History NoCelebritiesWereHarmed / LiveActionFilms

* ''Film/{{Aline|2021}}'' is a {{biopic}} of Music/CelineDion's life in everything but name (the character is named "Aline Dieu").

** ''O Candidato Honesto 2'' pulls it one step further with straight-up parodies of politicians: the former President is [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dilma_Rouseff a woman]] who prefers the term "Presidenta" and is prone to [[MeaninglessMeaningfulWords confusing rambling]], the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michel_Temer vice-president]] is a power-hungry career politician married to [[https://conteudo.imguol.com.br/c/bol/fotos/50/2016/05/16/15mai2016---em-entrevista-ao-fantastico-da-tv-globo-o-presidente-interino-michel-temer-afirmou-que-sua-mulher-marcela-temer-assumira-funcoes-na-area-social-se-ele-assumir-a-presidencia-1463398603696_956x637.jpg a much younger woman]] who looks/behaves like a vampire (to the point his ParodyName is [[PunnyName Ivan Pires]]), and the pre-election polls were being led by [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jair_Bolsonaro a radical right-winger deputy]] who is against minorities and advocates for everyone to bear guns. There's also a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiririca Northeasterner deputy who was/is a clown]].

[[caption-width-right:350:Above: Richard Simmons. Below: Creator/EddieMurphy [[Film/TheNuttyProfessor1996 as not-quite-Richard Simmons]].]]

* ''Film/AllGoodThings'' is a fictionalization of the story of the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Durst Durst case]] in which every name was changed except, for some reason, [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Patrick_Moynihan Pat Moynihan's]].

* In ''Film/{{Victim}}'', Calloway the actor is an {{expy}} of Creator/NoelCoward.

* Inverted in ''Film/TheHustler'' -- RealLife pool player Rudolf "New York Fats" Wanderone claims that Minnesota Fats is based on him. After the film was released, he adopted the nickname for himself and became better known by it than the movie character.

** In a case of WhatCouldHaveBeen, this trope was averted with the new president shown in [[Film/KingsmanTheGoldenCircle the 2017 sequel]], played by Creator/BruceGreenwoood. For most of the film's production, the president was a direct, unflattering parody of UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump, complete with him redecorating the Oval Office to resemble Trump Tower. This was intended to be a commentary on what could have happened if Trump had won the 2016 Presidential Election, but when Trump actually ''did'' win, the scenes were reshot to make the character a more generic Southern president.

** The unnamed American president strongly resembles UsefulNotes/BarackObama in looks (at least from behind -- we never see his face) and voice.

** ''Film/BatmanForever'' and ''Film/BatmanAndRobin'' had tabloid reporter Gossip Gerty (Elizabeth Sanders, wife of ''Batman'' creator Bob Kane) as a send-up of legendary Hollywood gossip columnist Hedda Hopper (although, frankly, she looked more like Dame Edna).

* In the football film ''Film/AShotAtGlory'', Rangers manager Martin Smith can be seen as an equivalent to real-life former Gers boss Walter Smith.
* In ''Film/TheRightStuff'', the lead engineer for NASA and the Soviet "Chief Designer" were both unnamed. These characters represented, respectively, Wernher von Braun and Sergei Korolev. In Korolev's case, this was TruthInTelevision: his identity was a state secret until his death in 1966. As for von Braun, he was made a celebrity by Creator/WaltDisney and his ''[[Series/WaltDisneyPresents Disneyland]]'' series, becoming [[TheSmartGuy his go-to guy for anything space-related]].
* Inverted in ''Film/TheHustler'' -- RealLife pool player Rudolf "New York Fats" Wanderone claims that Minnesota Fats is based on him. After the film was released, he adopted the nickname for himself and became better known by it than the movie character.

* In ''Film/ThePalmBeachStory'', John D. Hackensacker III is a pretty obvious goof on the Rockefellers.
* The ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'' film series (1989-1997):
** Mayor Borg from [[Film/Batman1989 the first movie]] was clearly a fictional version of then New York City mayor Ed Koch. There's also murdered swimsuit model [[Creator/CindyCrawford "Candy Walker."]]
** In ''Film/BatmanReturns'', Creator/ChristopherWalken played Max Shreck [[{{Trumplica}} a lot like Donald Trump]]. (He also claimed to have based his characterization on Meyer Wolfsheim, a minor character from ''Literature/TheGreatGatsby'' that was itself a No Celebrities Were Harmed version of organized crime figure Arnold Rothstein.)
** ''Film/BatmanForever'' and ''Film/BatmanAndRobin'' had tabloid reporter Gossip Gerty (Elizabeth Sanders, wife of ''Batman'' creator Bob Kane) as a send-up of legendary Hollywood gossip columnist Hedda Hopper (although, frankly, she looked more like Dame Edna).
* In ''Film/BackToTheFuturePartII'', WordOfGod said the [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Biff Tannen]] of 1985-A was [[{{Trumplica}} inspired by Donald Trump]]. The portrait in Biff's office was even modeled on a Trump portrait. Similarly, the [[BrokenBird Lorraine Baines-McFly]] of 1985-A was modeled after various female televangelists of the 80s, particularly Tammy Faye Meissner (aka Tammy Faye Bakker).
* Done a fair amount in ''Film/AndTheBandPlayedOn''. Richard Gere's character, for example, is pretty obviously Michael Bennett. Some of the others are a little harder to pin down.
* In ''Film/WNUFHalloweenSpecial'', the eponymous special has two supernatural investigators at the scene, the Bergers, who are an obvious parody of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ed_and_Lorraine_Warren Ed and Lorraine Warren]].
* ''Film/FieldOfDreams'': The famously reclusive author Terence Mann was the famously reclusive author Creator/JDSalinger in the original book, but Salinger threatened to sue if he was featured in any adaptation of the novel.
* In the film adaptation of ''Literature/GoneGirl'', Missi Pyle's "Ellen Abbott" character is a southern-accented, big-blonde-haired, wide-eyed rabble-rouser. She has a cable show that makes a lot of hay out of no-good, murdering husbands, and pretty, abducted women. And she tosses around sensationalistic, catch-phrase-riddled accusations about active crime investigations. But she's totally NOT Nancy Grace. No, sir. Nope.
* ''Film/KingsmanTheSecretService'':
** Princess Tilde, as she is listed in the credits, is clearly a fictionalised version of Crown Princess Victoria of Sweden (in status) and her younger sister Princess Madeleine (in looks and age).
** The unnamed American president strongly resembles UsefulNotes/BarackObama in looks (at least from behind -- we never see his face) and voice.
** The CorruptChurch in Kentucky is modelled after the Westboro Baptist Church.
* Creator/JoeCarnahan's breakout film ''Film/BloodGutsBulletsAndOctane'' features a rich, cowboy-themed car dealership owner. The character is an obvious parody of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cal_Worthington Cal Worthington]], who is locally famous in the West Coast for appearing in quirky commercials for his car dealerships.
* Master Phineas the painter from ''Film/{{Cinderella 2015}}'' looks like Salvador Dali!
* Brazilian actor Leandro Hassum:
** ''O Candidato Honesto'' (''The Honest Candidate'') had Hassum playing a CorruptPolitician running for president [[WillNotTellALie who's forced to be honest]], and the character has various references to past presidents: his middle name was [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jose_Sarney Ribamar, he hailed from a Northeastern state]], [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luiz_Inacio_Lula_da_Silva had a work accident that brought him into the labour movement and subsequently politics]], and appears in a [[https://s3.amazonaws.com/filepicker-images-rapgenius/Fo7NIHNvTOySNn4v48fd_CandidatoCollor.png magazine cover as a "hunter of the corrupt"]].
** ''O Candidato Honesto 2'' pulls it one step further with straight-up parodies of politicians: the former President is [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dilma_Rouseff a woman]] who prefers the term "Presidenta" and is prone to [[MeaninglessMeaningfulWords confusing rambling]], the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michel_Temer vice-president]] is a power-hungry career politician married to [[https://conteudo.imguol.com.br/c/bol/fotos/50/2016/05/16/15mai2016---em-entrevista-ao-fantastico-da-tv-globo-o-presidente-interino-michel-temer-afirmou-que-sua-mulher-marcela-temer-assumira-funcoes-na-area-social-se-ele-assumir-a-presidencia-1463398603696_956x637.jpg a much younger woman]] who looks/behaves like a vampire (to the point his ParodyName is [[PunnyName Ivan Pires]]), and the pre-election polls were being led by [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jair_Bolsonaro a radical right-winger deputy]] who is against minorities and advocates for everyone to bear guns. There's also a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiririca Northeasterner deputy who was/is a clown]].
** ''Até Que A Sorte Nos Separe 3'' had Hassum's daughter marrying the son of billionaire "Rique Barelli", whose nome is only the start of an extended [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eike_Batista Eike Batista]] joke: the name of his company has three letters ending in "X", his wife is a former ''Playboy'' cover [[https://www.foliatropical.com.br/img/posts/337.jpg who wore a necklace with his name]], and [[http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2013-10-03/eike-batista-how-brazils-richest-man-lost-34-dot-5-billion bad business decisions sap his fortune]].
* In ''Film/ThePinkPanther2006'', Bizu, the French football player appears to be based on [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zinedine_Zidane Zinedine Zidane]] with the similar nickname "Zizou".
* Italian director Paolo Sorrentino (famous for ''Film/IlDivo'') is making a new movie called "Youth", starred by Creator/MichaelCaine, Creator/JaneFonda and Creator/HarveyKeitel. One of the secondary characters will be an ex-soccer legend in a decadent state that is easily recognizable as an {{expy}} of the Argentinian Diego Armando Maradona as he was in TheNineties.
* ''Film/ThisIsSpinalTap:''
** Apparently Reiner's [=DiBergi=] character is a goof on Creator/MartinScorsese, who was a rather clueless interviewer in his 1978 {{Rockumentary}} about Music/TheBand, ''Film/TheLastWaltz''.
** Nigel Tufnel is a loose parody of Music/EricClapton, right down to his name. The writers arrived at the name "Nigel Tufnel" by combining a generic British first name ("Nigel" instead of "Eric") with the name of a posh London neighborhood ("Tufnell Park" instead of "Clapton Pond", with the character's name losing one "l"), thus keeping the parallels relatively subtle.
** Christopher Guest and Michael [=McKean=] note in the Criterion DVD commentary that the archetype of the long-lived British band whose star power has faded, but yet continued to ride their fame and grind out tours year after year, calling out Status Quo in particular, formed much of the inspiration for Spinal Tap.
** David St. Hubbins sings lead vocal and plays rhythm guitar. Derek St. Holmes sang lead vocals and played rhythm guitar for Music/TedNugent.
* The ''Film/{{Tremors}}'' series features the return of the Assblaster which had been sold to Siegfried and Roy in the third film. Rather embarrassingly, the creators no longer had the rights to use the names and they were referred to as "Sigmund and Ray."
* Ruby Rod in ''Film/TheFifthElement'' is Chris Tucker's impression of Music/{{Prince}}.
* The fourth Bibi & Tina movie features [[{{Trumplica}} Dirk Trumpf]], a sleazy building contractor who convinces von Falkenstein that he needs to build a gigantic wall around his castle (taller than the castle itself!) for protection, including barbed wire. He is later seen stealing von Falkenstein's money and yelling at his workers for working too hard, telling them to only work when somebody is looking.
* ''Film/CloudAtlas'': The Lemon Awards are a pretty obvious reference to The Orange Awards, a literary prize sponsored by the mobile phone company Orange.
* ''Franchise/{{Rocky}}'':
** ''Film/RockyV'' includes the character of George Washington Duke, who is this to fight promoter Don King (complete with King's catchphrase "Only in America"). Per King's reputation, [[BigBad Duke]] is portrayed as a sleaze who will exploit fighters for profit however he can while ignoring such trifling matters as health issues, repeatedly trying to coerce [[Franchise/{{Rocky}} Rocky Balboa]] into a sanctioned match with the current Heavyweight Champion despite Rocky's [[CareerEndingInjury brain damage problem]]. [[spoiler:This culminates in luring away Rocky's apprentice Tommy Gunn (frustrated with the slow pace of his tutoring) with the promise of vast fame and fortune if he defeats Rocky, to try to force Rocky into a profitable "master vs. apprentice" match.]]
** In the original ''Film/{{Rocky}}'', Apollo Creed is obviously based on Muhammad Ali.
* The bad guys of ''Film/Venom2018'' and ''Film/JohnnyEnglishStrikesAgain'' are both wealthy techbros with more than a passing similarity to Elon Musk, with the ''Venom'' villain having his own private space program and the ''Johnny English'' villain running a company called "Volta".
* In ''Film/{{Victim}}'', Calloway the actor is an {{expy}} of Creator/NoelCoward.

* The 1998 American version of ''Film/{{Godzilla|1998}}'' had the New York City mayor as a Creator/RogerEbert lookalike. Used as a TakeThat by the end of the film when his aide (an {{Expy}} of Siskel) gives his job performance a thumbs down. This was because Siskel and Ebert had criticized Emerich's earlier productions. Ebert was offended not by the portrayal, but that if Emerich hated them so much he [[SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome didn't have the balls]] [[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments to let Godzilla eat them.]]

** Dennis Quaid as a barely functional Texan president whose dad had been president, who "decided" to run because people told him to, etc. With Creator/MarciaGayHarden as his beatifically gentle, tolerant wife and Willem Dafoe as his scheming bald puppetmaster.

* ''Film/RockyV'' includes the character of George Washington Duke, who is this to fight promoter Don King (complete with King's catchphrase "Only in America"). Per King's reputation, [[BigBad Duke]] is portrayed as a sleaze who will exploit fighters for profit however he can while ignoring such trifling matters as health issues, repeatedly trying to coerce [[Franchise/{{Rocky}} Rocky Balboa]] into a sanctioned match with the current Heavyweight Champion despite Rocky's [[CareerEndingInjury brain damage problem]]. [[spoiler:This culminates in luring away Rocky's apprentice Tommy Gunn (frustrated with the slow pace of his tutoring) with the promise of vast fame and fortune if he defeats Rocky, to try to force Rocky into a profitable "master vs. apprentice" match.]]

** In ''Film/BatmanReturns'', Creator/ChristopherWalken played Max Shreck a lot like Creator/DonaldTrump. (He also claimed to have based his characterization on Meyer Wolfsheim, a minor character from ''Literature/TheGreatGatsby'' that was itself a No Celebrities Were Harmed version of organized crime figure Arnold Rothstein.)

* In ''Film/BackToTheFuturePartII'', WordOfGod said the [[CorruptCorporateExecutive Biff Tannen]] of 1985-A was inspired by UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump. The portrait in Biff's office was even modeled on a Trump portrait. Similarly, the [[BrokenBird Lorraine Baines-McFly]] of 1985-A was modeled after various female televangelists of the 80s, particularly Tammy Faye Meissner (aka Tammy Faye Bakker).

* The fourth Bibi & Tina movie features [[UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump Dirk Trumpf]], a sleazy building contractor who convinces von Falkenstein that he needs to build a gigantic wall around his castle (taller than the castle itself!) for protection, including barbed wire. He is later seen stealing von Falkenstein's money and yelling at his workers for working too hard, telling them to only work when somebody is looking.

* ''Film/CitizenKane'' is infamously a not-quite-thickly-veiled-enough version of media titan William Randolph Hearst. Hearst came down upon the movie and everyone associated with it like a sledgehammer. Creator/OrsonWelles' career never quite recovered. Later, both Welles and Herman Mankiewicz would independently apologize for the version of Marion Davies depicted in the character "Susan Alexander" -- a hopelessly incompetent hack who was a raging alcoholic and whose career was pretty much bought "off the rack" by the powerful Kane. The real-life Davies was a consummate professional, liked and respected by her peers, who specialized in light comedies and musicals. Her success was independent of her relationship with Hearst, though he did try to use his clout to gain Davies leading-lady roles -- a career path that Davies herself knew she was not suited for.

** The sponsor of the Sparta tournament is a bald businessman who is always hanging around the press and got rich before getting into the fight game. He's a combination of the billionaire Fertitta brothers who bought the UFC and the bald UFC president Dana White, an infamous media hound.

* Brazilian actor Leandro Hassum had two movies featuring a veiled parody of notable people from the country. ''O Candidato Honesto'' (''The Honest Candidate'') had Hassum playing a CorruptPolitician running for president [[WillNotTellALie who's forced to be honest]], and the character has various references to past presidents: his middle name was [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jose_Sarney Ribamar, he hailed from a Northeastern state]], [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luiz_Inacio_Lula_da_Silva had a work accident that brought him into the labour movement and subsequently politics]], and appears in a [[https://s3.amazonaws.com/filepicker-images-rapgenius/Fo7NIHNvTOySNn4v48fd_CandidatoCollor.png magazine cover as a "hunter of the corrupt"]]. ''Até Que A Sorte Nos Separe 3'' had Hassum's daughter marrying the son of billionaire "Rique Barelli", whose nome is only the start of an extended [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eike_Batista Eike Batista]] joke: the name of his company has three letters ending in "X", his wife is a former ''Playboy'' cover [[https://www.foliatropical.com.br/img/posts/337.jpg who wore a necklace with his name]], and [[http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2013-10-03/eike-batista-how-brazils-richest-man-lost-34-dot-5-billion bad business decisions sap his fortune]].
** The sequel to ''O Candidato Honesto'' pulls it one step further with straight-up parodies of politicians: the former President is [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dilma_Rouseff a woman]] who prefers the term "Presidenta" and is prone to [[MeaninglessMeaningfulWords confusing rambling]], the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michel_Temer vice-president]] is a power-hungry career politician married to [[https://conteudo.imguol.com.br/c/bol/fotos/50/2016/05/16/15mai2016---em-entrevista-ao-fantastico-da-tv-globo-o-presidente-interino-michel-temer-afirmou-que-sua-mulher-marcela-temer-assumira-funcoes-na-area-social-se-ele-assumir-a-presidencia-1463398603696_956x637.jpg a much younger woman]] who looks/behaves like a vampire (to the point his ParodyName is [[PunnyName Ivan Pires]]), and the pre-election polls were being led by [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jair_Bolsonaro a radical right-winger deputy]] who is against minorities and advocates for everyone to bear guns. There's also a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiririca Northeasterner deputy who was/is a clown]].

* The ''Film/{{Tremors}}'' series features the return of the Assblaster which had been sold to Siegfried and Roy in the third film. Rather embarrassingly, the creators no longer had the rights to use the names and they were referred to as "Sigmund and Ray".

* The two {{Musical Assassin}}s in ''Film/KungFuHustle'' bear more than a passing resemblance to Film/TheBluesBrothers. When told that they are the greatest assassins around, they reply, "Technically, we're just musicians."

* Newton Geizler from ''Film/PacificRim'', as played by Charlie Day, appears to be a ringer for director Creator/JJAbrams, albeit without the elaborate Kaiju tattoo sleeves. Abrams co-produced ''Film/{{Cloverfield}}'', which certainly helped to spawn a revival of devastating giant monster movies, such as ''Film/{{Monsters|2010}}'', ''Film/TheTrollHunter'', and ''Pacific Rim''.

* The 1998 American version of ''Film/{{Godzilla|1998}}'' had the New York City mayor as a Creator/RogerEbert lookalike. Used as a TakeThat by the end of the film when his aide (an {{Expy}} of Siskel) gives his job performance a thumbs down. This was because Siskel and Ebert had criticized Emerich's earlier productions. Ebert was offended not by the portrayal, but that if Emerich hated them so much he [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome didn't have the balls]] [[CrowningMomentOfFunny to let Godzilla eat them.]]

** Mayor Borg from [[Film/{{Batman}} the first movie]] was clearly a fictional version of then New York City mayor Ed Koch. There's also murdered swimsuit model [[Creator/CindyCrawford "Candy Walker."]]