# Actors who play the same role in every movie **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 25, 2001, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-play-the-same-role-in-every-movie/83693 "2001-09-25T14:44:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Oblong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/c0e974/32.png) [@Oblong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oblong)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2001, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-play-the-same-role-in-every-movie/83693/1 "2001-09-25T14:44:31Z")
Jeff Goldblum Tom Arnold ---
**Author:** ![Amazing\_Tiki\_God](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/779978/32.png) [@Amazing\_Tiki\_God](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amazing_Tiki_God)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2001, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-play-the-same-role-in-every-movie/83693/2 "2001-09-25T14:46:44Z")
Denzel Washington ---
**Author:** ![Fiddle\_Peghead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddle_peghead/32/3506_2.png) [@Fiddle\_Peghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiddle_Peghead)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2001, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-play-the-same-role-in-every-movie/83693/3 "2001-09-25T14:47:20Z")
William Hurt (except _Smoke)_ James Coburn (no exceptions) ---
**Author:** ![Arden\_Ranger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b487fb/32.png) [@Arden\_Ranger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arden_Ranger)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2001, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-play-the-same-role-in-every-movie/83693/4 "2001-09-25T14:49:40Z")
Christopher Lambert. ---
**Author:** ![horhay\_achoa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ccd318/32.png) [@horhay\_achoa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/horhay_achoa)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2001, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-play-the-same-role-in-every-movie/83693/5 "2001-09-25T14:50:45Z")
Cuba Gooding Jr. Nick Cage ---
**Author:** ![Nightingale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecae2f/32.png) [@Nightingale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nightingale)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2001, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-play-the-same-role-in-every-movie/83693/6 "2001-09-25T15:02:55Z")
Kevin Costner ---
**Author:** ![middleman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@middleman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/middleman)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2001, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-play-the-same-role-in-every-movie/83693/7 "2001-09-25T15:07:01Z")
Pauly Shore John Wayne Humphry Bogart Harrison Ford (with a few excpetions) Tom Cruise (early- all cocky guy, lately- all brooding) ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2001, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-play-the-same-role-in-every-movie/83693/8 "2001-09-25T15:07:38Z")
William Shatner. Well, except for Congeniality. Eddie Murphy. Actually, he plays the same **set** of characters in every movie… ---
**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:** [September 25, 2001, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-play-the-same-role-in-every-movie/83693/9 "2001-09-25T15:07:48Z")
Why the hell weren’t Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzeneggar the first ones out of the chute? ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2001, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-play-the-same-role-in-every-movie/83693/10 "2001-09-25T15:10:09Z")
Robert deNiro (except for _Awakenings_) ---
**Author:** ![Zanshin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e274bd/32.png) [@Zanshin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zanshin)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2001, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-play-the-same-role-in-every-movie/83693/11 "2001-09-25T15:11:56Z")
Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa (he plays the Japanese bad guy in every movie that requires a Japanese bad guy… The Art of War, Rising Sun, Mortal Kombat…) Also, the little Asian character actor who plays a thug in every movie… balding, long hair, Fu Manchu moustache… he was the guy who tortured Mel Gibson’s character in **Lethal Weapon**. Keanu Reeves. Ashley Judd. And seconds for Nic Cage and Christopher Lambert. ---
**Author:** ![Why\_A\_Duck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/13edae/32.png) [@Why\_A\_Duck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Why_A_Duck)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2001, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-play-the-same-role-in-every-movie/83693/12 "2001-09-25T15:20:21Z")
Jack Nicholson. And that is what really spoiled Kubrick’s verison of **The Shining** for me. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2001, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-play-the-same-role-in-every-movie/83693/13 "2001-09-25T15:21:34Z")
Hows about Gary Oldman? ---
**Author:** ![Mystery\_Dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f14d63/32.png) [@Mystery\_Dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mystery_Dog)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2001, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-play-the-same-role-in-every-movie/83693/14 "2001-09-25T15:24:31Z")
Rodney Dangerfield. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2001, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-play-the-same-role-in-every-movie/83693/15 "2001-09-25T15:25:04Z")
Keanu Reeves Tom Cruise Glenn Close ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2001, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-play-the-same-role-in-every-movie/83693/16 "2001-09-25T15:31:09Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by Zanshin \* > \*\* > Also, the little Asian character actor who plays a thug in every movie… balding, long hair, Fu Manchu moustache… he was the guy who tortured Mel Gibson’s character in **Lethal Weapon**._\* Al Leong. Julia Roberts always seems to play the same person, but I think that’s because she can’t act worth a hoot, so it’s unintentional. Wheras Ahnold really is always trying to play the same guy. Tom Green, of course, always plays a stupid weirdo. John Malkovich always plays a creepy weirdo, except in “In The Line of Fire,” in which he played a psychotic weirdo. Ben Affleck always plays Ben Affleck. James Van Der Beek always plays The Sensitive, Introspective Kid. Freddie Prinze Jr. always plays The Smiling Playboy. Brendan Fraser always plays The Big Lovable Goofball, though in “The Mummy” he did branch out into The Big Lovable Guy Who Beats Everyone Up. ---
**Author:** ![Chez\_Guevara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Chez\_Guevara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chez_Guevara)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2001, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-play-the-same-role-in-every-movie/83693/17 "2001-09-25T15:31:34Z")
Surely _Burt Reynolds_ finds a place in this pantheon of thespian excellence. ---
**Author:** ![Legomancer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/779978/32.png) [@Legomancer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Legomancer)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2001, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-play-the-same-role-in-every-movie/83693/18 "2001-09-25T15:31:48Z")
Hey! I hear Michael Douglas is in a new movie where he plays a big asshole! ---
**Author:** ![Oblong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/c0e974/32.png) [@Oblong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oblong)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2001, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-play-the-same-role-in-every-movie/83693/19 "2001-09-25T15:41:34Z")
The guy that played RFK in 13 days also played him in a Marilyn Monroe movie so he DID play the same guy. Oliver Platt (I love this guy, this isn’t a criticism) ---
**Author:** ![TheeGrumpy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/779978/32.png) [@TheeGrumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheeGrumpy)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2001, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-play-the-same-role-in-every-movie/83693/20 "2001-09-25T15:42:48Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by horhay\_achoa \* > \*\*Nick Cage \*\* How are H.I. McDonnough, Ben Sanderson, and Stanley Goodspeed “the same role”? Sure, Nicolas Cage has a lot of tics & moves that occur in every movie. But the roles played in “Raising Arizona”, “Leaving Las Vegas”, and “The Rock” are distinctly different, in my view. And it’s not just those three. Brendan Fraser and Robert DeNiro also don’t need to be on this list. In fact, a lot of these actors have a definite persona which they often return to. But most of them have at least attempted to inject some variety in their careers. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-play-the-same-role-in-every-movie/83693.md?page=2)