Most movie characters are fictional, but a few are based on real people. Actors pull inspiration from real people’s actions, personalities, or mannerisms to create their fictional characters, and these might surprise you. From actual serial killers to Steve Jobs, check out these six realistic movie characters and who they are based on below.
6. Arthur Harrow in Moon Knight
Our sixth selection for realistic movie characters is Arthur Harrow in the Marvel series Moon Knight. The religious villain was played by Ethan Hawke, who prepared for his role by looking to the personas of real-life people. Hawke said, “For me, it was like putting Jimmy Swaggart, Leo Tolstoy, (Fidel) Castro, the Dalai Lama, and Josef Mengele into a blender…That was the fun of it: What if Steve Jobs was a bad guy?” Hawke succeeded, creating a character as smart as he was dangerous.
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5. Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver
Next up on our list of realistic movie characters is the lone protagonist of Taxi Driver, Travis Bickle. While Bickle’s character inspired an assassination attempt on President Ronald Reagan, the inspiration for his character came from a different troubled individual, Arthur Bremer.
Bremer was convicted of attempting to kill presidential candidate George Wallace in 1972, leaving the politician paralyzed from the waist down. The screenwriter of Taxi Driver used Bremer’s actions alongside the Harry Chapin song “Taxi” to create the film’s script.
4. Norman Bates in Psycho
Ranking fourth on our list of realistic movie characters is Norman Bates, one of the most troubling characters in film history. Bates was behind the infamous shower scene in Psycho, and his character was based on serial killer Ed Gein. A distraught man, both Bates and Gein had abusive mothers who they created shrines for, wore women’s clothes, and hurt innocent victims. The similarities will only increase if you watch the film, and the shower scene will not be the only thing to freak you out.
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3. Rocky Balboa in Rocky
Earning the third spot on our realistic movie characters list is Rocky Balboa, whose origin story might surprise some viewers. Despite Sylvester Stallone’s larger-than-life persona, he wasn’t the inspiration behind Rocky’s unforgettable character. Rocco Francis “Rocky Marciano” Marchegiano was the inspiration behind the gloves, whose relentless fighting style still holds the highest knockout-to-win ratio in heavyweight title fights.
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2. Sherlock Holmes in Sherlock Holmes
Coming in second on our realistic movie characters list is Sherlock Holmes, the brilliant yet eccentric investigator from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s novels, which were later translated into films and TV series. While Holmes seems to be inhuman with his deduction skills, the character is inspired by the real-life figure Dr. Joseph Bell. Conan Doyle met Bell at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh and was impressed by his ability to deduce personal details based on appearance and mannerisms.
1. Indiana Jones in the Indiana Jones Series
Last but not least on our list of realistic movie characters is Indiana Jones, the archaeologist brain-child of George Lucas, as an homage to the action heroes of 1930s film serials. But Jones was inspired by real-life men, too, including archaeologists Hiram Bingham, Sir Leonard Woolley, and Roy Chapman Andrews. Andrews was particularly important, as he went on expeditions across the world collecting rare animal specimens and rehashed his adventures in glorious detail, just like Jones.
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