Real life inspiration: John Forbes Nash

In reality: Nash is a Noble Prize winning scientist specialising game theory, differential geometry and partial differential equations. Though his past has been mired in controversy he now works as a senior research mathematician at Princeton University.

In the movies: Nash was the subject of the Oscar winning film, 'A Beautiful Mind'. Nash has complimented Russell Crowe's portrayal of his character but critics have condemned the performance for softening the mathematician so he would be better received on the screen than in real life.