# Movie Characters Cast in TV Roles inspired by Their Movie Role **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** actor-characters\ **Created:** [October 19, 2022, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-characters-cast-in-tv-roles-inspired-by-their-movie-role/973467 "2022-10-19T04:11:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Pavelb1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/439d5e/32.png) [@Pavelb1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pavelb1)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2022, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-characters-cast-in-tv-roles-inspired-by-their-movie-role/973467/1 "2022-10-19T04:11:29Z")
This will be hard to describe and I suspect we’ll see a few answers outside of the parameters. I can only think of two examples: Brad Dourif’s Role in The first season X-Files episode “Beyond the Sea” is the Gemini Killer from _Exorcist 3_ in everything but name. Lena Olin in Alias might as well be the Russian assassin she plays in _Romeo Is Bleeding._ So, I don’t mean roles like Darren McGavin in X-Files. Where they wanted him to actually play Kolchak, but he refused so they used him in a dissimilar role. I don’t mean easter eggs like Richard Mulligan playing Custer in _Little Big Man_ and sorta for a bit in _Teachers_…those are both movies anyway… Or direct roles like George C. Scott as Patton in The Last Days of Patton. I hope this isnt too confusing. ---
**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:** [October 19, 2022, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-characters-cast-in-tv-roles-inspired-by-their-movie-role/973467/2 "2022-10-19T04:51:31Z")
Radar from MASH ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2022, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-characters-cast-in-tv-roles-inspired-by-their-movie-role/973467/3 "2022-10-19T05:49:04Z")
Here’s an interesting ourobouros of “what, exactly, inspired what”— The movie _American Graffiti_ was released in 1973. It had an ensemble cast without a clear lead, but Ron Howard played one of the more prominent roles. The movie was extremely successful, demonstrating an audience appetite for 1950s nostalgia. The TV series “Happy Days” began airing in 1974. Not only did it have a very similar nostalgic view of the 1950s, it ported over _AG_’s Howard as its lead actor. Everyone assumed “Happy Days” was basically a knockoff of _AG,_ including taking its lead. Except — “Happy Days” was originally created as a TV pilot in 1971. It was well regarded, but it didn’t make it to air, because there wasn’t yet a clear audience for what it was offering. That is, until _AG_ blew up the box office, at which point the network dug out the pilot and resurrected the show. In other words, the _success_ of _AG_ made “Happy Days” possible, but the genesis of the show actually pre-dates _AG._ And here’s the kicker: George Lucas saw that unaired pilot, and cast Ron Howard in _AG_ based on his performance there. So the proto-“Happy Days” partly inspired _AG,_ and then _AG_ being successful made “Happy Days” possible, and Ron Howard was involved in all three stages. Kind of a wacky little Hollywood tale, I think. ---
**Author:** ![Pavelb1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/439d5e/32.png) [@Pavelb1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pavelb1)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2022, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-characters-cast-in-tv-roles-inspired-by-their-movie-role/973467/4 "2022-10-19T06:08:14Z")
Happy Days is a good one though like you explained its convulated. Radar doesn’t count as its the same actor playing the same character. Albiet with some personality changes. Thought of another one. Roddy McDowell as Galen in The Planet of the Apes TV series. Though thats a lot more direct then some producers sitting around saying, “Did you see _Romeo Is Bleeding_??? What if that character was Sydneys mom??” ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2022, 8:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-characters-cast-in-tv-roles-inspired-by-their-movie-role/973467/5 "2022-10-19T08:51:22Z")
> [@Cervaise](#): > > It was well regarded, but it didn’t make it to air, Wasn’t it in _Love, American Style_? Which, now that I think about it, was probably a way to test series pilots. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2022, 9:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-characters-cast-in-tv-roles-inspired-by-their-movie-role/973467/6 "2022-10-19T09:18:16Z")
Yeah, I should have more clearly said the _series_ didn’t go anywhere following that trial episode, which is differentiated from standalone pilots that are never aired at all (as Jules says in _Pulp Fiction,_ they “become nothin’”). ---
**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:** [October 19, 2022, 11:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-characters-cast-in-tv-roles-inspired-by-their-movie-role/973467/7 "2022-10-19T11:04:52Z")
How about a TV role? Robert Sheehan was cast in _The Umbrella Academy_ playing a part incredibly similar to his character in _Misfits_. Klaus could easily have been an older version of Nathan. ---
**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:** [October 19, 2022, 11:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-characters-cast-in-tv-roles-inspired-by-their-movie-role/973467/8 "2022-10-19T11:07:38Z")
> [@Cervaise](#): > > The TV series “Happy Days” began airing in 1974. Not only did it have a very similar nostalgic view of the 1950s, it ported over _AG_’s Howard as its lead actor. Everyone assumed “Happy Days” was basically a knockoff of _AG,_ including taking its lead. Didn’t Cindy Williams also appear both in American Graffiti and Happy Days, also playing a similar character (Ron Howard’s character’s love interest) in both AG and HD? ---
**Author:** ![Author\_Balk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Author\_Balk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Author_Balk)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2022, 11:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-characters-cast-in-tv-roles-inspired-by-their-movie-role/973467/9 "2022-10-19T11:15:43Z")
Would Leslie Nielson fit? His character in Police Squad has a lot of similarities as his character in Airplane!. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2022, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-characters-cast-in-tv-roles-inspired-by-their-movie-role/973467/10 "2022-10-19T11:20:58Z")
> [@Author\_Balk](#): > > Would Leslie Nielson fit? His character in Police Squad has a lot of similarities as his character in Airplane!. - No doubt due to having the [same writing team.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zucker,_Abrahams_and_Zucker) ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2022, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-characters-cast-in-tv-roles-inspired-by-their-movie-role/973467/11 "2022-10-19T11:36:00Z")
How about between movies? At the time I first saw it, I said that Christian Slater’s character in [Very Bad Things](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Very_Bad_Things) is who his character in [Heathers](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heathers) would have become, had he survived high school. ---
**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:** [October 19, 2022, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-characters-cast-in-tv-roles-inspired-by-their-movie-role/973467/12 "2022-10-19T15:31:35Z")
Marlon Brando in _The Freshman_ was clearly cast due to his role in _The Godfather._ The resemblance is even commented on. ---
**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2022, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-characters-cast-in-tv-roles-inspired-by-their-movie-role/973467/13 "2022-10-19T15:36:51Z")
The producers of _Lone Wolf McQuade_ sued Chuck Norris over _Walker Texas Ranger_ because they thought there were too many similarities between the two. (They lost by the way.) ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2022, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-characters-cast-in-tv-roles-inspired-by-their-movie-role/973467/14 "2022-10-19T15:42:51Z")
In _McCloud Meets Dracula_, the detective is searching for a killer who thinks he is a vampire. The prime suspect is an elderly gentleman who, in his youth, was an actor famous for playing Dracula. The role was played by John Carradine. I think Elisha Cook, Jr. was probably cast as the gangster “Icepick” in _Magnum, P.I._ because he had played Wilmer the gunsel in _The Maltese Falcon._ ---
**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:** [October 19, 2022, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-characters-cast-in-tv-roles-inspired-by-their-movie-role/973467/15 "2022-10-19T15:55:52Z")
> [@Pavelb1](#): > > Radar doesn’t count as its the same actor playing the same character. Albiet with some personality changes. Well, in the early days of the TV show, TV Radar was a lot like Movie Radar: running schemes, drinking alcohol, etc. As the show went on, Radar’s portrayal changed, to the naive, sweet-natured Iowa farmboy. ---
**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:** [October 19, 2022, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-characters-cast-in-tv-roles-inspired-by-their-movie-role/973467/16 "2022-10-19T16:00:54Z")
Two TV series, rather than including a movie, but in _Star Trek: The Next Generation_, actor Robert Duncan McNeill played a dishonorably-discharged Starfleet cadet named Nick Locarno in the episode “The First Duty.” During development of _Star Trek: Voyager_, the producers considered using Locarno as a character, but wanted to change some of the character’s backstory. So, they created a new character, Tom Paris, who had many of the same characteristics as Locarno (including having been dishonorably discharged from Starfleet), and once again cast McNeill in the role. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2022, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-characters-cast-in-tv-roles-inspired-by-their-movie-role/973467/17 "2022-10-19T16:03:15Z")
George Lazenby played a character called “J.B.” in a _Man from U.N.C.L.E._ movie. Even more meta, Roger Moore played a character named “George Lazenby” in_The Life of Rock with Brian Pern_ ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2022, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-characters-cast-in-tv-roles-inspired-by-their-movie-role/973467/18 "2022-10-19T16:37:42Z")
> [@mbh](#): > > I think Elisha Cook, Jr. was probably cast as the gangster “Icepick” in _Magnum, P.I._ because he had played Wilmer the gunsel in _The Maltese Falcon._ Interestingly, the first time Ice Pick was shown, he was played by a different actor who looked like a shriveled up raisin, or a Pak Protector. [https://www.aveleyman.com/Gallery/2017/C/120102.jpg](https://www.aveleyman.com/Gallery/2017/C/120102.jpg) The first time Elisha Cook Jr was on Magnum, he was elusive, wealthy eccentric Harold Farber (or was he?!). They eventually got it right. ---
**Author:** ![Nonsuch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nonsuch/32/2922_2.png) [@Nonsuch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nonsuch)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2022, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-characters-cast-in-tv-roles-inspired-by-their-movie-role/973467/19 "2022-10-19T16:43:20Z")
When _Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore_ was rejiggered from a movie into a sitcom, the character of Flo was played by Diane Ladd in the film and Polly Holliday in the series. When Holliday left the show to front an ill-advised _Flo_ spin-off, Diane Ladd replaced her as a character named Belle, essentially reprising her film character only without the catchphrases and Texas twang. ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2022, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-characters-cast-in-tv-roles-inspired-by-their-movie-role/973467/20 "2022-10-19T18:21:35Z")
If you ever watch _Forbidden Planet_ you’ll notice that Leslie Nielson’s character is a humourous version of the guy he plays in that movie. It might not fit your criteria but Lon Chaney Jr. played several dumb tough guys due to him appearing as Lenny in _Of Mice and Men_. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movie-characters-cast-in-tv-roles-inspired-by-their-movie-role/973467.md?page=2)