacrificed his life for his unforgettable turn&nbsp;as the Joker -&nbsp;tops&nbsp;the list of&nbsp;actors whose lives were destroyed by method acting. Or so the legend goes, anyway.

The business&nbsp;abounds with method acting consequences that were as extreme as they were short-lived. Consider Christian Bale, who almost starved himself to death for his role in The Machinist.&nbsp;Or Divine, who famously upstaged everyone by actually eating a piece of real dog sh*t for the sake of art.

While consuming dog sh*t may not be one of&nbsp;the worst manifestations of method acting, it&#39;s surely&nbsp;the most repulsive (even though Nicolas Cage did&nbsp;eat a live cockroach for Vampire&#39;s Kiss). But there&#39;s a lot&nbsp;more where that came from, so read on to inquire further -&nbsp;and vote up the actors who went above and beyond for their craft.&nbsp;

Portraying a real person in a movie can create a good amount of pressure for actors, but that pressure is even more intense when the person they&#39;re portraying is literally sitting there on the set watching them. Some actors are cast in biopics about living people because there&#39;s a physical resemblance, especially when <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/best-pictures-of-actors-and-people-they-played-in-biopics/hoserusc" target="_blank">viewed side by side</a>. Others are cast due to their abilities as an actor, dancer, or singer. But either way, actors playing living or very-recently-living public figures are faced with the added dilemma of choosing between doing a direct impression of that person or doing some interpretation of their essence, and either one of those choices can be extremely difficult if they&#39;re &#39;pretending&#39; to be a living legend.

Plus, if they don&#39;t do a great job, they&#39;ll have to hear about it from the literal person they&#39;re pretending to be. It&#39;s not something that actors playing Batman or <a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/crowdranked-list/harry-potter-characters?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">Harry Potter characters</a> will ever have to deal with.

Celebrities

Imagine being so beautiful that you can simply be walking down the street and a talent agent feels the need to stop you and persuade you to join a modeling agency or try out for a part in a feature film. Don&rsquo;t think that sort of thing really happens? Well, it actually happens all the time, if a person happens to look like Charlize Theron or Natalie Portman. Here are some famous <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/best-performances-by-non-actors/ezra-hendren" target="_blank">actors with no experience</a> who got their <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/no-name-actors-who-became-household-names/tyler-mitchell" target="_blank">big break</a> by being in the right place at the right time.

Mel Gibson was simply keeping his friend company while he auditioned for a role in the film Mad Max. Director George Miller spotted Gibson in the background and liked his look. Not only did the Aussie get a role in Mad Max after having no prior film acting experience whatsoever, he got the lead part.

Some of the people on this list are now celebrities who didn&#39;t want to be actors in the first place. Rosario Dawson didn&#39;t even have to leave her front porch to get noticed. Charlize Theron was just trying to get her last paycheck cashed at the bank. Pamela Anderson received a ton of love when she appeared on a stadium big screen at a Canadian football game.

These charmed stories of how actors caught breaks are fairy tale in nature and almost too impossible to believe. But they&#39;re all true!

Sometimes what you see in movies isn&#39;t trickery - it&#39;s the real thing. Some memorable moments in movies are the result of actors who <a href="/list/movie-moments-where-actors-werent-acting/jessica-bedewi" target="_blank">aren&#39;t really acting at all</a>. While it&#39;s&nbsp;not&nbsp;terribly uncommon for actors to <a href="/list/movie-set-injuries/lisa-waugh">get injured on the sets of major Hollywood films</a> - though more often, it&#39;s the stuntmen getting injured - it&#39;s&nbsp;quite rare for those <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/real-actor-injuries-written-into-movies/jim-rowley" target="_blank">injuries to make it into the final cuts</a> of the movie. Rarer still, actors are occasionally <a href="/list/7-classic-film-sets-that-actually-killed-people/matt-blackwood">killed on set</a>&nbsp;or otherwise <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/movies-shot-around-actor-death/jim-rowley" target="_blank">perish during production</a> - but thankfully, the actors on this list all survived their accidents.

Some are major and some are minor, but all of these injuries really happened, and you actually get to see the blood of some of the world&#39;s most famous actors onscreen as a result.&nbsp;This list is a testament to the ability of some of these actors to stay in character, even after they&#39;ve suffered immensely, like when <a href="/list/movie-stunts-gone-wrong-that-ended-up-in-the-movie/orrin-grey" target="_blank">Tom Cruise broke his foot and kept on running</a>.&nbsp;Often, this makes for an extremely realistic and gut-wrenching scene. Someone give these actors an award!

One-hit wonders aren&#39;t a phenomenon reserved for the music world. There have been many one-hit wonder actors over the years - talented and seemingly promising young performers who quickly faded after their big break. While being remembered as a single character in a single project can undoubtedly be a challenge to parlay into a successful, long-term career, actors who had <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/talented-actors-remembered-for-one-role/michael-anderson">just one big role</a> often hold a special place in our collective heart.

&nbsp;

It&#39;s no secret that show business&nbsp;is a brutal environment, known for chewing up talented performers and spitting them out. Actors who were one-hit wonders likely experienced this shunning for themselves, relegated either to minor roles in lower-quality productions or to no roles at all. But for one, relatively brief moment, they shone brightly, giving the world a single memorable performance before their star burned out. We can bemoan their stalled careers and wonder <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/actors-who-lost-mainstream-success/jake-williams" target="_blank">what might have been</a>, or&nbsp;we can be grateful for their single-performance legacy.

Just because you're one of the biggest stars in the world – or on your way to becoming one –that doesn't make you immune to bombing an audition once in a while. There have been many bad audition stories from great actors; some dating back to when they were just starting out, and some occurred after&nbsp;they were already household names. Nerves almost always play a prominent role in these awkward audition experiences, proving that even mega-talents struggle with stage fright now and again.Real-life stories about horrible auditions wouldn't be complete without the experiences of both <a href="http://www.ranker.com/crowdranked-list/the-greatest-film-actors-and-actresses-of-all-time">respected, longtime industry veterans</a>, and relative newcomers –&nbsp;stars who are fast on the rise. In each, we can appreciate the absurdity (and often, the hilarity) of the actor's predicament, while also taking away a bit of inspiration.It also helps knowing that the impact of a bad audition is by no means permanent; in some cases, the actors even ended up landing their respective jobs. Pop some popcorn and enjoy these truly humiliating audition stories from some Hollywood A-listers.

Many actors exist at a mid-level fame equilibrium, having enjoyed their highest-profile successes years ago but still maintaining consistent careers in front of the camera. In many cases, their recent roles or projects are so relatively minor, you may not have even realized they&#39;re still <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/best-actresses-working-today/carlybobarly" target="_blank">working</a> at all. But working they are, and their consistent - though low-profile - roles serve&nbsp;as a testament to both their fortitude and love of <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/best-living-american-actors/ranker-film" target="_blank">their craft</a>.

After all, show business is&nbsp;fickle, a fact the actors on this list know all too well. What&#39;s hot one minute will lose popularity the next, and if actors can&#39;t adapt, they&#39;ll most likely be lost in the wake of the ever-changing cultural tide. The performers below have been whip-smart about changing the direction of their sails and staying afloat - and that&#39;s no small accomplishment.

The <a href="http://www.ranker.com/crowdranked-list/saddest-television-deaths">death of a beloved character</a> in a television show or film franchise can be a jarring blow for fans, but is often especially difficult for the actor. The loss of a&nbsp;steady gig when a&nbsp;character is <a href="http://www.ranker.com/list/characters-written-off-tv-shows/jacob-shelton">written out</a>&nbsp;can be devastating, and more often than not, it&#39;s a completely unwanted situation. Sometimes, however, that&#39;s not the case - there are&nbsp;instances of characters that died when actors wanted out, and this goes for characters killed off in movie franchises and characters killed off TV shows.&nbsp;

As their careers go on, actors outgrow&nbsp;roles and need to move on to new opportunities. To accomplish this, it&#39;s not unheard of for actors to request their character be killed off to provide a way out. It may seem weird, but this process has happened with some of the most beloved&nbsp;characters in massive TV&nbsp;shows and film franchises. Killing a character accomplishes a number of things for an actor - it gives her a way out, and preserves her legacy, so no one else can step into the role and alter it or threaten to undermine the reputation of the franchise, show, character, or originating actor. (Sometimes, of course, actors <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/actors-who-left-franchises-then-returned/anncasano" target="_blank">decide later that they want back in</a>.)

This list explores some of the most notable cases of actors who requested characters be killed. In at least one case, the request wasn&#39;t met, and the actor had to soldier on.&nbsp;

Vanessa Williams

The worst thing that can happen to a celebrity is growing a year older. Some actors embrace their age and gracefully shine their light over newer stars, but some celebs refuse to go into that dying light. More often than not it&#39;s creepy when a star refuses to move on once they&rsquo;re past their prime, but some stars are like wine (or fancy cheese) &ndash; they get better with age! The stars on this list exist in that rarified air where the aging process simply stops (or reverses), and man refuses to bow to the curse of the gods. The stars on this list may have looked good in the &#39;90s, but they look even better now.

If you have enough money, there are hundreds of ways to slow, or even reverse the aging process. Some people choose <a href="http://www.ranker.com/tags/plastic-surgery?ref=internalCrossLinking_tag">plastic surgery</a>, while others decide to go the route of an unholy sacrifice, or a personal trainer. When you&rsquo;re a celebrity like the men and women on this list, the sky&rsquo;s the limit.

After checking out this collection of stars who&#39;ve aged in the strangest ways, vote up the celebrities who you think look the most ageless.

Hollywood isn&#39;t too proud to remake a few movies... or a lot of movies. Whether it&#39;s because the first version was incredibly successful or because someone has a new vision for the story, older films get remade all the time. In fact, many of these remakes are so successful that younger people don&#39;t even know that they aren&#39;t the originals. With more than one film, more than one actor gets a shot at playing some of the<a href="http://www.ranker.com/crowdranked-list/best-movie-characters-of-all-time"> most iconic roles </a>of all time. Usually <a href="https://www.ranker.com/list/surprising-same-character-different-actors/mike-mcgranaghan" target="_blank">different actors who played the same character</a> have a similar look and approach to the character, but not always! Some <a href="http://www.ranker.com/crowdranked-list/greatest-movie-remakes-of-all-time">film remakes</a>&nbsp;totally re-imagine the characters and end up quite different than the original. &nbsp;

These character comparisons show how different actors pulled off the same role. Check out this list of characters for surprising changes and uncanny similarities in casting the same movie twice!

Jack Nicholson

Even the best <a class="edS-cl" href="https://www.ranker.com/crowdranked-list/the-greatest-film-actors-and-actresses-of-all-time?ref=internalCrossLinking_keyword">actors and actresses</a> can't help the way they look. No matter how skilled they are, or how much make-up they don,&nbsp;there are&nbsp;actors who are always creepy. These seemingly sinister performers may have earned their reputation for creepiness through a career-defining role&nbsp;or, less fortunately,&nbsp;because they&nbsp;frankly just look a little off. No matter the reason, these supremely creepy Hollywood actors will forever make your&nbsp;hair stand on end, even in a sympathetic role.Some performers on this list weren't always creepy. Christopher Waken and Glenn Close were both&nbsp;the lookers back in the day, and&nbsp;much beloved for compassionate portrayals of <a href="http://www.ranker.com/list/best-robert-deniro-costar-performances/jacob-shelton">sympathetic characters</a>. Hell, even&nbsp;Jack Nicholson was attractive in the <a href="http://www.ranker.com/list/warren-beatty-trivia-facts/jacob-shelton">golden days</a> of the 1970s, if you can believe that. Over time, these performers&nbsp;have become the kind of creepy actors and actresses that&nbsp;give you&nbsp;the chills, even if they're doing something as simple as brushing their teeth (and actually, you probably should feel creeped out if you're watching someone brush their teeth, because that's f*cking weird).&nbsp;Check out the selections below, and have your voice heard by voting up the actor who are creepy no matter what.&nbsp;

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Will Smith is a man of many talents. From his comedic chops to dramatic energy, he truly is one of the most flexible actors of his generation. Being on the scene since the late &#39;80s has its perks, in that he has a massive catalog of work to comb through for tiny details that not only enhance the performances he gives but make&nbsp;the projects he&#39;s part of that much richer. This is a collection of missable details from Will Smith&#39;s work in movies and&nbsp;television.

Vote up the most interesting details from Will Smith&#39;s body of work!

16 Will Smith TV And Movie Details That Make You Feel Fresh

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Will Smith Is A Man Of Many Talents

Will Smith is a man of many talents. From his comedic chops to dramatic energy, he truly is one of the most flexible actors of his generation. Being on the ...