- Actors often transform into real-life musicians for biopics.
- Some actors go through physical transformations to play musicians.
- Many, like Timothée Chalamet and Angelina Jolie, employ vocal coaches to nail their performances.
Musical legends have been brought to the big screen for decades, in biopics that range from transformative to highly mediocre. Finding actors who can accurately portray those artists often requires some musical training, studying of mannerisms, and physical transformations.
While some roles merely require learning some choreography and slight makeup, others are more intensive, like Jamie Foxx having his eyes glued shut to portray blind musician Ray Charles.
The latest addition to the list is Timothée Chalamet, who stars as Bob Dylan in James Mangold’s film “A Complete Unknown.” Mangold is no stranger to biopics, having previously directed the movie “Walk the Line,” which starred Joaquin Phoenix as Johnny Cash. But for Chalamet, playing the singer-songwriter was a new challenge, and the end result was years in the making.
Here are 48 of the most notable musician biopic transformations.
Anjelica Oswald contributed to a previous version of this article.
