Romain Duris is a perfect doppelgänger of the real Molière

Despite the film's characterization of the young Molière is created as a fanciful imaginary multiple hybrid of Molière's characters extracted from his works, Romain Duris appears to be a virtual doppelgänger of the real life Molière. The likeness is absolutely remarkable as if he were the genuine actor/playwright come back to life to portray himself. If you doubt me, take a look at the contemporary portrait of the youthful homme de lettres painted in oil by Nicolas Mignard in 1658 when Molière was 36, the exact same year the movie was purported to have taken place. See the portrait here:
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http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Moli%C3%A8re_-_Nicolas_Mignard_%281658%29.jpg
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Every single one of his unique facial features is virtually identical to the portrait's true visage. I knew vaguely what he looked like from my schooldays at University, but when I cross checked my recollection from contemporary sources (the computer makes that task exceedingly simple), I was taken aback by the uncanny resemblance. High praise is due to the director and makeup team for capturing his likeness so adroitly and skillfully.

It's not often that an actor succeeds in taking on the exact replication of his character's recognizable and familiar idiosyncratic features, especially without the conspicuous overindulgent application of theatrical cosmetic devices, utilized to achieve the obligatory suspension of disbelief that never subsides in the audience's minds throughout the entire performance. I've never seen a true to life Napoleon Bonaparte or a convincing double for the role of JJFK, as well as countless others by actors that are visually made up to authenticate and mirror their iconic character's depictions. The task of suspending disbelief is more often left to the artful proficiency of the actor in simulating identifiable personal qualities other than visual resemblance in order to convince the spectators they're watching the real McCoy.

However, this movie is a rare exception. The producers were lucky they found Molière's doppelgänger among thespians and also fortuitously a Frenchman to boot instead of, say, a German tie salesman.