Ben Kingsley, Gandhi

• The real-life role: Mahatma Gandhi
• Why he's famous: He was a peacemaker and Indian leader, inspiring many civil rights movements.
• The award: Best actor, 1983

The Real-Life Mahatma Gandhi

Geoffrey Rush, Shine

• The real-life role: David Helfgott
• Why he's famous: He was a child prodigy and concert pianist despite having schizoaffective disorder.
• The award: Best actor, 1996

The Real-Life David Helfgott

Julia Roberts, Erin Brockovich

• The real-life role: Erin Brockovich
• Why she's famous: As a legal clerk, Brockovich uncovered a multimillion dollar scandal against utility company PG&E.
• The award: Best actress, 2001

The Real-Life Erin Brockovich

Adrien Brody, The Pianist

• The real-life role: Wladyslaw Szpilman
• The award: Best actor, 2003
• Why he's famous: The Polish-Jewish Holocaust survivor was a famous pianist and composer.

The Real-Life Wladyslaw Szpilman

Nicole Kidman, The Hours

• The real-life role: Virginia Woolf
• Why she's famous: The British author wrote the classics Mrs. Dalloway and A Room of One's Own.
• The award: Best actress, 2003

Charlize Theron, Monster

• The real-life role: Aileen Wuornos
• Why she's famous: Wuornos was a former prostitute turned serial killer.
• The award: Best actress, 2004

The Real-Life Aileen Wuornos

Jamie Foxx, Ray

• The real-life role: Ray Charles
• Why he's famous: The soul singer achieved icon status for his legendary voice and ability to cross over into rock during the '60s.
• The award: Best actor, 2005

The Real-Life Ray Charles

Cate Blanchett, The Aviator

• The real-life role: Katharine Hepburn
• Why she's famous: An Oscar-winning actress herself, Hepburn had a long-term relationship with Howard Hughes (played by Leonardo DiCaprio [6] in the film).
• The award: Best supporting actress, 2005

The Real-Life Katharine Hepburn

Philip Seymour Hoffman, Capote

• The real-life role: Truman Capote
• Why he's famous: Diminutive author Capote wrote Breakfast at Tiffany's and In Cold Blood.
• The award: Best actor, 2006

The Real-Life Truman Capote

Reese Witherspoon, Walk the Line

• The real-life role: June Carter Cash
• Why she's famous: The country singer was already a successful performer when she married Johnny Cash, with whom she continued to make beautiful music.
• The award: Best actress, 2006

The Real-Life June Carter Cash

Forest Whitaker, The Last King of Scotland

• The real-life role: Idi Amin
• Why he's famous: The notorious dictator of Uganda led a bloody regime that resulted in the deaths of at 100,000 to 500,000 citizens.
• The award: Best actor, 2007

The Real-Life Idi Amin

Helen Mirren, The Queen

• The real-life role: Queen Elizabeth II
• Why she's famous: She's the bloody Queen of England.
• The award: Best actress, 2007

The Real Life Queen Elizabeth II

Marion Cotillard, La Vie en Rose

• The real-life role: Edith Piaf
• Why she's famous: Piaf had a personal life as dramatic as her amazing voice, marked by addiction and tragedy.
• The award: Best actress, 2008

The Real-Life Edith Piaf

Sean Penn, Milk

• The real-life role: Harvey Milk
• Why he's famous: Milk was a gay rights activist and the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in California.
• The award: Best actor, 2009

The Real-Life Harvey Milk

Sandra Bullock, The Blind Side

• The real-life role: Leigh Anne Tuohy
• Why she's famous: The Tennessee mother's story of adopting pro football player Michael Oher is the subject of Michael Lewis's 2006 book, The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game, which was later made into a movie.
• The award: Best actress, 2010

The Real-Life Leigh Anne Tuohy

Colin Firth, The King's Speech

• The real-life role: King George IV
• Why he's famous: The former Duke of York suffered from a stammer that he worked hard to improve before taking the throne.
• The award: Best actor, 2011

Christian Bale, The Fighter

• The real-life role: Dicky Eklund
• Why he's famous: He was a former boxer turned drug addict, who also trained his brother Micky Ward.
• The award: Best supporting actor, 2011

The Real-Life Dicky Eklund

Meryl Streep, The Iron Lady

• The real-life role: Margaret Thatcher
• Why she's famous: She was the former prime minister of England (and the first and only female in the job).
• The award: Best actress, 2012

The Real-Life Margaret Thatcher

Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln

• The real-life role: Abraham Lincoln
• Why he's famous: He was the 16th president of the United States.
• The award: Best actor, 2013

The Real-Life Abraham Lincoln

Matthew McConaughey, Dallas Buyers Club

• The real-life role: Ron Woodroof
• Why he's famous: He was a real-life AIDS patient who smuggled AIDS medication through an underground network.
• The award: Best actor, 2014

Eddie Redmayne, The Theory of Everything

• The real-life role: Stephen Hawking
• Why he's famous: He is a world-renowned physicist, known for his contributions to the fields of cosmology, general relativity and quantum gravity.
• The award: Best actor, 2015

The Real-Life Stephen Hawking

Mark Rylance, Bridge of Spies

• The real-life role: Rudolf Abel
• Why he's famous: He was a Soviet intelligence officer who was arrested by FBI agents for conspiracy.
• The award: Best supporting actor, 2016

Alicia Vikander, The Danish Girl

• The real-life role: Gerda Wegener
• Why she's famous: She was an artist and the wife of Einar Wegener (later Lili Elbe) the first publicly known person to have a sex reassignment surgery.
• The award: Best supporting actress, 2016

Leonardo DiCaprio, The Revenant

• The real-life role: Hugh Glass
• Why he's famous: He was a fur trapper who survived an incredibly gruesome journey on the Yellowstone River.
• The award: Best actor, 2016