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'Iron Man' - Leonardo DiCaprio played the germaphobe American pilot and industrialist Howard Hughes in 'The Aviator.' But he was also the inspiration for Tony Stark in 'Iron Man.'

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'Iron Man' - Both Hughes and Stark, played by Robert Downey Jr., are super rich, outgoing, and are expert engineers. Stan Lee, the creator of the superhero, confirmed that Iron Man was inspired by the aeronautical engineer.

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'Iron Man' - In an interview with NPR, Stan Lee said he read quite a bit about Hughes and thought it would be fun to create a popular superhero who represented the antithesis of fans' wishes: a rich, industrialist arms dealer.

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'Harry Potter' - The iconic Professor Severus Snape, played by Alan Rickman, was inspired by J.K. Rowling's high school chemistry professor. Her professor's name was John Nettleship.

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'Harry Potter' - Nettleship wasn't offended by the reference and even sympathized with Snape. The professor only objected that his temperament wasn't as difficult as Hogwarts' arrogant professor.

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'Psycho' - Weirdo Norman Bates, played by Anthony Perkins, was inspired by American serial killer Ed Gein.

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'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre' - The same killer Ed Gein was also a reference for Leatherface. The real life criminal used to exhume corpses and keep parts of their bodies as trophies.

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'The Silence of the Lambs' - Ed Gein died in 1977, but was still a source of inspiration for other bloodthirsty fictional characters. One other example is Hannibal Lecter, played by Anthony Hopkins in 'The Silence of the Lambs' (1994), whose sadism was inspired by the killer.

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'Indiana Jones' - The famous archaeologist played by Harrison Ford was created by George Lucas and took inspiration from several heroes, including Hiram Bingham, a professor of Latin American History at the University of Yale.

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'Indiana Jones' - The professor's most notable feat was in 1911, when Bingham organized an expedition that recovered the lost city of Machu Picchu.

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'The Incredibles' - Charismatic stylist Edna Mode is a tribute to American costume designer Edith Head.

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'The Incredibles' - Designer Edith Head, who died in 1981, was responsible for the costumes in hundreds of Hollywood films and won several Oscars.

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'The Godfather' - Johnny Fontane, godson of Don Vito Corleone in 'The Godfather' was really a famous singer and film star. The character was played by Al Martino.

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'The Godfather' - The character was inspired by Frank Sinatra, who is widely believed to have had mafia connections. In the 50s, those connections helped Sinatra get a part in 'From Here to Eternity' (1953).

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'The Terminal' - Viktor Navorski (Tom Hanks), the main character, was inspired by Merhan Karimi Nasseri, an Iranian refugee who spent 17 years in a Parisian airport. Nasseri was travelling to the UK but got stuck in Paris and had his documents stolen.

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'The Departed'' - Frank Costello, the mafia boss played by Jack Nicholson, in 'The Departed' (2006), is based on James 'Whitey' Bulger, the Irish-American organized crime boss from Boston.

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'The Departed' - Bulger was involved in 19 murders and named by the FBI as the second-most wanted man in the world in 1999, behind only Osama Bin Laden. Who knew he was such a powerful criminal?

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'Nacho Libre' - Ignacio, the monk cook known as Nacho, played in this comedy by Jack Black, was inspired by a real priest!

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'Nacho Libre' - Sergio Gutierrez Benitez was a catholic priest who took care of an orphanage in Mexico. In need of money to keep the home up and running, Benitez made himself a costume and began fighting under the name Fray Tormenta.

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'50 First Dates' - The lovely Lucy Whitmore (Drew Barrymore) from this cute romantic comedy was inspired by Englishwoman Michelle Philpots, who developed a rare amnesia after being involved in two accidents.

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'50 First Dates' - Michelle Philpots remembers everything up to a certain date, but now her memory only lasts one day, and she forgets everything the next morning. Every day her husband shows her their wedding album to remind her that they're married. Just like in the movie!

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'Zorro' - The character created in 1919 by American writer Johnston McCulley, played by Antonio Banderas in the movies, was inspired by Joaquín Murrieta, a Mexican who lived during the California gold rush.

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'Zorro' - Murrieta was a miner who tried to lead an honest life, but ended up as the leader of a group of bandits who stole gold.

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'The Last Samurai' - The inspiration for protagonist Nathan Algren was Frenchman Jules Brunet, who in 1867 arrived in Japan as an artillery instructor.

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'The Last Samurai' - One year later, the French military mission received the order to leave the country, but Brunet decided to stay. He fought in the last Battle of Hakodate.

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'The Big Lebowski' - Independent film producer Jeff Dowd inspired 'the Dude' Jeffrey Lebowski, an unemployed former political prisoner who occasionally lived in Venice Beach.

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'The Big Lebowski' - Directors Ethan and Joel Coen met Dowd during the search for a distributor for the film 'Blood Simple', 14 years before the release of 'The Big Lebowski'. Just like the character, Dowd is a peaceful dude who loves White Russian cocktails.

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'Perfume: The Story of a Murderer' - The idea for the character in the book 'The Perfume' by Patrick Süskind, was inspired by the Spanish serial killer Manuel Blanco Romasanta. In the movie, the character is called Jean-Baptiste Grenouille (Ben Whishaw), a perfume apprentice who is accused of killing several women in Paris in 1738.

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'Perfume: The Story of a Murderer' - Manuel Blanco Romasanta was accused of 13 crimes, but only nine were proven. At the trial, the murderer claimed he had a rare syndrome that made him believe he transformed into an animal, causing him to kill.

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'Pirates of the Caribbean' - Jack Sparrow, the franchise's debauched pirate, was inspired by Keith Richards. OK, the Rolling Stones guitarist is mega famous and plays in the biggest and oldest rock band in the world. But it's worth pointing out this character is not a musician!

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'Pirates of the Caribbean' - You can see Keith Richards in Jack Sparrow's facial expressions and movements, his way of speaking and even the similarities in outfits. It's worth remembering that the guitarist does not captain pirate ships...

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'Monster' - The film is based on the true story of Aileen Wuornos, who was executed in 2002 for the death of seven men in the late 1980s/early 90s. Charlize Theron won an Oscar for Best Actress for her portrayal of Wuornos.

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