# Movies,plays, or TV shows in which an actor comes back to play a completely different character **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 14, 2021, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-plays-or-tv-shows-in-which-an-actor-comes-back-to-play-a-completely-different-character/942070 "2021-05-14T13:00:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![alovem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@alovem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alovem)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2021, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-plays-or-tv-shows-in-which-an-actor-comes-back-to-play-a-completely-different-character/942070/61 "2021-05-17T15:31:24Z")
Robert Mitchum in Cape Fear. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2021, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-plays-or-tv-shows-in-which-an-actor-comes-back-to-play-a-completely-different-character/942070/62 "2021-05-17T17:14:37Z")
> [@alovem](#): > > Robert Mitchum in Cape Fear Gregory Peck, too. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2021, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-plays-or-tv-shows-in-which-an-actor-comes-back-to-play-a-completely-different-character/942070/63 "2021-05-17T17:27:07Z")
In stage productions of The Rocky Horror Show, Eddie and Dr. Scott are usually played by the same actor. Meat Loaf played both roles in the original stage show, though they wound up casting a different actor for Dr. Scott in the movie. ---
**Author:** ![alovem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@alovem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alovem)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2021, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-plays-or-tv-shows-in-which-an-actor-comes-back-to-play-a-completely-different-character/942070/64 "2021-05-17T17:33:21Z")
Wow, of course you’re right about that. I started my post by naming Peck, checked online because I thought I was confusing the two (they look somewhat similar) and changed it to Mitchum. And I’ve seen both films a few times. Maybe I blanked on that because I don’t care for either film. ---
**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:** [May 17, 2021, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-plays-or-tv-shows-in-which-an-actor-comes-back-to-play-a-completely-different-character/942070/65 "2021-05-17T17:41:09Z")
Speaking of Gregory Peck: he played Captain Ahab in the 1956 film of _Moby Dick_, then played Father Mapple in a 1998 TV miniseries of the story. ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2021, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-plays-or-tv-shows-in-which-an-actor-comes-back-to-play-a-completely-different-character/942070/66 "2021-05-17T18:03:51Z")
Joseph Gannascoli played a minor role in the Sopranos but then he came back as a main role Vito Spatafore in season 2. ---
**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 17, 2021, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-plays-or-tv-shows-in-which-an-actor-comes-back-to-play-a-completely-different-character/942070/67 "2021-05-17T18:46:00Z")
Sheryl Lee played Laura Palmer, the murder victim who was the center of the mystery in the original _Twin Peaks_. She returned as Maddy Ferguson, Laura’s identical cousin. She was intended to only be a one-shot as Laura, but the producers liked her and brought her back. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2021, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-plays-or-tv-shows-in-which-an-actor-comes-back-to-play-a-completely-different-character/942070/68 "2021-05-18T20:38:35Z")
Superman seems to do this a lot - Annette O’Toole played Lana Lang in Superman III and Martha Kent in Smallville. ---
**Author:** ![Reluctant\_A](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/839c29/32.png) [@Reluctant\_A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reluctant_A)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2021, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-plays-or-tv-shows-in-which-an-actor-comes-back-to-play-a-completely-different-character/942070/69 "2021-05-18T22:05:30Z")
If TV franchises count, Zoe McClellan played Petty Officer Jennifer Coates for several seasons on _JAG_, before returning to the franchise, years later, as NCIS Agent Meredith Brody, for the first two seasons of _NCIS: New Orleans_. For an example specific to one show, Catherine Bell appeared in a flashback as Harm’s dead girlfriend Diane, in Season 1 of _JAG_, before being cast as Sarah Mackenzie, beginning in Season 2. IIRC, Jennifer Bini Taylor made multiple appearances as part of Charlie Harper’s rotating carousel of one-night stands on _Two and a Half Men_, before getting an extended run as his girlfriend/fiance, starting in Season 6. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-plays-or-tv-shows-in-which-an-actor-comes-back-to-play-a-completely-different-character/942070.md?page=3)