# Actors who sound like one another **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 18, 2005, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-sound-like-one-another/290698 "2005-02-18T12:26:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![roger\_thornhill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d9b06d/32.png) [@roger\_thornhill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/roger_thornhill)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2005, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-sound-like-one-another/290698/1 "2005-02-18T12:26:35Z")
Recently I watched two films with Natasha Richardson in them (think I’ve got the Christian name right) _The Parent Trap_ and _Maid in Manhattan_ (what a movie!). I kept having to check that Emma Thompson hadn’t slipped onto the set, their voices are that much alike. Luvvies, any other actors who have virtually identical voices? ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2005, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-sound-like-one-another/290698/2 "2005-02-18T13:17:52Z")
> [@roger thornhill](#): > > other actors who have virtually identical voices? Nicholson and Slater (if you need the Christian names, that’s “Jack” and uh, “Christian.”) ---
**Author:** ![Agrippina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8797f3/32.png) [@Agrippina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agrippina)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2005, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-sound-like-one-another/290698/3 "2005-02-18T13:18:27Z")
Anthony Hopkins and Richard Burton. But the fact that they both were born and grew up in the same area in Wales probably has something to do with it. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2005, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-sound-like-one-another/290698/4 "2005-02-18T13:27:21Z")
I don’t know if they really sound alike, but Monica Potter and Julia Roberts just seem so alike to me. I think I hear it in their voices. I think I see it in their faces. An older example: Cary Grant and Ray Milland. ---
**Author:** ![Alias](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a88e4f/32.png) [@Alias](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alias)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2005, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-sound-like-one-another/290698/5 "2005-02-18T13:56:32Z")
Speaking of Cary Grant, sometimes I think John Cleese and Cary Grant sound alike. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2005, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-sound-like-one-another/290698/6 "2005-02-18T14:27:55Z")
Craig Kilborn and Dennis Miller ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2005, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-sound-like-one-another/290698/7 "2005-02-18T14:59:06Z")
Well, Anthony Hopkins does such a good Laurence Olivier that they had him fill in the missing dialogue for the restored version of **Spartacus**. But I don’t know how much he had to change his voice for that. There was a voice comic who did this whole routine about how different celebrities he did sounded so much like other celebrities, and which minor changes he had to maske in order to go from one to another. It was hilarious, but I can’t remember who did it. ---
**Author:** ![Mycroft\_Holmes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a5b964/32.png) [@Mycroft\_Holmes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mycroft_Holmes)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2005, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-sound-like-one-another/290698/8 "2005-02-18T15:20:19Z")
> [@Alias](#): > > Speaking of Cary Grant, sometimes I think John Cleese and Cary Grant sound alike. What makes this even funnier is that Cleese’s character in “A Fish Called Wanda” was called Archie Leach, and Cary Grant’s real name is… Archibald Leach! I kid you not. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2005, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-sound-like-one-another/290698/9 "2005-02-18T15:21:45Z")
Yeah, that character is very consciously modeled on Cary Grant. As soon as I read that I tried to imagine Grant saying “I Wendy- I Wanda- I wonder…” 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Flander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8c91f0/32.png) [@Flander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flander)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2005, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-sound-like-one-another/290698/10 "2005-02-18T16:19:23Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > There was a voice comic who did this whole routine about how different celebrities he did sounded so much like other celebrities, and which minor changes he had to maske in order to go from one to another. It was hilarious, but I can’t remember who did it. Kevin Pollack? ---
**Author:** ![roger\_thornhill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d9b06d/32.png) [@roger\_thornhill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/roger_thornhill)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2005, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-sound-like-one-another/290698/11 "2005-02-19T01:59:09Z")
> [@Mycroft Holmes](#): > > What makes this even funnier is that Cleese’s character in “A Fish Called Wanda” was called Archie Leach, and Cary Grant’s real name is… Archibald Leach! I kid you not. I never cottoned on to that when I watched the movie when back when. ---
**Author:** ![roger\_thornhill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d9b06d/32.png) [@roger\_thornhill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/roger_thornhill)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2005, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-sound-like-one-another/290698/12 "2005-02-19T02:07:22Z")
> [@pseudotriton ruber ruber](#): > > Nicholson and Slater (if you need the Christian names, that’s “Jack” and uh, “Christian.”) Almost all the cockiness I once had has been beaten out of me since I joined this board. I’ve spent the best part of six months trying to re-establish my credibility after a couple of gaffes were seized upon like a piñata (see, I even went and found the squiggly accent thing) at a children’s party. I was 99% sure it was Natasha Richardson, but - hell - it could have been Miranda. …or even Ralph. Don’t tell me that you haven’t developed defence mechanisms of your own, pal! ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2005, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-sound-like-one-another/290698/13 "2005-02-19T02:41:33Z")
Not an actor but Sen. Joe Lieberman sounds exactly like Alf’s dad. ---
**Author:** ![roger\_thornhill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d9b06d/32.png) [@roger\_thornhill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/roger_thornhill)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2005, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-sound-like-one-another/290698/14 "2005-02-19T02:50:25Z")
Lieberman I’ve heard of, but who is Alf’s dad? ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2005, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-sound-like-one-another/290698/15 "2005-02-19T03:14:07Z")
There was an American sit-com in the 80’s called “ALF” that was about an alien from outer space (played by a muppet) living with a family. The actor who played the father sounds exactly like Joe Liberman. So much so that I find it distracting when Lieberman speaks. ---
**Author:** ![Gail](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Gail](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gail)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2005, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-sound-like-one-another/290698/16 "2005-02-19T03:44:51Z")
Years ago, I saw the movie “Angel Heart” with Mickey Rourke. I recall thinking that his voice was very similar to Bruce Willis’s. ---
**Author:** ![roger\_thornhill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d9b06d/32.png) [@roger\_thornhill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/roger_thornhill)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2005, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-sound-like-one-another/290698/17 "2005-02-19T03:51:12Z")
> [@Gail](#): > > Years ago, I saw the movie “Angel Heart” with Mickey Rourke. I recall thinking that his voice was very similar to Bruce Willis’s. I’m always getting those two confused. ---
**Author:** ![Enright3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/enright3/32/2897_2.png) [@Enright3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enright3)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2005, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-sound-like-one-another/290698/18 "2005-02-19T14:27:33Z")
Christopher Walken and James Earl Jones. ---
**Author:** ![GraceTX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c4cdca/32.png) [@GraceTX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GraceTX)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2005, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-sound-like-one-another/290698/19 "2005-02-19T14:53:06Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > I don’t know if they really sound alike, but Monica Potter and Julia Roberts just seem so alike to me. I think I hear it in their voices. I think I see it in their faces. It’s not just you. I see it too. ---
**Author:** ![Saintly\_Loser](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saintly_loser/32/4045_2.png) [@Saintly\_Loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saintly_Loser)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2005, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-sound-like-one-another/290698/20 "2005-02-19T16:57:07Z")
Diana Rigg and Juliet Stevenson. I remember seeing something once, I can’t remember what, where a friend and I just knew that the narrator was Diana Rigg (the narrator didn’t appear in whatever this was – it was some documentary), and then when the credits rolled it turned out to be Juliet Stevenson. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/actors-who-sound-like-one-another/290698.md?page=2)