# 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:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**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:** [February 18, 2024, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-comedians-who-played-a-worse-version-of-themselves/997737/21 "2024-02-18T20:10:02Z")
Nick Cage in _The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent_ ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2024, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-comedians-who-played-a-worse-version-of-themselves/997737/22 "2024-02-18T20:12:11Z")
Staying with **Big Bang Theory** - I don’t think James Earl Jones is quite the party animal he is portrayed as in “The Convention Conundrum (S7, E14)” Although I’m sure Carrie Fisher would have been just as pissed off as she was in the episode. Interesting fact: Carrie and James had never met until this episode. When she first saw him, she cried out “Dad!!” They even alluded to them never seeing each other in their one scene “together.” ---
**Author:** ![Banksiaman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banksiaman/32/3334_2.png) [@Banksiaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banksiaman)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2024, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-comedians-who-played-a-worse-version-of-themselves/997737/23 "2024-02-18T20:12:24Z")
Just because I’ve been relistening to the BBC radio shows - Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement of Flight of the Conchords are playing versions of themselves. More gormless and useless than bad. ---
**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:** [February 18, 2024, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-comedians-who-played-a-worse-version-of-themselves/997737/24 "2024-02-18T20:14:40Z")
Of course! How could I forget that? Disappointed with myself I did not think of Cage in my ‘off the top of my head’ list in my OP. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2024, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-comedians-who-played-a-worse-version-of-themselves/997737/25 "2024-02-18T20:21:09Z")
If songwriting is allowed, Taylor Swift’s _Blank Space_ is exactly this. [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/p1Zt47V3pPw/hqdefault.jpg "Taylor performs "Blank Space" at The GRAMMY Museum") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p1Zt47V3pPw) ---
**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:** [February 18, 2024, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-comedians-who-played-a-worse-version-of-themselves/997737/26 "2024-02-18T20:23:28Z")
> [@Banksiaman](#): > > Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement of Flight of the Conchords are playing versions of themselves. More gormless and useless than bad. Good one, though I [had to check](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0863046/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_3_tt_7_nm_1_q_flight%2520of%2520) to make sure they were playing themselves. They go by their real first names at least in the show, so I’ll take that. Also good use of the word gormless - a very gormful word. BTW, by ‘worse version’ I don’t necessarily mean just more unlikeable or more evil or bad. Dumber, more gormless and useless, less successful, are also acceptable versions of ‘worse’ for the purpose of this thread, ---
**Author:** ![Raza](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/raza/32/213_2.png) [@Raza](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raza)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2024, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-comedians-who-played-a-worse-version-of-themselves/997737/27 "2024-02-18T20:30:28Z")
I love that series (Episodes); thanks for reminding me. ML: You have TWO dads? Child: Yes; they’re gay. ML: _Both_ of them? What are the odds of that?! ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2024, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-comedians-who-played-a-worse-version-of-themselves/997737/28 "2024-02-18T20:31:43Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Interesting fact: Carrie and James had never met until this episode. When she first saw him, she cried out “Dad!!” And he responded “Simba!” ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2024, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-comedians-who-played-a-worse-version-of-themselves/997737/29 "2024-02-18T20:33:01Z")
Adam West on _Family Guy_. Tim Stack on _My Name Is Earl_. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2024, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-comedians-who-played-a-worse-version-of-themselves/997737/30 "2024-02-18T20:37:51Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Adam West on _Family Guy_. Adam West more weird, James Woods more evil. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2024, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-comedians-who-played-a-worse-version-of-themselves/997737/31 "2024-02-18T20:43:49Z")
Foster Brooks and Dean Martin made careers playing drunkards. In real life, Brooks rarely drank, and Martin was relatively disciplined. ---
**Author:** ![sciurophobic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cab0a1/32.png) [@sciurophobic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sciurophobic)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2024, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-comedians-who-played-a-worse-version-of-themselves/997737/32 "2024-02-18T20:53:50Z")
Pretty much everybody in [This Is The End](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/This_Is_the_End). ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2024, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-comedians-who-played-a-worse-version-of-themselves/997737/33 "2024-02-18T21:15:29Z")
Here’s Margot Robbie in a bubble bath playing Margot Robbie in a bubble bath explaining mortgage-backed securities. Not really sure what they were going for with this, but I don’t think she’s usually tipsy in a bubble bath telling people to fuck off. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/1Rhs3PVAP4o/maxresdefault.jpg "The Big Short (2015) - Margot Robbie in a Bubble Bath Scene (1/10) | Movieclips") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Rhs3PVAP4o) ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2024, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-comedians-who-played-a-worse-version-of-themselves/997737/34 "2024-02-18T21:16:43Z")
> [@Arjuna34](#): > > One more - isn’t this the premise of the old “The Larry Sanders Show”? Celebrities appeared on the show as exaggerated versions of themselves… Or the show [Extras](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0445114/) with Ricky Gervais. Especially season 1. My favorites were Kate Winslet as Kate Winslet starring in a movie about the holocaust, just so she can get an Oscar nomination, and Ben Stiller as Ben Stiller being an a-hole director. ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2024, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-comedians-who-played-a-worse-version-of-themselves/997737/35 "2024-02-18T21:27:20Z")
In the film _After The Fox_, Victor Mature played an aging leading man actor based on himself, and received a number of good reviews for it. ---
**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:** [February 18, 2024, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-comedians-who-played-a-worse-version-of-themselves/997737/36 "2024-02-18T21:27:28Z")
> [@sciurophobic](#): > > Pretty much everybody in [This Is The End](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/This_Is_the_End). Of course! I just rewatched that a month or two ago. > [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > Or the show [Extras](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0445114/) with Ricky Gervais. Especially season 1. That show was great. David Bowie writing an impromptu song about Gervais’ character was a classic moment (though it may not have aged well due to the fat shaming involved): > **[David Bowie - Funny Little Fat Man (Extras - Ricky Gervais)](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a7vvclrK2HQ%2F)** > > \#ripdavidbowie #rickygervaisSING ALONGLyrics; Little fat man who sold his soulLittle fat man who sold his dreamPathetic little fat manNo one's bloody laughin... ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2024, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-comedians-who-played-a-worse-version-of-themselves/997737/37 "2024-02-18T21:40:17Z")
Matt Damon used to play a (presumably) unhinged version of himself on Entourage all the time. Often screaming at the Chase brothers to support his charities in various ways. Damon’s ongoing “feud” with Jimmy Kimmel was also pretty funny. > [@sciurophobic](#): > > Pretty much everybody in [This Is The End](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/This_Is_the_End). This. However the movie version’s of Emily Watson, Michael Cera, and Channing Tatum stood out as particularly hilarious. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2024, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-comedians-who-played-a-worse-version-of-themselves/997737/38 "2024-02-18T21:56:46Z")
> [@sciurophobic](#): > > Pretty much everybody in [This Is The End](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/This_Is_the_End). I came to the thread to mention this (too late!) It could be argued that _Tropic Thunder_ is this, if you allow characters not named identically to their actors. The main actors all do play actors with careers that are not unlike the real actors’ own careers. With the exception of Ben Stiller, who is playing Tom Cruise’s career more than he’s playing Ben Stiller’s career. While Tom Cruise is playing a guy with big hands. (I’ve often wondered if Trump ever tried to get hold of those particular props or make-up appliances or whatever they’d be classed as.) (Pardon digression!) ---
**Author:** ![Lancia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lancia/32/17174_2.png) [@Lancia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lancia)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2024, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-comedians-who-played-a-worse-version-of-themselves/997737/39 "2024-02-18T22:04:21Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Tim Allen in Home Improvement The real Tim Allen is a bitter, right-wing blowhard who pretty much hates the entire world and by all accounts is a total douchebag to everyone he works with. Tim Taylor in Home Improvement was an exponentially more pleasant person than Tim Allen is IRL. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2024, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-comedians-who-played-a-worse-version-of-themselves/997737/40 "2024-02-18T22:12:20Z")
_Absolutely Fabulous_ periodically featured clients of main character Edina who were playing slightly-more-desperate versions of themselves. I remember Lulu and Baby Spice (Emma Bunton) particularly. The 2016 movie featured others playing themselves (Jon Hamm and Kate Moss, to name two). I don’t recall if they seemed worse than their real selves, though. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-comedians-who-played-a-worse-version-of-themselves/997737.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-comedians-who-played-a-worse-version-of-themselves/997737.md?page=3)