I Bet You Didn't Know These 18 A-List Actors Played Iconic Historical Figures In TV Shows And Movies — And Here Are The Photos To Prove It

1 year ago 61

I TOTALLY forgot Lindsay Lohan starred as this Hollywood icon!!!!

I was scrolling through Netflix the other day, trying to find something to watch. Up pops Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian, and none other than Amy Adams comes strolling onto the screen as aviation icon Amelia Earhart.

20th Century Fox Home Entertainment / Via giphy.com

I tooooootttallly forgot Amy Adams played this aeronautical QUEEN, and I got to thinking: what other famous actors have played a historical figure that we've all forgotten about? Prepare to be pleasantly reminded!

Sony Pictures / Courtesy Everett Collection, Universal History Archive / Universal Images Group via Getty Images

Kirsten Dunst starred as the tragic French Queen Marie Antoinette in Sofia Coppola's Academy Award-winning film. While Kirsten says the iconic line "Let them eat cake," the real Marie Antoinette did not.

2. Bill Hader as Any Warhol, Men in Black 3 (2012)

Columbia Pictures / Via Youtube, Jack Mitchell / Getty Images

"I'm so out of ideas I'm painting soup cans and bananas, for Christ's sake!!" — Bill Hader as Andy Warhol.

Lifetime Television / Courtesy Everett Collection, Silver Screen Collection / Getty Images

Liz & Dick follows the tumultuous relationship of Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. The movie starts with Liz's marriage to Eddie Fisher. You may be asking, "Who the heck is Eddie Fisher?" but you DEFINITELY know his daughter — the late, great Carrie Fisher.

4. Eugene Levy as Albert Einstein, Night At The Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian (2009)

Frazer Harrison / Getty Images, ©20th Century Fox Film Corp. / Couretesy of Everett Collection

Technicalllly Eugene Levy didn't actually portray but rather voiced the animated Albert Einstein bobbleheads, who help security guard Larry Daley and Amelia Earhart.

5. Tom Hiddleston as F. Scott Fitzgerald, Midnight in Paris (2011)

Sony Pictures / Courtesy Everett Collection, Bettmann / Bettmann Archive

F. Scott Fitzgerald is the reason we all had stress over what the green light meant in grade 10 English.

6. Cynthia Erivo as Harriet Tubman, Harriet (2019)

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7. Aubrey Plaza as Cleopatra, Drunk History (2013 — 2019)

Comedy Central / courtesy Everett Collection, Hulton Archive / Getty Images

8. Chadwick Bosman as Jackie Robinson, 42 (2013)

Warner Bros / Courtesy Everett Collection, Hulton Archive / Getty Images

9. Madonna as Eva Perón, Evita (1996)

Buena Vista Pictures/Courtesy Everett Collection, Photoquest / Getty Images

10. André 3000 as Jimi Hendrix, Jimi: All Is By My Side (2013)

Courtesy Everett Collection / Everett Collection / Everett Collection, David Redfern / Redferns

André 3000 did all his own singing in this biopic, but you don't get to hear him sing any songs actually written by Hendrix. Director John Ridley wasn't able to get the rights from Hendrix's estate.

11. Sean Penn as Harvey Milk, Milk (2008)

Focus Features / Courtesy Everett Collection, San Francisco Chronicle / Hearst Newspapers via Getty Images

Sean Penn played Harvey Milk, who was the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in California. The film was nominated for eight Academy Awards, and Penn nabbed the award for Best Actor.