15 Movie Characters Who Look Nothing Like They Did In Real Life

12. Jim Lovell - Apollo 13

Throughout his illustrious career Tom Hanks has played all manner of real life people, with varying degrees of actual likeness. He was a spot on doppelgänger of the titular hero in Captain Phillips and his Walt Disney was more in-keeping with the animation giant than anyone expected.

It's not always as perfect, which is most prominent in his casting as Jim Lovell in Apollo 13. He bears little resemblance to him, with Hanks looking decidedly younger than Lovell did in 1970 (despite him being a similar age). The same goes for the rest of the crew of the titular mission that went horribly wrong; Bill Paxton and Kevin Bacon (and Gary Sinise) are great actors but certainly don't look like their character's inspirations.

This is, however, a film by Ron Howard, who, when he's on full cylinders, can't be beaten in his ability to turn potentially dry real life events into tense spectacle. Keeping the focus on the characters (see also, Rush), any physical discrepancies are made negligible by allowing for a well-rounded performance; it's his movies that really excel at that feel-alike style.