# Actors who are seen as often "playing themselves" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 11, 2021, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-are-seen-as-often-playing-themselves/955873 "2021-12-11T07:41:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**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:** [December 11, 2021, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-are-seen-as-often-playing-themselves/955873/21 "2021-12-11T15:44:32Z")
> [@Hampshire](#): > > 12 Monkeys Brad Pitt, vs. Snatch Brad Pitt, vs. Inglorious Basterds Brad Pitt, vs. Interview With a Vampire Brad Pitt never felt like the same characters to me. Don’t forget True Romance Brad Pitt and Burn After Reading Brad Pitt. > [@](#): > > Tom Cruise There’s certainly an “action movie Tom Cruise”, but there’s also Magnolia, Rain Man, and Born on the Fourth of July. ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2021, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-are-seen-as-often-playing-themselves/955873/22 "2021-12-11T15:45:10Z")
Jeff Goldblum has such a Jeff Goldblum delivery that he can only do a version of himself whenever he performs a role. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2021, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-are-seen-as-often-playing-themselves/955873/23 "2021-12-11T15:45:36Z")
Bill Murray. ---
**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2021, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-are-seen-as-often-playing-themselves/955873/24 "2021-12-11T15:46:37Z")
I am surprised no one as mentioned William Shatner yet. ---
**Author:** ![Happy\_Lendervedder](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/happy_lendervedder/32/8488_2.png) [@Happy\_Lendervedder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Lendervedder)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2021, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-are-seen-as-often-playing-themselves/955873/25 "2021-12-11T15:54:54Z")
Christopher Walken. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2021, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-are-seen-as-often-playing-themselves/955873/26 "2021-12-11T16:00:16Z")
> [@Moriarty](#): > > Jeff Goldblum has such a Jeff Goldblum delivery that he can only do a version of himself whenever he performs a role. I think that, in his case, it’s become more pronounced over time – I don’t think it was as obvious or as exaggerated in his roles in the '80s or '90s. But, I agree, now, he seems to always be playing the same affected, eccentric persona (and has the same persona in interviews). ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2021, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-are-seen-as-often-playing-themselves/955873/27 "2021-12-11T16:06:21Z")
> [@Tierce](#): > > Robert De Niro has to be right up there. And his pal, Joe Pesci. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2021, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-are-seen-as-often-playing-themselves/955873/28 "2021-12-11T16:14:15Z")
> [@Moriarty](#): > > Jeff Goldblum has such a Jeff Goldblum delivery that he can only do a version of himself whenever he performs a role. I thought he delivered a pretty convincing performance as “not Jeff Goldblum” in _The Grand Budapest Hotel_. ---
**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:** [December 11, 2021, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-are-seen-as-often-playing-themselves/955873/29 "2021-12-11T16:26:04Z")
I disagree with most of these. And I do believe that many who are more one dimensional are still playing a role that isn’t themselves. Movie Samuel L. Jackson is much different than talk show Sam. And when he’s with his wife he’s funny and adorable. ---
**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:** [December 11, 2021, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-are-seen-as-often-playing-themselves/955873/30 "2021-12-11T16:28:53Z")
Henry Fonda was definitely not playing the same character all the time but he often played very affable characters. That was not his real personality. When Peter Fonda asked what his father was like in real life he said “Watch Fort Apache.” ---
**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:** [December 11, 2021, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-are-seen-as-often-playing-themselves/955873/31 "2021-12-11T17:11:49Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > And I do believe that many who are more one dimensional are still playing a role that isn’t themselves. Yes, this thread seems to be more about actors who have been typecast. ---
**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:** [December 11, 2021, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-are-seen-as-often-playing-themselves/955873/32 "2021-12-11T17:33:02Z")
Kurt Russell. (I just watched “The Thing” last night.) ---
**Author:** ![Bonum\_Legatum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bonum_legatum/32/6183_2.png) [@Bonum\_Legatum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bonum_Legatum)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2021, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-are-seen-as-often-playing-themselves/955873/33 "2021-12-11T17:41:38Z")
Douglas Fairbanks Sr. Robert Benchley wrote a hilarious article about him. (Possibly published in Liberty magazine, March 12, 1932, then in the anthology _The Best of Robert Benchley_.) And, in the same swashbuckling genre: Errol Flynn. ---
**Author:** ![dirtball](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dirtball/32/18772_2.png) [@dirtball](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dirtball)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2021, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-are-seen-as-often-playing-themselves/955873/34 "2021-12-11T17:43:17Z")
> [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](#): > > Woody Allen. To the point where it seems he’s passed on the torch of playing Woody Allen. Watching _Midnight in Paris_, I couldn’t help but feel that Owen Wilson was playing the character that Allen had written for himself but was too old to play, and Wilson was doing a pretty good job of playing it the way Allen would have. I haven’t seen anything of Allen’s that’s more recent, so I don’t know if he’s done any more of that kind of thing. ---
**Author:** ![Boycott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boycott/32/6741_2.png) [@Boycott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boycott)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2021, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-are-seen-as-often-playing-themselves/955873/35 "2021-12-11T17:52:48Z")
I’ve seen Roger Moore in The Saint which was before he became James Bond and in a film called The Sea Wolves which was made during the time he was James Bond. He pretty much played with the same characteristics as he did in the James Bond movies. The Sea Wolves also starred Gregory Peck and David Niven - both of whom I would say can be seen as playing themselves a lot of the time. ---
**Author:** ![jaycat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaycat/32/3015_2.png) [@jaycat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jaycat)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2021, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-are-seen-as-often-playing-themselves/955873/36 "2021-12-11T17:54:01Z")
Burt Mustin. ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2021, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-are-seen-as-often-playing-themselves/955873/37 "2021-12-11T18:03:06Z")
Very hard disagrees on Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio, Pitt especially has a very varied set of performances. Also disagree with Robin Williams where I guess I’m mostly thinking of Good Will Hunting. ---
**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:** [December 11, 2021, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-are-seen-as-often-playing-themselves/955873/38 "2021-12-11T18:42:00Z")
> [@Snarky\_Kong](#): > > Also disagree with Robin Williams where I guess I’m mostly thinking of Good Will Hunting. And sometimes he’s a British woman! …I may be doing this wrong. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2021, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-are-seen-as-often-playing-themselves/955873/39 "2021-12-11T19:57:54Z")
I’ve always thought James Garner was the same kind of guy IRL that he was on screen, regardless of the role he was playing. An old girlfriend agreed, saying “He must be a real charming man.” ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2021, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-are-seen-as-often-playing-themselves/955873/40 "2021-12-11T19:58:19Z")
> [@BigDfromLA](#): > > Samuel L. Jackson also plays very similar characters. His exception may be his role in the Star Wars films. Jackson has discovered that he gets paid bonus to re-play the character written by Quentin Tarantino for Pulp Fiction. But if you go back to his roles before that one, each one is radically different and he sells them fully. There is no comparison between his role in A Time to Kill, for example, and The Long Kiss Goodnight. And from all the interviews that I’ve seen with him, I have no reason to think he’s any more playing himself when he plays Jules, than that Bruce Willis is just being himself when he plays John McClain. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-are-seen-as-often-playing-themselves/955873.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-are-seen-as-often-playing-themselves/955873.md?page=3)