Get our free weekly email for all the latest cinematic news from our film critic Clarisse Loughrey Get our The Life Cinematic email for free
Bombshell , Jay Roach's movie documenting the Roger Ailes sexual harassment allegations scandal, is led by a star-studded ensemble including Charlize Theron , Nicole Kidman and Margot Robbie .
Theron has earned an Oscar nomination for her performance as Megyn Kelly , then a star Fox News Anchor.
Robbie, meanwhile, scored a nomination in the Best Supporting Actress category for her turn as Kayla Pospisil, one of several fictional characters created for the film.
Some of Bombshell 's characters, such as Theron's Kelly, have direct real-life inspirations – though the film remains a dramatisation of actual events. Others, such as Robbie's Pospisil and the Fox News employee portrayed by Saturday Night Live star Kate McKinnon , were created specifically for the movie and are fictional.
Click through the gallery below to read up on Bombshell's characters and their real-life counterparts:
Bombshell actors and their real-life counterpartsShow all 9 1 /9Bombshell actors and their real-life counterparts Bombshell actors and their real-life counterparts Charlize Theron as Megyn Kelly Theron plays a central role as Kelly, who was a Fox News star anchor at the time the Roger Ailes scandal unfolded. The actor's performance – and her uncanny physical resemblance to Kelly – have been lauded, earning her a Best Actress Oscar nomination.
JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images / Lionsgate
Bombshell actors and their real-life counterparts Nicole Kidman as Gretchen Carlson Kidman portrays Carlson, a central figure in the film. Carlson, a former Fox News host, filed a lawsuit against Ailes in July 2016, alleging that he had sexually harassed her.
Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images / Lionsgate
Bombshell actors and their real-life counterparts John Lithgow as Roger Ailes Lithgow stars as Ailes, the former chairman and CEO of Fox News. Ailes resigned from Fox News in July 2016 and died in May 2017.
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images for US News and World Report / Lionsgate
Bombshell actors and their real-life counterparts Margot Robbie as Kayla Pospisil Robbie's Pospisil doesn't have a real-life counterpart and is instead a composite character. Pospisil is portrayed as an ambitious, wide-eyed Fox News fan, eager to make it as an anchor for the network. Robbie's performance earned her a nomination for the Best Supporting Actress Oscar.
YouTube / Lionsgate
Bombshell actors and their real-life counterparts Kate McKinnon as Jess Carr Carr, played by McKinnon, is also a fictional character. A liberal, closeted lesbian, she becomes close to Pospisil after her arrival at Fox.
YouTube / Lionsgate
Bombshell actors and their real-life counterparts Mark Duplass as Douglas Brunt Duplass portrays Brunt, Kelly's husband. A former cybersecurity executive, he has now published three novels.
YouTube / Lionsgate
Bombshell actors and their real-life counterparts Rob Delaney as Gil Norman The Catastrophe star portrays another composite character, who works with Theron's Kelly.
YouTube / Lionsgate
Bombshell actors and their real-life counterparts Brigette Lundy-Paine as Julia Clarke Lundy-Paine, known for her role in Atypical , plays a fictional character. In the film, Clarke is a research assistant on Kelly's team.
YouTube / Lionsgate
Bombshell actors and their real-life counterparts Liv Hewson as Lily Balin Hewson, who starred in Santa Clarita Diet , features as Balin, also a fictional character and an assistant on Kelly's team.
YouTube / Lionsgate
Bombshell is out in the UK on 17 January and is out in cinemas in the US.
You can read our review here and our interview with Theron here .
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies