# A Fictional Character Portrayed by a Fictional Character **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 5, 2007, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-fictional-character-portrayed-by-a-fictional-character/425295 "2007-11-05T15:25:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2007, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-fictional-character-portrayed-by-a-fictional-character/425295/21 "2007-11-05T18:02:36Z")
I just saw a production of “I Hate Hamlet” where the main character is playing guess who. In the movie of **Tristram Shandy** the main characters play themselves making a movie of Tristram Shandy.Which is appropriate, since the book was about writing the book. ---
**Author:** ![Chanteuse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9de053/32.png) [@Chanteuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chanteuse)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2007, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-fictional-character-portrayed-by-a-fictional-character/425295/22 "2007-11-05T18:07:29Z")
There’s also _Galaxy Quest_, where the main cast members play actors who portray the fictional crew of a starship. ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2007, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-fictional-character-portrayed-by-a-fictional-character/425295/23 "2007-11-05T18:13:20Z")
Snoopy played a whole bunch of fictional characters–the World War 1 Flying Ace, Joe Cool, etc. Does he count? ---
**Author:** ![kidchameleon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/898d66/32.png) [@kidchameleon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kidchameleon)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2007, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-fictional-character-portrayed-by-a-fictional-character/425295/24 "2007-11-05T19:28:21Z")
[QUOTE=Malvert P. Redd] How about Bob Zmuda pretending to be Andy Kaufman pretending to be Tony Clifton? [/QUOTE] Or Paul Giamatti playing Bob Zmuda pretending to be Andy Kaufman pretending to be Tony Clifton? ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2007, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-fictional-character-portrayed-by-a-fictional-character/425295/25 "2007-11-05T20:36:51Z")
Daffy Duck plays Duck Dodgers, in the immortal classic “Duck Dodgers in the 24 1/2 Century.” ---
**Author:** ![descamisado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@descamisado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/descamisado)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2007, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-fictional-character-portrayed-by-a-fictional-character/425295/26 "2007-11-05T20:46:16Z")
If I’m reading the OP correctly, Will Smith role plays a character who’s really Paul, but pretends for most of the film to the be the son of Sidney Potier. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2007, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-fictional-character-portrayed-by-a-fictional-character/425295/27 "2007-11-05T20:54:00Z")
**Dead Poets’ Society** features one of its characters starring in a production of **A Midsummer Night’s Dream**. In **The Sixth Sense** , the character Cole plays a fictionalized King Arthur in a school play. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2007, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-fictional-character-portrayed-by-a-fictional-character/425295/28 "2007-11-05T20:56:50Z")
Charlton Heston portrays the lead actor portraying the king in the play within the play in Branagh’s _Hamlet_. (There are other actors playing actors playing roles too of course, but not as famous.) Emma Thompson and Laurie Metcalf both played the fictional character of Frasier’s ex-wife Ann who makes her living playing Nanny G, a children’s singer. One of the greatest episodes of _Frasier_ featured Derek Jacoby as fictional Jackson Hedley, an appallingly bad Shakespearean actor who portrays several Shakespearean characters in a one man show. Mark Indelicato plays fictional Justin on _Ugly Betty_ who portrayed fictional Tony in a school production of _West Side Story_. Fictional director Lionel DeBris portrays a fictionalized Hitler in _The Producers_. (Hitler was a real person of course, but probably not quite as good a dancer.) ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2007, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-fictional-character-portrayed-by-a-fictional-character/425295/29 "2007-11-05T21:12:47Z")
> [@](#): > > That does bring up the question of a three deep. I once played such a role in a high school play. The character was listed as Father Flannerty (at least, I think that was the last name), but as the play developed, the kind-hearted priest was revealed to be a cover identity for a mobster named “Bugsy”. And as it further developed, “Bugsy” wasn’t a mobster after all, but the sherrif’s deputy, engaged in an elaborate scheme to scare a confession out of a murderer. There are also a few examples of a three-deep (four layers total, including the actor) in _Man of La Mancha_: Actor -\> Cervantes -\> Alonzo Quihano -\> Don Quixote, plus Dulcinea, the King, and the Knight of the Mirrors, who also existed on those same levels. ---
**Author:** ![descamisado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@descamisado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/descamisado)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2007, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-fictional-character-portrayed-by-a-fictional-character/425295/30 "2007-11-05T21:13:09Z")
[QUOTE=5-4-Fighting] If I’m reading the OP correctly, Will Smith role plays a character who’s really Paul, but pretends for most of the film to the be the son of Sidney Potier. [/QUOTE] Besides the fact that I messed up the typing on this post, I meant to add that Sidney Poitier doesn’t have a son in real life – he has six daughthers, which is why impersonating his son would be playing a fictional character. ---
**Author:** ![Scarlett67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scarlett67/32/7387_2.png) [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2007, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-fictional-character-portrayed-by-a-fictional-character/425295/31 "2007-11-05T21:49:42Z")
[QUOTE=Little Nemo] In the movie _Tootsie_, Dustin Hoffman, a real person, played a man called Michael Dorsey who was pretending to be a woman called Dorothy Michaels in order to get a part playing a character named Sally Armitage in a soap opera. [/QUOTE] Nitpick: Dorothy Michaels played Miss Emily Kimberly, the new hospital administrator (on _Southwest General_). ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2007, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-fictional-character-portrayed-by-a-fictional-character/425295/32 "2007-11-05T22:14:27Z")
[QUOTE=Lemur866] Jerry Seinfeld played the fictional Jerry Seinfeld on the sitcom “Seinfeld”. That fictional Jerry Seinfeld played a fictional Jerry Seinfeld on the short-lived sitcom “Jerry”. [/QUOTE] And the actors portraying George, Kramer and Elaine on “Jerry” were actors portraying fictional characters portraying fictional characters. ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2007, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-fictional-character-portrayed-by-a-fictional-character/425295/33 "2007-11-05T22:20:55Z")
[QUOTE=Scarlett67] Nitpick: Dorothy Michaels played Miss Emily Kimberly, the new hospital administrator (on _Southwest General_). [/QUOTE] Nit-nitpick: actually, she played Edward Kimberly, the long-lost brother of Emily, as the final shocking reveal… eh… revealed. ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Dave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/46a35a/32.png) [@Great\_Dave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Dave)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2007, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-fictional-character-portrayed-by-a-fictional-character/425295/34 "2007-11-05T22:24:46Z")
Homer was Poochy. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2007, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-fictional-character-portrayed-by-a-fictional-character/425295/35 "2007-11-05T22:28:47Z")
Several actors have played Superman, who played Clark Kent. In _Hollywoodland_, Ben Affleck plays George Reeves, who plays Superman, who plays Clark Kent. ---
**Author:** ![Yeeter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/96bed5/32.png) [@Yeeter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yeeter)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2007, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-fictional-character-portrayed-by-a-fictional-character/425295/36 "2007-11-05T22:34:47Z")
[Victor Victoria](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0084865/) Or the entire TV Series “[The Pretender](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0115320/)” ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2007, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-fictional-character-portrayed-by-a-fictional-character/425295/37 "2007-11-05T22:39:22Z")
[QUOTE=AskNott] Several actors have played Superman, who played Clark Kent. In _Hollywoodland_, Ben Affleck plays George Reeves, who plays Superman, who plays Clark Kent. [/QUOTE] Well, if you are going to bring secret identities into the equation, we’ll be here all night: Anyone who has played Supergirl/Kara/Linda Lee Anyone who has played Superman/Clark Kent/Kal-El Anyone who has played Batman/Bruce Wayne Anyone who has played Spiderman/Peter Parker et al, etc, ad naseum ---
**Author:** ![descamisado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@descamisado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/descamisado)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2007, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-fictional-character-portrayed-by-a-fictional-character/425295/38 "2007-11-05T22:42:24Z")
[QUOTE=5-4-Fighting] Besides the fact that I messed up the typing on this post, I meant to add that Sidney Poitier doesn’t have a son in real life – he has six daughthers, which is why impersonating his son would be playing a fictional character. [/QUOTE] It might also help if I mention the movie was _Six Degrees of Separation_. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2007, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-fictional-character-portrayed-by-a-fictional-character/425295/39 "2007-11-05T22:55:33Z")
[QUOTE=kunilou] At one point in WKRP in Cincinatti, the fictional Johnny Fever hosted a TV dance show using another persona. [/QUOTE] Rip Tide, _Gotta Dance_ And just to confuse it, don’t forget that Dr. Johnny Fever was merely a persona played by John Caravella, played by Howard Hesseman. Which I guess makes this as good a place as any to bring up Tim Reid playing Gordon Sims playing Venus Flytrap. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2007, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-fictional-character-portrayed-by-a-fictional-character/425295/40 "2007-11-05T23:22:01Z")
Don’t know if this counts for 3 deep or not, but in the Phantom of the Opera, the Phantom pretends to be an actor he just killed (Piangi?) who was playing the role of Don Juan. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-fictional-character-portrayed-by-a-fictional-character/425295.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-fictional-character-portrayed-by-a-fictional-character/425295.md?page=3)