# 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:** 7
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2026, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-comedians-who-played-a-worse-version-of-themselves/997737/121 "2026-04-17T18:34:27Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > > [@solost](#): > > > > Which got me to thinking, there are a lot of times an actor, especially a comic actor and usually for comedic purposes, has played a more unlikeable, annoying version of themselves. > > The OP did not state specifically that the character has to have the same name, and Alan Brady was for all intents and purposes an unlikeable, annoying version of Carl Reiner. Since it was based on Carl Reiner’s previous life as a comedy writer for Sid Caesar it was more based on him. Reiner himself said Brady was based on other demanding comedy stars of the time. Alan Brady was not supposed to be Carl Reiner. ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2026, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-comedians-who-played-a-worse-version-of-themselves/997737/122 "2026-04-17T18:42:23Z")
Exactly. _Rob Petrie_ was supposed to be Carl Reiner (so much so that in the original pilot, he played the role himself). Alan Brady was Sid Caesar, Buddy was Mel Brooks, and Sally was a combination of Selma Diamond and Lucille Kallen. ---
**Author:** ![2\_More\_Bits](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/2_more_bits/32/4148_2.png) [@2\_More\_Bits](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2_More_Bits)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2026, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-comedians-who-played-a-worse-version-of-themselves/997737/123 "2026-04-17T18:48:28Z")
Howzabout Gary Shandling in “It’s Gary Shandling’s Show?” ---
**Author:** ![2\_More\_Bits](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/2_more_bits/32/4148_2.png) [@2\_More\_Bits](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2_More_Bits)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2026, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-comedians-who-played-a-worse-version-of-themselves/997737/124 "2026-04-17T18:49:32Z")
Doesn’t Bill Murray play “himself” in Zombieland? ---
**Author:** ![2\_More\_Bits](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/2_more_bits/32/4148_2.png) [@2\_More\_Bits](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2_More_Bits)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2026, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-comedians-who-played-a-worse-version-of-themselves/997737/125 "2026-04-17T18:55:00Z")
Tig Notaro and Sarah Silverman play themselves in a (very funny) episode of Maria Bamford’s Lady Dynamite." ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2026, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-comedians-who-played-a-worse-version-of-themselves/997737/126 "2026-04-17T19:01:45Z")
Gaten Matarazzo (Dustin from “Stranger Things”) plays a rich douche version of himself in “The Legend of Foggy Mountain”. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2026, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-comedians-who-played-a-worse-version-of-themselves/997737/127 "2026-04-17T19:11:59Z")
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._ Jennifer Grey played a version of herself in _It’s Like . . . You Know._ There were even jokes abour her disasterous nose job. ---
**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 17, 2026, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-comedians-who-played-a-worse-version-of-themselves/997737/128 "2026-04-17T19:30:44Z")
> [@2\_More\_Bits](#): > > Tig Notaro and Sarah Silverman play themselves in a (very funny) episode of Maria Bamford’s Lady Dynamite." I don’t think I saw that episode, or if I did I don’t remember (I watched season 1 but I think there were two seasons). But speaking of Sarah Silverman, she played a very selfish, narcissistic version of herself on ‘The Sarah Silverman Program’. ---
**Author:** ![GargoyleWB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gargoylewb/32/199_2.png) [@GargoyleWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GargoyleWB)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2026, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-comedians-who-played-a-worse-version-of-themselves/997737/129 "2026-04-17T19:40:10Z")
I recall Felicia Day in interviews saying that she wrote a lot of herself into Codex on The Guild as she was also once an MMO addict coping with depression and social anxiety. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2026, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-comedians-who-played-a-worse-version-of-themselves/997737/130 "2026-04-17T19:46:53Z")
> [@2\_More\_Bits](#): > > Doesn’t Bill Murray play “himself” in Zombieland? If anything that was a better version of himself. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [April 17, 2026, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-comedians-who-played-a-worse-version-of-themselves/997737/131 "2026-04-17T20:05:43Z")
Funniest scene in that movie! _“I can’t even lurk anymore!”_ and _“I promise!”_😆 ---
**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:** [April 17, 2026, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-comedians-who-played-a-worse-version-of-themselves/997737/132 "2026-04-17T20:52:47Z")
> [@MrAtoz](#): > > _Rob Petrie_ was supposed to be Carl Reiner (so much so that in the original pilot, he played the role himself). Alan Brady was Sid Caesar, Buddy was Mel Brooks, and Sally was a combination of Selma Diamond and Lucille Kallen. Does that mean Ritchie was Rob Reiner? ---
**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:** [April 17, 2026, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-comedians-who-played-a-worse-version-of-themselves/997737/133 "2026-04-17T20:57:58Z")
One that hasn’t been mentioned is Keanu Reeves playing himself in _Always Be My Maybe_. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2026, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-comedians-who-played-a-worse-version-of-themselves/997737/134 "2026-04-18T00:44:35Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Jennifer Grey played a version of herself in _It’s Like . . . You Know._ There were even jokes abour her disasterous nose job. Also mentioned in posts 5 & 6. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2026, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-comedians-who-played-a-worse-version-of-themselves/997737/135 "2026-04-18T00:57:25Z")
In CANNONBALL RUN, Roger Moore — who, when he played James Bond, wore a tuxedo and brandished a gun and drove a fast car — wore a tuxedo and brandished a gun and drove a fast car and called himself Roger Moore. I may be doing this wrong. ---
**Author:** ![icon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c6cbf5/32.png) [@icon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/icon)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2026, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-comedians-who-played-a-worse-version-of-themselves/997737/136 "2026-04-18T01:01:37Z")
George Takei played a rather easily befuddled version of himself on the show Psych during the first season “Shawn vs. the Red Phantom” . The protagonists manage to become his assistants without him realizing they aren’t. This happens at a Comic Book convention which would be a real life situation he would actually involved in, and he is listed in the credits as himself. I remember watching it and finding it especially funny because I recognized him right away, something others in my family did not. `//i\\` ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2026, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-comedians-who-played-a-worse-version-of-themselves/997737/137 "2026-04-18T01:14:45Z")
In the show _Roswell_ Jonathan Frakes is the celebrity guest at a UFO convention. He plays an entitled douchey version of himself. I believe he was uncredited as an actor but he was also executive producer and directed several episodes of the show. ---
**Author:** ![Tibby](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tibby/32/17030_2.png) [@Tibby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tibby)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2026, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-comedians-who-played-a-worse-version-of-themselves/997737/138 "2026-04-18T02:06:17Z")
Matt LeBlanc in _Episodes_ played a smug, vain, fame-obsessed version of himself. David Bowie in _Extras_ was gloriously vicious to Ricky Gervais’s character, capped off by his spontaneous “little fat man” song. Very funny. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2026, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-comedians-who-played-a-worse-version-of-themselves/997737/139 "2026-04-18T02:15:20Z")
never mind - additional commentary at this point would be superfluous ---
**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 18, 2026, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-comedians-who-played-a-worse-version-of-themselves/997737/140 "2026-04-18T14:35:18Z")
There’s a current series of commercials for some credit card in which Kristen Bell plays an insufferable, comically entitled version of herself. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-comedians-who-played-a-worse-version-of-themselves/997737.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-comedians-who-played-a-worse-version-of-themselves/997737.md?page=8)