People who were actually more attractive than the actors who portrayed them

If they had waited ten years to make the movie, Monica Potter would have been the perfect actress for the part.

 

My first instinct when I read this was "No way Nixon was better looking than Anthony Hopkins!" However, after doing a side by side of each with pictures taken when they were both 55 years old, they actually resembled each other more than I thought. I'd still give the edge to Hopkins though... he definitely gets the nod for better hair.

 

Most of these choices are actors portraying other actors, a sub-category that probably should be excluded.

 

That's "Star 80" right? Directed by Bob Fosse? It wasn't that good and I agree that Hemingway was a bad casting choice for Stratten.

 

Crud - you're right! I thought Bogdanovich directed it, but I misremembered because Bog had an affair with Stratten and directed a movie in which she acted...

 

Somewhat arguable, because they're both beautiful, but --->

Ashley Judd as a young MM in Norma Jean and Marilyn,

and

Gretchen Mol as Bettie Page in The Notorious Bettie Page.

Marilyn and Bettie are both so iconic, it's kind of a thankless job, but I think they both did well, though it's been a while since I've seen either film.

Ashley:



Gretchen:

 

About Andrea McArdle not being better looking than Judy Garland.

 

Johnny Depp in Black Mass looked like a ghoul or a vampire. Whitey Bulger looked like your old Uncle Whitey in real life. Just normal looking.

 

Richard III was not the hunchback with a withered arm and limp the way Laurence Olivier and others portrayed him as (but it is part of Shakespeare’s description so that is a mitigating factor).

 

Maybe if you were judging based on her portrayal as Erin only.

But go watch Pretty Woman or The Pelican Brief or Notting Hill and it's apparent Julia Roberts has very few equals in beauty.

 

Look at a photo of Andrea McArdle, circa 1978.

 

It's not just the look - it's the bizarre performance! From my review:


"Depp’s snarling performance doesn’t help. Depp makes Whitey an interesting personality, but he never feels like a real person, as that pervasive sense of evil becomes overwhelming. Cripes, Depp’s Bulger offers such a “movie monster” that at one point, I actually thought he’d turn into a bat and fly away. "

 

I think Julia Roberts is one of the most unattractive major actresses in Hollywood.

 

Agree 100%.

 

I don't have a particular thing for Julia Roberts at all -- I could think of dozens of other actresses I find much hotter -- but calling her "one of the most unattractive" is just flat-out bonkers.

 

Caligula looks angelic compared to Malcolm McDowell...

 

Technically, being "one of the most unattractive major actresses" doesn't = "unattractive".

It's like being the worst song on a great album. All the songs may be very good, but one still has to be the worst!

 

I know I'm an exception, but I never thought Julia Roberts was a top beauty. Her allure is still a head-scratcher for me.

 

I think a lot of Roberts' appeal was her personality. Not that she's unattractive, because she's not - she's a good-looking woman - but she also came across as likable and engaging...

 

She's definitely not ugly, but there are far more beautiful actresses in Hollywood than her (even at her peak of popularity).

 

The younger McDowell would've been a pretty good match, assuming that statue is anything close to accurate.

 

Which it probably is not.

 

They actually were probably fairly accurate, although it depends on when. In the Republic, statues of older Senators had more wrinkles than the subject had as it was felt wrinkles portrayed wisdom and experience.
Augustus (Gaius Caligula’s great grandfather) did have statues of himself and his wife Livia as eternally young. Caligula was 28 when he was assassinated so he didn’t have that problem. But most of the time statues do show features that are mentioned in writing.

Henry VIII and his fourth wife Anne of Cleves were probably better looking than Charles Laughton and his wife Elsa Lancaster who portrayed them in “Private Life of Henry VIII”.

 

Wasn’t Anne the one Henry said looked like “a horse”? Lucky for her!

Thanks for the info, though! I love history and really like being informed on things I don’t know.

 

I think a lot of men have trouble judging a women's beauty except thru sexual allure. Julia Roberts didn't have that, but the aesthetic beauty of her face is exceptional. Again, I know many men can only judge by sexual attraction which is too bad.