Anthony Hopkins as Richard Nixon

On the heels of his Academy Award-winning turn in The Silence of the Lambs, Anthony Hopkins went from notorious serial killer to notorious ex-president in the 1995 biopic Nixon. Although critics and Nixon's own family blasted Oliver Stone's portrayal of the politician as an alcoholic, among other things, Hopkins was able to recreate Nixon's hardened and world-weary temperament with incredible finesse and precision, earning himself a Best Actor Oscar nomination in the process.