# Movies in which the same actors play multiple roles - and which has the most? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 13, 2008, 8:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-which-the-same-actors-play-multiple-roles-and-which-has-the-most/449148 "2008-05-13T08:19:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2008, 8:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-which-the-same-actors-play-multiple-roles-and-which-has-the-most/449148/1 "2008-05-13T08:19:22Z")
In the [Bargain Bin DVD](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=467805) thread, someone mentioned _Mirrormask_ and _The Wizard Of Oz_ as having the same actors play multiple roles… What other movies feature this? Which one does it the most? -I know Eddie Murphy has done a few -Michael Keaton did _Multiplicity_. -Can’t think of one that does it _more_ than _Life Of Brian_ or one of the other Python movies… ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2008, 8:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-which-the-same-actors-play-multiple-roles-and-which-has-the-most/449148/2 "2008-05-13T08:23:06Z")
Alec Guinness in _Kind Hearts and Coronets._ ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2008, 9:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-which-the-same-actors-play-multiple-roles-and-which-has-the-most/449148/3 "2008-05-13T09:30:43Z")
The five members of the Kids in the Hall each play 4-9 roles in _Brain Candy_. ---
**Author:** ![Cicero](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cicero/32/3594_2.png) [@Cicero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cicero)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2008, 9:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-which-the-same-actors-play-multiple-roles-and-which-has-the-most/449148/4 "2008-05-13T09:36:57Z")
Not a movie, but today in Murder She Wrote (changing channels) I saw Angela Landsbury playing dual roles. ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2008, 9:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-which-the-same-actors-play-multiple-roles-and-which-has-the-most/449148/5 "2008-05-13T09:42:46Z")
Peter Sellers plays three great characters in Dr Strangelove. ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2008, 9:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-which-the-same-actors-play-multiple-roles-and-which-has-the-most/449148/6 "2008-05-13T09:59:56Z")
Too late to edit, [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dr_strangelove#Peter_Sellers.27_multiple_roles) suggests that Seller would have played four characters, had he not sprained his ankle and passed the role of B-52 captain to Slim Pickens. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2008, 10:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-which-the-same-actors-play-multiple-roles-and-which-has-the-most/449148/7 "2008-05-13T10:35:08Z")
Sellers played eight roles in the aforementioned _Kind Hearts and Coronets._ ---
**Author:** ![from\_a\_to\_z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5fc32e/32.png) [@from\_a\_to\_z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/from_a_to_z)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2008, 10:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-which-the-same-actors-play-multiple-roles-and-which-has-the-most/449148/8 "2008-05-13T10:40:06Z")
[QUOTE=Mangetout] …Which one does it the most?.. [/QUOTE] I don’t know. Is that the answer that you are looking for? At least 27 different roles, I guess, because Buster Keaton has at least 26 different roles in [The Play House](http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0012570/). Like Alec Guinness in [Kind Hearts and Coronets](http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0041546/), it’s a kick to see which role he turns up in next. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2008, 10:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-which-the-same-actors-play-multiple-roles-and-which-has-the-most/449148/9 "2008-05-13T10:54:24Z")
[QUOTE=Siam Sam] Sellers played eight roles in the aforementioned _Kind Hearts and Coronets._ [/QUOTE] As others have said, it was Alec Guinness in Kind Hearts and Coronets – Peter Sellers hadn’t started his movie career when that was made. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2008, 11:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-which-the-same-actors-play-multiple-roles-and-which-has-the-most/449148/10 "2008-05-13T11:03:00Z")
[QUOTE=Giles] As others have said, it was Alec Guinness in Kind Hearts and Coronets. [/QUOTE] :smack: And of course, I meant it was Guinness who played eight roles. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2008, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-which-the-same-actors-play-multiple-roles-and-which-has-the-most/449148/11 "2008-05-13T11:16:36Z")
Hugo Weaving in the \*Matrix \* sequals. I win. ---
**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:** [May 13, 2008, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-which-the-same-actors-play-multiple-roles-and-which-has-the-most/449148/12 "2008-05-13T11:26:44Z")
We had this question a little while back. as I pointed out then, Peter Sellers has a history of multiple role-playing in films, far beyond **Dr. Strangelove** : **Let’s go Crazy** 6 roles **The Case of the Mukkinese Battle-Horn** 4 roles **the Mouse that Roared** — 3 roles (including Grand Duchess Gloriana) **Soft Beds, Hard Battles** – 6 roles (including Adolf Hitler) **The Prisoner of Zenda** – 3 roles **The Insidious Plot of Fu Manchu** – 2 roles (Fu Manchu AND his nemesis Nayland Smith) > **[Peter Sellers | Actor, Writer, Director](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000634/)** > > Known for: Being There, Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, The Return of the Pink Panther Incidentally, apparently in Dr. Strangelove he was originally supposed to have _four_ rol;es, the fourth being the character eventually played by Slim Pickens ---
**Author:** ![cactus\_waltz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@cactus\_waltz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cactus_waltz)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2008, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-which-the-same-actors-play-multiple-roles-and-which-has-the-most/449148/13 "2008-05-13T11:33:37Z")
[QUOTE=Alessan] Hugo Weaving in the \*Matrix \* sequals. I win. [/QUOTE] By this logic, I’d rather nominate Deep Roy, who played the Oompa Loompas in the Burton version of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. As opposed to Agent Smith, the duplicates of Deep Roy were all recorded individually. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2008, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-which-the-same-actors-play-multiple-roles-and-which-has-the-most/449148/14 "2008-05-13T11:50:44Z")
I hadn’t really thought about roles that were exact duplicates of each other (like Agent Smith) - even in _multiplicity_, they’re different characters, but I guess it counts. In which case, John Malkovich in _Being John Malkovich_ plays a world full of duplicates of himself… ---
**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:** [May 13, 2008, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-which-the-same-actors-play-multiple-roles-and-which-has-the-most/449148/15 "2008-05-13T12:46:48Z")
Buster Keaton in **[The Play House](http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3461801947432155594)**, where he plays everyone on the theater and on stage. I counted at least 25 at the start of it. They are all different characters, too. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2008, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-which-the-same-actors-play-multiple-roles-and-which-has-the-most/449148/16 "2008-05-13T12:54:18Z")
[QUOTE=CalMeacham] **The Insidious Plot of Fu Manchu** – 2 roles (Fu Manchu AND his nemesis Nayland Smith) [/QUOTE] He also has a cameo as a Mexican bandito amongst Fu Manchu’s Asian horde. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2008, 1:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-which-the-same-actors-play-multiple-roles-and-which-has-the-most/449148/17 "2008-05-13T13:29:23Z")
[QUOTE=Mangetout] I hadn’t really thought about roles that were exact duplicates of each other (like Agent Smith) - even in _multiplicity_, they’re different characters, but I guess it counts. [/QUOTE] Those really shouldn’t count. Hugo Weaving didn’t play multiple characters in the Matrix sequels, they just digitally pasted his face onto a ton of body doubles. I think that’d apply to Malkovich too, although I think there’s a little actual acting in that scene. ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2008, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-which-the-same-actors-play-multiple-roles-and-which-has-the-most/449148/18 "2008-05-13T13:31:44Z")
Mike Myers- Austin Powers Dr. Evil Fat Bastard Gold Member ---
**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:** [May 13, 2008, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-which-the-same-actors-play-multiple-roles-and-which-has-the-most/449148/19 "2008-05-13T16:40:34Z")
IIRC Mike Myers also played more than one role in _So I Married an Axe Murderer_. Dick Van Dyke in _Mary Poppins_. If voice acting counts, the Simpsons and South Park movies provide several examples. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2008, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-which-the-same-actors-play-multiple-roles-and-which-has-the-most/449148/20 "2008-05-13T16:53:10Z")
In _Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines_, Irina Demick plays seven different women: Brigitte, Marlene, Ingrid, Françoise, Yvette, and Betty. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-which-the-same-actors-play-multiple-roles-and-which-has-the-most/449148.md?page=2)