# Actors / comedians who played a worse version of themselves **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** actor-characters\ **Created:** [February 18, 2024, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-comedians-who-played-a-worse-version-of-themselves/997737 "2024-02-18T18:22:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 10
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2026, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-comedians-who-played-a-worse-version-of-themselves/997737/181 "2026-04-23T22:04:37Z")
Adam West was supposedly the mayor of Quahog RI and plays a comic exaggerated version of himself. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2026, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-comedians-who-played-a-worse-version-of-themselves/997737/182 "2026-04-23T22:28:20Z")
[Nobody messes with Adam We.](https://youtu.be/tJMl5AXTKLk) ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2026, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-comedians-who-played-a-worse-version-of-themselves/997737/183 "2026-04-23T22:35:42Z")
In _Brockmire_, a few different sportscasters play shittier version of themselves, most prominently Joe Buck who plays himself as a narcissistic elitist as Brockmire’s foil. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2026, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-comedians-who-played-a-worse-version-of-themselves/997737/184 "2026-04-23T22:39:30Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Adam Sandler has a specific comedic persona that he uses in a lot of his film roles, but that’s not what the OP is asking about. They’re asking for movies where an actor plays a character that is explicitly a parody of their real selves, using their actual name, and either playing up their real life reputation, or deliberately playing _against_ their real life reputation. Point taken, I mis-read the OP. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2026, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-comedians-who-played-a-worse-version-of-themselves/997737/185 "2026-04-24T00:38:50Z")
Adam West in Big Bang Theory [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/GaKqefn48PI/maxresdefault.jpg "The Big Bang Theory | Season 9 - The Best Batman | Warner Bros. Entertainment") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GaKqefn48PI) ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2026, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-comedians-who-played-a-worse-version-of-themselves/997737/186 "2026-04-24T01:42:43Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Lucille Ball in all her tv shows I agree with some of your other examples, but not this one. The Lucy character in _I Love Lucy_ is portrayed as a ditzy housewife with no practical sense, always getting herself into trouble of her own making. She cannot hold down a job when the husbands and wives decide to switch places, and is a complete failure when she and Ethel decide to buy a dress shop. The Ricky character is perhaps a more realistic portrayal of a less accomplished Desi Arnaz, but not Lucy. Lucille Ball in reality was a strong-willed, intelligent actress who understood the television marketplace better than CBS executives did. She and Arnaz pushed the conservative old-timey sponsors into accepting new ideas that the sponsors strenuously opposed. Lucy prevailed, and helped make the show the incredible success that it was. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2026, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-comedians-who-played-a-worse-version-of-themselves/997737/187 "2026-04-24T11:50:33Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > I agree with some of your other examples, but not this one. The Lucy character in _I Love Lucy_ is portrayed as a ditzy housewife with no practical sense I disagree with this too, because she wasn’t playing a fictionalized version of herself, so she doesn’t count for the purpose of this thread. Her name on the show was Lucy Ricardo, née McGillicuddy, not Lucille Ball. She was a 50s housewife, not an actor / showgirl (though she wanted to be, the source of many zany shenanigans). Likewise with many other TV shows created as a showcase for various actors / comedians and at least partially named after them. In ‘The Bob Newhart Show’ he played Bob Hartley - psychologist, not Bob Newhart - comedian. Likewise with his other shows with his name - different last name, different profession. Likewise with Rosanne Barr playing Rosanne Conner, née Harris, though her character on the show may have somewhat paralleled her life before she became a comedian. About the only ‘show named after its main character’ example that I can think of off the top of my head that would count would be ‘Seinfeld’, in which Jerry Seinfeld - comedian, played a fictionalized, (possibly?) worse version of Jerry Seinfeld - comedian. ---
**Author:** ![ZonexandScout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zonexandscout/32/544_2.png) [@ZonexandScout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZonexandScout)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2026, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-comedians-who-played-a-worse-version-of-themselves/997737/188 "2026-04-24T12:47:34Z")
It looks like Bruce Campbell has not been mentioned yet. See _My Name Is Bruce_. Not sure if I would consider it a “worse” version of himself, but he definitely play himself for laughs. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2026, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-comedians-who-played-a-worse-version-of-themselves/997737/189 "2026-04-29T18:03:41Z")
Last night’s (5x05) _The Boys_ had five of them (spoiled for newness): Seth Rogen, Will Forte, Craig Robinson, Kumail Nanjiani, and Christopher Mintz-Plasse. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2026, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-comedians-who-played-a-worse-version-of-themselves/997737/190 "2026-04-29T18:09:52Z")
Zach Galifianakis, of course, on “Between Two Ferns.” ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [April 29, 2026, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-comedians-who-played-a-worse-version-of-themselves/997737/191 "2026-04-29T18:20:01Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Last night’s (5x05) _The Boys_ had five of them (spoiled for newness): [Already mentioned in this thread](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-comedians-who-played-a-worse-version-of-themselves/997737/32), but the movie ‘This is the End’ had an overlap of three of those guys also playing worse versions of themselves: Seth Rogen, Craig Robinson and Christopher Mintz-Plasse. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2026, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-comedians-who-played-a-worse-version-of-themselves/997737/192 "2026-04-30T19:39:35Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > James van der Beek played himself in _Don’t Trust the B_---- _Apartment 23_ as [an egotistical jerk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEV-jJ07C_g). It played upon his image from _Dawson’s Creek._ I maintain **The Rules of Attraction** is his best role. He played a frat-boy date-raping Anti-Dawson to the hilt. He was absolutely scary and convincing. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2026, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-comedians-who-played-a-worse-version-of-themselves/997737/193 "2026-04-30T19:47:32Z")
> [@Jack\_Batty](#): > > In _Brockmire_, a few different sportscasters play shittier version of themselves, most prominently Joe Buck who plays himself as a narcissistic elitist as Brockmire’s foil. Is that Joe Buck playing a worse version of himself, or just Joe Buck playing himself? ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2026, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-comedians-who-played-a-worse-version-of-themselves/997737/194 "2026-05-01T01:12:58Z")
Touché. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-comedians-who-played-a-worse-version-of-themselves/997737.md?page=9)