Sam Trammell plays Sam Merlotte on True Blood.
It’s not quite the same, but Cybill starring Cybill Shepherd as Cybill Sheridan.
Hmm, that sounds like exactly the same…
And regarding Creed Bratton as Creed Bratton:
As Creed Bratton said in one episode where he was making fake IDs: “The first identity I ever stole was Creed Bratton’s.”
Daniel Day Lewis as Daniel Plainview (There Will Be Blood)
James Spader as James Ballard (Crash)
(All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy)[sup]X[/sup]
I remember (mainly because I had a huge crush on her as a kid) that Susan Richardson played Susan Bradford on “Eight Is Enough”. The character name was borrowed from the book the show was based on.
Sandy Duncan played lead character Sandy Hogan on “The Hogan Family”. You may remember the show started as “Valerie” in which the lead character Valerie Hogan was played by…Valerie Harper. Did this show’s producer have any imagination at all?
Just about everyone on Curb Your Enthusiasm, even the ones who aren’t playing themselves. I’m still not sure if Wanda Sykes is playing herself or just a character named Wanda.
Rik Mayall played Rick on The Young Ones. I don’t think we ever learn Rick’s surname.
Taking a slight detour here, but worth mentioning because it’s really funny. In Extras, Ricky Gervais’ Seinfeldian sitcom, Keith Chegwin appears as himself. Chegwin is cast as “Alfie” in When The Whistle Blows, the show-within-a-show. However, “Alfie” has to be renamed “Keith” as Chegwin is unable to grasp the concept that he is playing a character with a different name to his.
OK, I probably haven’t explained that well, and I’ve kinda confused myself. Also, I’m now thinking about how best to explain Keith Chegwin to U.S. Dopers…
He also played Richie Rich in Filthy Rich and Catflap, Richie Richard in Bottom, and Rest Home Ricky in Shock Treatment.
An interesting variant on this is Andrea Parker playing Miss Parker on The Pretender (I miss that show).
Bill Paxton playing Bill Henderson on Big Love.
Dave Foley playing Dave Nelson and Joe Rogan playing Joe Garelli on NewsRadio.
“Your last name is Garelli?”
Woody Allen has been playing a character named “Woody Allen” for a few decades now in many media.
Lisa Cuddy/Lisa Edelstein (House MD)
Tracy Morgan/Tracy Jordan (30 Rock)
::shrugs:: TV Tropes has an entire page dedicated to this, at http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheDanza – covering pretty much everything here, and yards more: Gabe Kaplan as Gabe Kotter, Ricky Schroeder as Ricky Stratton, Tracy Morgan as Tracy Jordan, Fran Drescher as Fran Fine, and so on.
They seem to have missed Tom Selleck as Tom Magnum, though.
Are you referring to the actor who played Jack Napier in the original Batman movie?
What’s that guy’s name again?
Bill Paxton as Private Bill Hudson in Aliens.
There’s the case of Pelle Hvenegaard playing the title character in the Swedish film Pelle the Conqueror.
Hvenegaard was actually named for the character he played: his parents were fans of the original book. By the time the movie was shooting, he was 11, and old enough to play the role.
Just added this to TVtropes.
If we’re bringing movies into it, John Lithgow was the only actor named “John” who played a Lectroid in Buckaroo Banzai.
Willard “Will” Smith played William “Will” Smith in the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
I have no clue who Keith Chegwin is, but that bit was hysterical.