# Movies with Women playing Men (and Vice-Versa). NOT like Mrs., Doubtfire **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [October 12, 2023, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-women-playing-men-and-vice-versa-not-like-mrs-doubtfire/991457 "2023-10-12T11:36:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**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:** [October 12, 2023, 11:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-women-playing-men-and-vice-versa-not-like-mrs-doubtfire/991457/1 "2023-10-12T11:36:45Z")
I’ve been noticing cases of films where women play men – not as a plot element, or in some weird transgender twist or the like. The director simply decided for some reason to cast a woman in a role that is undeniably male. It could be because they wanted someone to play a really old guy with a high voice or something (I’ve done this myself for a radio play). But there might be some other reason. The character isn’t “revealed to be of the opposite sex” at the end of the film, or anything.In fact, in the film’s creditds the actress might be only identified by initials or an ambiguous name to disguide the fact that there was a gender swap. Sometimes it goes the other way, with a man portraying a woman, but more rarely, I think. Women playing Men **The Old Dark House** (1932) – Elspeth Dudgeon portrays the elderly and bed-ridden patriarch Sir Roderick Femm. She was credited as “John Dudgeon” **Thief of Bagdad** (1924) – Mathildfe Comont played the obese Prince of Persia. Probably with a LOT of padding. She didn’t even get screen credit for the role, so they didn’t have to disguise her name. **the Year of Living Dangerously** (1982) – Linda Hunt played Billy Kwan. We live in more enlightened times. Not only did they acknowledge Hunt by name, she won an academy award for the role. Peter Weir evidently originally used male actors for the part, but they didn’t give the interactive vibe he wanted. Hunt was perfect in portraying the sexual ambiguity. Oddly, she didn’t catch flak for the gender swap, but 3for playing a “yellowface” role. (Interestingly, the other actors considered that are listed in the Wikipedia article were also non-asian). Male playing Female **The Mouse that Roared** (1959) – Peter Sellers as Duchess Gloriana XII – Sellers has appeared in several films playing multiple roles (such as in _Dr. Strangelove_), so it wasn’t unusual that he played multiple parts in this one. But it’s the only time I can recall him playing a female role. He plays a very mature Gloriana, probably because it was the only way they could make Sellers convincingly a woman (as with Robin Williams in _Mrs. Doubtfire_). In the book, IIRC, Gloriana is an athletic twenty-somerthing who rides a bicycle. **The List of Adrian Mesinger** (1963) – Burt Lancaster (!) plays a woman who is protesting fox hunts. This was a “gimmick” movie in which, in addition to the “straight” mystery, they placed five famous Hollywood actors in heavy makeup and challenged the audience to pick them out. This one sort of violates my rules, because at the end of the film Lancaster, like the other disguised actors, comes forward and removes his makeup and gets credited. **Orlano** (1992) It’s probably appropriate that for the adaptation of Virginia Woolf’s sexually ambiguous novel they got gay icon Quentin Crisp to play Queen Elizabeth I. Tilda Swinton plays the sexually morphing Orlando as both male and female, so she gets to be included, too. Both **Cloud Atlas** (2012) – in this Wachowski film that’s about interconnectedness of people there are multiple cases of men playing women and women playing men, and also of people playing characters of other races. Too many to list individually. Look it up on imdb or Wikipedia. I can’t condemn this film for “blackface” or “yellowface” or any such apparent transgressions, because the ability of people to take on any and all roles in the entire _point_. Besides, it’s the only time I can recall that actors of Asian descent – Bae Doona and Zhao Xun – played Caucasian characters Any others? ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2023, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-women-playing-men-and-vice-versa-not-like-mrs-doubtfire/991457/2 "2023-10-12T11:40:30Z")
Cate Blanchett in “I’m Not There” comes to mind, playing a Bob Dylan-esque character. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2023, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-women-playing-men-and-vice-versa-not-like-mrs-doubtfire/991457/3 "2023-10-12T11:41:09Z")
Cate Blanchett in **I’m Not There** , playing Bob Dylan proxy “Jude Quinn”. ETA: \< shakes fist at **hogarth** \> ---
**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:** [October 12, 2023, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-women-playing-men-and-vice-versa-not-like-mrs-doubtfire/991457/4 "2023-10-12T11:48:18Z")
Glenn Close as Gutless the pirate in **Hook**. ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2023, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-women-playing-men-and-vice-versa-not-like-mrs-doubtfire/991457/5 "2023-10-12T11:49:49Z")
Tyler Perry in all the Big Momma movies. ---
**Author:** ![Jasmine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jasmine/32/2964_2.png) [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2023, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-women-playing-men-and-vice-versa-not-like-mrs-doubtfire/991457/6 "2023-10-12T11:54:49Z")
Julie Andrews in the 1995 movie, “Victor/Victoria”. ---
**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:** [October 12, 2023, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-women-playing-men-and-vice-versa-not-like-mrs-doubtfire/991457/7 "2023-10-12T12:06:52Z")
Nope – doesn’t count. That’s like Mrs. Doubtfire – Julie Andrews in the movie is playing a woman whose character plays a man. If Julie Andrews had played a man in the movie, that’d be what I was after. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2023, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-women-playing-men-and-vice-versa-not-like-mrs-doubtfire/991457/8 "2023-10-12T12:07:53Z")
> [@Jasmine](#): > > Julie Andrews in the 1995 movie, “Victor/Victoria”. This one doesn’t work, since she’s playing a female role. The character has to pretend to be a male female impersonator, but the actress isn’t cast across gender. It’s an elaborate Mrs Doubtfire. ---
**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 12, 2023, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-women-playing-men-and-vice-versa-not-like-mrs-doubtfire/991457/9 "2023-10-12T12:08:50Z")
[![](https://www.grayflannelsuit.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/star-wars-production-slide_george-lucas-greedo.jpg) ](https://www.grayflannelsuit.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/star-wars-production-slide_george-lucas-greedo.jpg) Check Greedo’s shoes. ---
**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:** [October 12, 2023, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-women-playing-men-and-vice-versa-not-like-mrs-doubtfire/991457/10 "2023-10-12T12:10:22Z")
Eddie Murphy in **Norbit** - (2007), playing Rasputia counts. Also in **The Nutty Professor** sand **The Nutty Profesor II – The Klumps** ---
**Author:** ![Jaycat.again](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaycat.again/32/11525_2.png) [@Jaycat.again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaycat.again)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2023, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-women-playing-men-and-vice-versa-not-like-mrs-doubtfire/991457/11 "2023-10-12T12:12:54Z")
Mary Martin in Peter Pan? Alec Guinness in Kind Hearts and Coronets? ---
**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:** [October 12, 2023, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-women-playing-men-and-vice-versa-not-like-mrs-doubtfire/991457/12 "2023-10-12T12:13:12Z")
> [@Cervaise](#): > > Check Greedo’s shoes. You want High Heels on an alien in a science fiction movie? Check out the built-in high heels of the Alien Queen in **Aliens** [https://www.amazon.com/Hiya-Toys-Aliens-Action-Multicolor/dp/B08GR8RLSW](https://www.amazon.com/Hiya-Toys-Aliens-Action-Multicolor/dp/B08GR8RLSW) I hadn’t realized that the Alien Queen had “high heeled feet” until I saw the costume at an exhibition on special effects. You really can’t tell in the movie, where you don’t really get a good look at the feet. ---
**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:** [October 12, 2023, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-women-playing-men-and-vice-versa-not-like-mrs-doubtfire/991457/13 "2023-10-12T12:15:44Z")
Diedrich Bader as Jethrine in the 1993 film adaptation of **The Beverly Hillbillies**. ---
**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:** [October 12, 2023, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-women-playing-men-and-vice-versa-not-like-mrs-doubtfire/991457/14 "2023-10-12T12:15:50Z")
Michael J. Fox, as Marlene McFly? ---
**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 12, 2023, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-women-playing-men-and-vice-versa-not-like-mrs-doubtfire/991457/15 "2023-10-12T12:28:31Z")
In TV, Boris Karloff as Mother Muffin in _The Girl from U.N.C.L.E._ ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2023, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-women-playing-men-and-vice-versa-not-like-mrs-doubtfire/991457/16 "2023-10-12T12:43:53Z")
Do Tyler Perry’s Madea movies meet your criteria? I’ve never seen any of them, but I think he straightforwardly plays multiple women (especially Madea) in them. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2023, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-women-playing-men-and-vice-versa-not-like-mrs-doubtfire/991457/17 "2023-10-12T12:47:24Z")
John Travolta in Hair Spray or something. ---
**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:** [October 12, 2023, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-women-playing-men-and-vice-versa-not-like-mrs-doubtfire/991457/18 "2023-10-12T12:50:21Z")
Perfect ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2023, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-women-playing-men-and-vice-versa-not-like-mrs-doubtfire/991457/19 "2023-10-12T12:51:50Z")
Does animation count? The wife and one daughter in Bob’s Burgers are playing by men. (ETA: There was a Bob’s Burgers movie) ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2023, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-women-playing-men-and-vice-versa-not-like-mrs-doubtfire/991457/20 "2023-10-12T12:51:53Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Peter Sellers as Duchess Gloriana XII That’s a nod to the British pantomime dame tradition. See also Alistair Sim as Miss Fritton (and her ne’er-do-well brother) in the original **St Trinian’s** movies (come to think of it, in the later ones both Lionel Jeffries and Rupert Everett dragged up as headmistress). And Alec Guinness in **Kind Hearts and Coronets** , where he played nearly all the successive murder victims of both sexes. And I nearly forgot Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon in **Some Like It Hot**. Well, nobody’s perfect. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-with-women-playing-men-and-vice-versa-not-like-mrs-doubtfire/991457.md?page=2)