Everybody Knows These Movie Legends But Only 1 In 10 People Can Actually Name Them
- by Ben Sherlock
- – on
- in Movies and TV
A lot of movie characters have become iconic over the years. They steal the scenes they are in and they have a bunch of memorable quotes, and by the time the end credits roll, they have become unforgettable and instantly legendary. But sometimes it can be difficult to remember the character's actual names if it isn't said a lot in the dialogue of the movie or if they don't have some kind of memorable title or nomenclature involved in their name, like Darth Vader. Some movie characters, like Indiana Jones and Harry Potter, have their names in the titles of the movies that they're in, and they're about as iconic and unforgettable as movie characters come, so it's pretty easy to remember their names. Some iconic movie characters have become iconic beforehand in comic books, like Batman or Superman or Spider-Man, or in literature, like Count Dracula or Victor Frankenstein. But others have had to make their own mark on the big screen and carve out their own fan base from scratch. Only the most dedicated movie buff will be able to name all of these beloved characters from instantly classic movies. So, dive right in and give the quiz a go.
Who is this No Country For Old Men villain?
Even though this character has only appeared in one movie, the chilling performance delivered by Javier Bardem has meant that he has become an instantly recognizable and iconic villain. No Country For Old Men was based on the Cormac McCarthy novel of the same name and it is regarded as being one of the finest neo western movies of modern cinema. It won a ton of Academy Awards ten years ago. Who is this No Country For Old Men villain?
Who is this Star Wars rogue?
The big draw of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, the long awaited seventh chapter of the Star Wars saga, was that Disney and JJ Abrams were getting Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill, and Carrie Fisher back to play Han Solo, Luke Skywalker, and Princess Leia. But viewers stayed for the new cast members. Oscar Isaac's character has been praised for how cool he is. He's like a roguish cross between Han Solo and Luke Skywalker. Who is this Star Wars rogue?
Who does Brad Pitt play in Inglourious Basterds?
Writer and director Quentin Tarantino has directed a lot of big stars in his movies: Jamie Foxx, Samuel L. Jackson, Leonardo DiCaprio, Kerry Washington, Uma Thurman, John Travolta, Robert De Niro, Michael Keaton, Pam Grier. Perhaps his most famous star has been Brad Pitt, who played the lead role as the leader of an Apache command unit in Tarantino's darkly comic World War II epic Inglourious Basterds. He's back for Tarantino's next, too. Who does Brad Pitt play in Inglourious Basterds?
Which oil tycoon is There Will Be Blood about?
Paul Thomas Anderson has made a lot of movies that the critics have adored, but few of them appear on as many lists of the greatest movies ever made as this one does. It is the story of an oil tycoon as he becomes rich and then eventually becomes corrupted, based on a book called Oil! by Upton Sinclair. Daniel Day Lewis was particularly acclaimed for his performance in the now iconic role. Which oil tycoon is There Will Be Blood about?
Who is The Wolf of Wall Street?
The Wolf of Wall Street stars Leonardo DiCaprio as a real life stockbroker. It is based on a book written by this man based on his own life and his experiences on Wall Street. Some commentators and critics have said that The Wolf of Wall Street glamorizes a criminal lifestyle, but DiCaprio has defended the film, saying that both the movie and the memoir that it was based on tell a cautionary tale. Who is The Wolf of Wall Street?
Who does Charlize Theron play in Mad Max: Fury Road?
Most sequels that the filmmakers make their fans wait a long time for do not succeed, but in 2015, there were three hugely successful ones. The Rocky saga continued with the semi sequel/spinoff Creed and the Star Wars saga continued, thirty years later, with the seventh chapter, The Force Awakens. The Mad Max series continued in 2015, too, with Fury Road, which brought in Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron. Which character does Charlize Theron play in Mad Max: Fury Road?
Who is the robot in Ex Machina?
Alicia Vikander was praised by the critics for her revelatory turn as the robot in Ex Machina. Ex Machina can be read as a meditation on gender politics as a female robot plays two men against each other for her own game. As far as robotic characters go, Vikander brought a very human quality to this role without losing sight of the fact that she was playing a character who was not human. Who is the robot in Ex Machina?
Which Guardian of the Galaxy is this?
Disney and Marvel are currently in the process of finding the perfect director to take on the third movie in the Guardians of the Galaxy solo franchise. They can't mess around. They need to find someone who can pull off the right balance of heart and humor and action that came in the previous two movies. This character is played by Dave Bautista, who used to be a wrestler and is now a famous actor. Which Guardian of the Galaxy is this?
Who put up the titular Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri?
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri is a fierce and powerful movie from writer and director Martin McDonagh. He had previously been best known for making In Bruges and Seven Psychopaths, and for his third movie, he directed not just one, but two Oscar winning performances. One was from Sam Rockwell, who won Best Supporting Actor, and the other was from Frances McDormand, who played this lead character who put up the billboards. Who put up the titular Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri?
Who is the villain in The Dark Knight Rises?
The villain in The Dark Knight Rises, the closing chapter of Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy, had some pretty big boots to fill after Heath Ledger's powerful performance as the Joker. Ledger had won a posthumous Oscar. The new villain had to be just as memorable without being at all similar. He had to be new and different and just as incredible. Luckily, he more or less was! Who is the villain in The Dark Knight Rises, Christopher Nolan's third Batman movie from way back in 2012?
Who gets stuck in the Sunken Place in Get Out?
No one could have anticipated that a horror movie written and directed by Jordan Peele, best known at the time for his Comedy Central sketch show, would go on to become a huge hit at the Academy Awards, but it did! Daniel Kaluuya was nominated for Best Actor for his turn in this lead role and Peele ended up winning the Best Original Screenplay award for his writing in the film. Who gets stuck in the Sunken Place in Get Out?
Who is haunted by his past movie stardom as Birdman?
Michael Keaton made a big comeback with this movie - a comeback that has led to roles in movies like Spotlight and The Founder. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actor for his turn as a movie star who used to be famous as a superhero and has since become old and forgotten about. Thanks to Birdman, Keaton did not suffer the same fate. Who is haunted by his past movie stardom as the superhero character Birdman?
Who is The Lord of the Rings' wizard?
The Lord of the Rings trilogy directed by Peter Jackson made him an A list director to watch and did much better at the Oscars and with the critics and at the box office than one might have expected. It was a series of fantasy movies that broke Academy Award records and made its way on critics' year end best of annual lists and made hundreds of millions of dollars. Who is the wizard character in The Lord of the Rings?
Who does Samuel L. Jackson play in Pulp Fiction?
Pulp Fiction was a huge hit back in 1994, as it won Oscars and won the Palme D'or at the Cannes Film Festival and also became the highest grossing independent movie of all time. It was the second film by Quentin Tarantino as a writer and director and it was the one that really made him a star. It was also the movie that made Samuel L. Jackson a star. What was the name of his character in the movie?
Who is the Mad Titan?
This character has been featured in many movies in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but it was Josh Brolin's turn as the main villain in this year's Avengers: Infinity War that finally made him a movie icon. His nickname is the Mad Titan and he's one of the most memorable villains from the Marvel Comics world and will be featured next year in Avengers 4. Who is the Mad Titan, seen in the whole Marvel Cinematic Universe but featured most prominently in Avengers: Infinity War?
Who is this foul-mouthed, big-handed studio executive?
Tropic Thunder is the film industry satire that Ben Stiller wrote and directed and starred in. He plays a movie star while Tom Cruise plays the studio executive who is in charge of the production of his latest movie. Matthew McConnaughey plays Stiller's agent in a role that was originally written for Owen Wilson. Cruise chose a lot of his character's traits himself, including the big hands and the foul mouth. Who is this foul mouthed, big handed movie studio executive?
Who seeks revenge in Gladiator?
Sir Ridley Scott has made a lot of epic movies in his time. He has made crime epics and science fiction epics, like his epic prequel to his own movie Alien that he called Prometheus. This is a historical epic set in Ancient Rome and it is perhaps his most epic film. Russell Crowe stars as a man who is seeking revenge for the loss of his family. It was a box office and critical hit. Who seeks revenge in Gladiator?
Who does Brad Pitt play in Fight Club?
Fight Club is a modern classic masterpiece. It was initially not a big hit with the critics or with audiences, but it has since gone on to become a cult classic. It stars Edward Norton and Tyler Durden as two sides of the same coin. Norton plays the unnamed narrator, while Pitt plays the embodiment of all of his darkest urges, who has come to be ranked among the greatest movie characters of all time. Who does Brad Pitt play in Fight Club?
Who was Mike and Sulley's rival?
Monsters, Inc. was a star studded movie, with a bunch of A list stars in the voice cast. John Goodman plays James P. Sullivan, the top scarer at the company, and Billy Crystal plays Mike Wazowski, his loyal and trusty sidekick. Also, Steve Buscemi plays the supporting role of their rival who wants to take their top spot on the scaring board by any means possible. He also returned for the prequel, Monsters University. Who was Mike and Sulley's rival?
What is Jeff Lebowski's nickname?
The Big Lebowski is one of the best remembered and most critically acclaimed movies ever made by the Coen brothers. They had just made the darkly comic Fargo, which won them Oscars, and they decided to follow it up with something much more breezy and less serious, so they recruited Jeff Bridges and John Goodman for a wacky crime caper involving soiled rugs and severed toes and bowling. Bridges' character has inspired a whole religion. What is Jeff Lebowski's nickname?
Who is Jack Nicholson's crime boss character in The Departed?
The Departed was the movie that finally won Martin Scorsese an Oscar. There's one school of thought that the Academy had regretted not awarding him for his best work (Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, Goodfellas etc.) and awarded him for a lesser film by way of a sort of lifetime achievement award. That's just one school of thought. It was a (pardon the pun) departure for Scorsese, since he had typically made movies about the Italian mafia and this was a movie about the Irish mob, but his style and motifs are still there. Who is Jack Nicholson's crime boss character in The Departed?
Who is Simba's evil uncle?
The Lion King still stands today as one of the highest grossing and best loved animated movies of all time. The voice talents of James Earl Jones as Mufasa are being brought back as the voice of the character in the new live action remake that Jon Favreau is directed, because no one else could match his booming voice. Donald Glover is playing the role of lion cub Simba. What is the name of Simba's evil uncle in The Lion King?
Who is incarcerated at the beginning of The Shawshank Redemption?
Even after all these years, IMDb still ranks The Shawshank Redemption as the greatest movie ever made. It has a higher score and more positive ratings and votes than any other movie from throughout film history. Tim Robbins stars in the movie, which was written and directed by Frank Darabont based on an old short story that was written by Stephen King. Who is incarcerated at the beginning of The Shawshank Redemption and then escapes at the end of it?
Who does Hannibal Lecter help Clarice Starling catch in The Silence of the Lambs?
The Silence of the Lambs is one of the few movies to have picked up all the major Academy Awards: that is Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Actor, and Best Actress. Sir Anthony Hopkins won his Oscar for just a few minutes of screen time. His turn as Hannibal Lecter was just that powerful and the Academy decided to reward him for it. Who does Hannibal Lecter help Clarice Starling catch in The Silence of the Lambs?
Who is the titular character?
Christian Bale would not become a major movie star until he played Bruce Wayne aka Batman for Christopher Nolan for three stellar movies, but he has actually been around a lot longer than that. When he was a little kid, he starred in the Steven Spielberg World War II movie Empire of the Sun and his first major starring role as an adult was in this movie adaptation of the controversial Bret Easton Ellis novel of the same name. Who is the titular Psycho in the classic?
Who is the rat in Ratatouille?
The guys at Pixar always come up with the perfect premise to portray a world on screen. When they decided to portray the culinary world on screen, they decided to tell the story of a rat who dreams of being a chef. What better underdog story than that of a rat who wants to work in a kitchen when rats are a kitchen's worst enemy? They got Patton Oswalt, a legendary standup comic from the alternative comedy scene, to play the role. What is the name of the main rat character in the Pixar movie Ratatouille?
Who did Leonardo DiCaprio play in Django Unchained?
Django Unchained was a controversial movie for some when it was first released back in 2012. It went on to become its writer and director Quentin Tarantino's highest grossing movie with a worldwide haul of over $400 million, a record that still stands to this day, but it was controversial for combining the fun of spaghetti western movies with some unsavory moments in history. Leonardo DiCaprio played a supporting role in the movie. Who did Leonardo DiCaprio play in Django Unchained?
Which elusive criminal figure is everyone looking for in The Usual Suspects?
The Usual Suspects ends with one of the greatest plot twists of all time. It plays with the idea of the unreliable narrator in the most extreme way in film history. We discover that Verbal Kint has made up the whole story based on words that he could see around the police station. What is the name (at least the alias that we are aware of) of the elusive criminal figure that everyone is looking for in The Usual Suspects?
Who is Wayne Campbell's Wayne's World sidekick?
Movies that are based on sketches from the NBC variety series Saturday Night Live have had up and down success over the years. For example, The Blues Brothers was a huge financial and critical hit, but The Coneheads was not. They have been very hit and miss. The first hugely successful one was Wayne's World. What is the name of Wayne Campbell's sidekick in their public access TV show Wayne's World and the two movies that go by the same title?
Which agent does Tommy Lee Jones play in Men in Black?
It is a shame that Tommy Lee Jones is getting to be too old to star in the Men in Black movies with Will Smith. He had to be replaced by Josh Brolin playing a younger version of himself in Men in Black 3 as time travel was incorporated into the plot. Still, we'll always have the first two that Jones did star in alongside his co star Smith. Which agent does Tommy Lee Jones play in Men in Black?
Who is Ron Burgundy's weatherman?
Adam McKay and Will Ferrell had collaborated on a number of sketches for Saturday Night Live, where Ferrell had been a cast member and McKay had been the head writer, before they decided to make their feature film debut with the absurdist masterpiece Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy. The movie got a belated sequel nine years after its release and is consistently ranked among the funniest movies ever made. Steve Carell plays the weatherman. Who is Ron Burgundy's weatherman?
Who is the concierge in The Grand Budapest Hotel?
The Grand Budapest Hotel is the highest grossing movie directed by Wes Anderson, whose movies all have a very distinctive visual style. This movie has a nonlinear story that is told across various different periods of time, but the basic storyline is that this concierge has been framed for a crime that he did not commit. Ralph Fiennes played this role and was highly acclaimed by critics for his hilarious performance. Who is the concierge in The Grand Budapest Hotel?
Who was a slave for twelve years?
12 Years a Slave and Django Unchained were released roughly around the same time period. They were both highly acclaimed movies that were very financially successful, but they are both vastly different films. Django Unchained is a darkly comic film based on a fictional story. 12 Years a Slave is a more dramatic movie based on the true memoirs of a man who was actually a slave for twelve years. Who was a slave for twelve years in 12 Years a Slave?
Which tough drum teacher made Miles Teller's life hell in Whiplash?
Whiplash made a huge splash back in 2014 when it won over the hearts of critics and found a huge audience of people. The movie's writer and director Damien Chazelle had struggled for a long time to get his passion project about a jazz drummer off the ground, and then went on to make another one of his passion projects, the Golden Age style musical movie La La Land. Which tough drum teacher made Miles Teller's life hell in Whiplash?
Who does Matthew McConaughey play in Interstellar?
It is fair to say that Christopher Nolan is the modern film industry's answer to Stanley Kubrick. Where Kubrick explored the depths of outer space and used it to consider the meaning of life in 2001: A Space Odyssey, Nolan did the same thing in his own sci fi epic Interstellar. It starred Matthew McConaughey as a father who goes off into the deepest reaches of space to find humans a new home. Who does Matthew McConaughey play in Interstellar?