# Movies where three (or more) actors play the same character **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [March 24, 2025, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-three-or-more-actors-play-the-same-character/1016028 "2025-03-24T13:27:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**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:** [March 25, 2025, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-three-or-more-actors-play-the-same-character/1016028/21 "2025-03-25T03:06:04Z")
Slaughterhouse Five had two different actors playing the child Billy Pilgrim along with Michael Sacks as the adult Billy. ---
**Author:** ![X.L.Lent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/a5b964/32.png) [@X.L.Lent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/X.L.Lent)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2025, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-three-or-more-actors-play-the-same-character/1016028/22 "2025-03-25T03:39:42Z")
In the movie _The Curious Case of Benjamin Button_ the title character is played by seven different actors. Another character, Daisy, is played by three different actresses. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2025, 10:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-three-or-more-actors-play-the-same-character/1016028/23 "2025-03-25T10:08:08Z")
> [@dorvann](#): > > The 1978 _Superman_ film had three actors playing the title character: > > a baby playing the infant Kal-El arriving on Earth > > Jeff East playing the teenage Clark Kent > > and of course Christopher Reeve playing the adult Clark Kent/ Superman IMDB says that it’s somebody _other_ than the toddler we see on Earth as baby Kal-El back on Krypton, and says the baby in the capsule in between happens to have been somebody else entirely. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2025, 10:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-three-or-more-actors-play-the-same-character/1016028/24 "2025-03-25T10:10:53Z")
In _Maleficent_, three different actresses play Aurora, and Janet McTeer, who is only “seen” in voice-over as the mature Aurora, is a fourth. Maleficent is also played by three different actresses. In _A League of Their Own,_ three, or even four actresses, in a sense, play some of the ball-players. There are the primary actresses, such as Geena Davis and Madonna, then there are second actresses who play some of them as elderly women; each major character has a ball-player double in the 1940s scenes, and a few also have ball-player doubles for the modern scenes. The modern players aren’t on-screen much, but the 40s ball players are on screen a lot. ---
**Author:** ![Chelonaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9a140/32.png) [@Chelonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chelonaut)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2025, 10:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-three-or-more-actors-play-the-same-character/1016028/25 "2025-03-25T10:24:50Z")
If a single episode of a tv show counts, there’s Farscape “Out of their mind”. The crew of Moya play musical chairs with their own bodies. I can’t remember the details, but at least one of the characters must have been played by three actors (all of them if voice actors count). ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2025, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-three-or-more-actors-play-the-same-character/1016028/26 "2025-03-25T12:11:25Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > IMDB says that it’s somebody _other_ than the toddler we see on Earth as baby Kal-El back on Krypton, and says the baby in the capsule in between happens to have been somebody else entirely In almost any movie featuring a baby or toddler as the younger version of another actor, there may be three people playing the role, because movies often employ twin children in such situations to stay within rules for how long a child can work. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2025, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-three-or-more-actors-play-the-same-character/1016028/27 "2025-03-25T12:26:04Z")
_The Search For Spock._ Carl Steven, Vadia Potenza, Stephen Manley, Joe W. Davis. Frank Welker, Leonard Nimoy. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2025, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-three-or-more-actors-play-the-same-character/1016028/28 "2025-03-25T14:26:56Z")
> [@commasense](#): > > because movies often employ twin children in such situations to stay within rules for how long a child can work. Interesting. Other than the Doublemint twins I never expected that being a twin would be a competitive advantage for showbiz casting. And of course movies / shows where there are twin characters to be played by twin actors. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2025, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-three-or-more-actors-play-the-same-character/1016028/29 "2025-03-25T14:31:44Z")
It seems to me that three different ages isn’t too rare for movies, whether child-teenager-adult or child-adult-elderly (though elderly is sometimes just the same actor as adult, in heavy makeup). ---
**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:** [March 25, 2025, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-three-or-more-actors-play-the-same-character/1016028/30 "2025-03-25T14:31:47Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Other than the Doublemint twins I never expected that being a twin would be a competitive advantage for showbiz casting. Only for kids, because as mentioned it lets the production shoot twice as many hours. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2025, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-three-or-more-actors-play-the-same-character/1016028/31 "2025-03-25T14:41:45Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > And of course movies / shows where there are twin characters to be played by twin actors. I don’t have any statistics at hand, but I’d wager that the majority of movies and shows in which twins appear, but aren’t the lead characters (like Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen on _Full House_), they’ve been played by one person, using camera and editing tricks. On _The Patty Duke Show_ (1963-66) the eponymous actor played “identical cousins,” and there must be millions of shows where the twin (or evil twin) of a regular character shows up for an episode or two. It’s usually a lot easier to do the cinematic tricks than it is to find identical twin actors. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2025, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-three-or-more-actors-play-the-same-character/1016028/32 "2025-03-25T15:05:19Z")
> [@commasense](#): > > In almost any movie featuring a baby or toddler as the younger version of another actor, there may be three people playing the role, because movies often employ twin children in such situations to stay within rules for how long a child can work. Also because babies get cranky, tired or cry when you need a happy baby. So it’s easier just to swap in another baby. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2025, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-three-or-more-actors-play-the-same-character/1016028/33 "2025-03-25T15:11:01Z")
> [@commasense](#): > > I don’t have any statistics at hand, but I’d wager that the majority of movies and shows in which twins appear, but aren’t the lead characters (like Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen on _Full House_), they’ve been played by one person, using camera and editing tricks. On the other hand, one of the Terminator movies featured Linda Hamilton’s twin sister playing her reflection in a mirror. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2025, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-three-or-more-actors-play-the-same-character/1016028/34 "2025-03-25T15:12:17Z")
I don’t consider babies “actors”. They’re more like placeholders. (Do they have lines? Are they actually “acting” or just laying there being a baby?) For purposes of the OP, let’s not count babies. Also out of consideration are stunt people, body doubles, things of that nature. I specifically asked for “actors”. “Casino Royale” is an interesting question. It’s been a while since I’ve seen it. Were they all supposed to be the same “James Bond” or just different people with the same name? ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2025, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-three-or-more-actors-play-the-same-character/1016028/35 "2025-03-25T16:11:50Z")
“James Bond” was a codename given to various agents. The Niven character decided that ALL agents should be called James Bond 007 in order to confuse the enemy. So, different characters. [Identity.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Identity_(2003_film)) 11 different actors. Is that a record? ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2025, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-three-or-more-actors-play-the-same-character/1016028/36 "2025-03-25T16:22:39Z")
In **Oh, God!** , God spends most of the movie in the form of an old man played by George Burns, but he also assumes other forms played by different actors (a Black woman, a Hispanic busboy, etc.). ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2025, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-three-or-more-actors-play-the-same-character/1016028/37 "2025-03-25T16:24:18Z")
In the movie _Life of Pi,_ Pi is portrayed at three age-stages of life, all by different actors - young boy, young man, and middle-age man. ---
**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2025, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-three-or-more-actors-play-the-same-character/1016028/38 "2025-03-25T16:32:08Z")
Speaking of _Return of The Jedi_ – It took three puppeteers (David Barclay, Toby Philpott, and Mike Edmonds) to control the Jabba The Hutt puppet and a fourth person operated the character’s eyes and face by radio control. A fifth person provided the voice of Jabba (Larry Ward). And Jabba’s burping sounds were provided by a sixth person (Howie Hammerman). ---
**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:** [March 25, 2025, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-three-or-more-actors-play-the-same-character/1016028/39 "2025-03-25T16:34:21Z")
> [@dorvann](#): > > It took three puppeteers (David Barclay, Toby Philpott, and Mike Edmonds) to control the Jabba The Hutt puppet I remember watching a “Making of” documentary about RotJ, and they showed the puppeteers inside of Jabba. One of the three was in charge of wagging Jabba’s tail (essentially with an oar), and he was a little person, as he was small enough to fit into that space within the puppet. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2025, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-three-or-more-actors-play-the-same-character/1016028/40 "2025-03-25T16:35:41Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > > [@solost](#): > > > > There’s _I’m not There_, in which 6 actors play Bob Dylan, or at least ‘[different facets of Dylan’s public personas](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I%27m_Not_There)’. > > If facets of personality count, and assuming voice actors count for an animated work, then Inside Out has six, or even more for the sequel. Along the same lines, there’s **Being John Malkovich** , where around a dozen people end up simultaneously “sharing” the title character’s body. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-three-or-more-actors-play-the-same-character/1016028.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-where-three-or-more-actors-play-the-same-character/1016028.md?page=3)