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Split Screen: Actors Portraying Actors

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8.3

Scarlett Johansson

As Janet Leigh
Movie: "Hitchcock"

Johansson plays Leigh during the filming of "Psycho," and while Leigh was five years older than Scarlett at that time, she was just as big of a star. Which, of course, made her character's death halfway through the movie all the more shocking.

7.7

Jessica Biel

As Vera Miles
Movie: "Hitchcock"

Alfred Hitchcock made Miles don a curly blonde wig (which she reportedly hated) to play Leigh's sister in "Psycho," so naturally Biel had to wear a similarly unflattering one to recreate her look.

6.1

Lindsay Lohan

As Elizabeth Taylor
TV Movie: "Liz and Dick"

Former child star turned tabloid mainstay. It should've been a perfect fit, right? But Lohan was thrashed by critics (and especially on Twitter) for her half-hearted performance in the Lifetime movie where she looked little and sounded nothing like the screen legend.

8.3

Robert Downey Jr.

As Charlie Chaplin
Movie: "Chaplin"

Downey received his first Oscar nomination for playing the silent film legend over the course of six decades. Downey captured Chaplin's British accent (even though most of his fans never heard him talk), and even sang a song that Chaplin had written for the soundtrack.

8.1

Cate Blanchett

As Katharine Hepburn
Movie: "The Aviator"

Blanchett had to have freckles individually painted onto her face, arms, and chest every day to make her look like the iconic redhead Hepburn, but the attention to detail paid off. Blanchett became the first actor to win an Oscar for playing someone who had also won an Oscar.

7.2

Gwen Stefani

As Jean Harlow
Movie: "The Aviator"

"No Doubt" frontwoman Stefani made her acting debut in "The Aviator," and she got the role of one blonde screen icon by posing as another. Director Martin Scorsese cast Stefani after he spotted her on a magazine.

7.6

James Franco

As James Dean
TV Movie: "James Dean"

Franco beat out 500 other contenders to win the role of the doomed rebel. Franco immersed himself in research for the part, learning to ride a motorcycle and play the guitar. He even took up smoking.

7.5

Michelle Williams

As Marilyn Monroe
Movie: "My Week With Marilyn"

Williams spent six months researching Monroe to prepare to play the icon. She watched every movie, read personal letters, and drilled her breathy voice into her head. But she said it was when she mastered Monroe's wiggly walk that she really found the character.

7.1

Jason Scott Lee

As Bruce Lee
Movie: "Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story"

Jason Scott Lee (no relation) took the role of the martial arts superstar after Bruce Lee's own son Brandon turned down the role. Jason Scott Lee studied in Jeet Kune Do, the martial art Bruce Lee developed, for the role, and he's now a certified instructor.

7.9

Jim Carrey

As Andy Kaufman
Movie: "Man on the Moon"

Carrey idolized Kaufman as a young comic, and he made an audition tape for the part using a set of bongo drums that Kaufman himself had actually owned. Still, Carrey narrowly beat out Edward Norton for the part.

Faye Dunaway

As Joan Crawford
Movie: "Mommie Dearest"

Dunaway's explosive performance as the abusive star in this cult classic became so iconic it's arguably become more famous than the real Crawford.

7.7

Geoffrey Rush

As Peter Sellers
TV Movie: "The Life and Death of Peter Sellers"

Rush, a 6' tall Australian, was sort of an odd choice to play Sellers, an Englishman who stood around 5' 8". But he won an Emmy and a Golden Globe for not just embodying the comic great but also many of his famous creations, including Inspector Clouseau and Dr. Strangelove.

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For an actor, playing a real person carries a certain responsibility to be true and respectful to the figure you're pretending to be. But it becomes even more of a challenge to recreate someone who the audience is intimately familiar with, namely another famous actor. Here's a gallery of movie stars playing other movie stars.