# Multiple levels of acting **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** theater-stage-dance\ **Created:** [October 5, 2023, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/multiple-levels-of-acting/991171 "2023-10-05T22:49:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2023, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/multiple-levels-of-acting/991171/1 "2023-10-05T22:49:31Z")
In Shakespeare’s _As You Like It_, Orlando is in love with Rosalind. For reasons, Rosalind is forced to flee her home, disguised as a man, Ganymede. Orlando meets Ganymede but does not recognize him as Rosalind. Orlando talks of his love for Rosalind, and Ganymede proposes that Orlando act out his courtship plans for Rosalind, with Ganymede playing the part of Rosalind (who “he” actually is). So in this scene we have a real-life actor pretending to be Rosalind, who is pretending to be Ganymede, who is pretending to be Rosalind, three different instances of “acting” all exhibited by the same person. I’m sure there are other instances of even deeper “nesting” of acting. What are some other cases in drama or movies where one character is exhibiting multiple levels of acting? ETA: Note that I’m not asking about an actor playing several different roles in a production. ---
**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 5, 2023, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/multiple-levels-of-acting/991171/2 "2023-10-05T22:56:24Z")
_Victor/Victoria_. Julie Andrews plays a woman who plays a man who portrays a woman on stage. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2023, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/multiple-levels-of-acting/991171/3 "2023-10-05T22:59:57Z")
I think Greta Garbo did that in a movie. She was a Queen pretending to be a pauper who falls in love. Then pretends to be a man traveling with her love interest to get back to the palace. Forget the movie title. Old. ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_Door](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@Bill\_Door](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_Door)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2023, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/multiple-levels-of-acting/991171/4 "2023-10-05T23:18:14Z")
In the November 21, 1953 episode of _The Adventures of Superman_ The Face and the Voice, George Reeves plays four roles. He plays Superman, he plays Clark Kent, he plays Boulder, a criminal who is hired to impersonate Superman, and he plays Superman as Boulder. Obviously the Superman he plays as Boulder is distinct from his normal Superman character. He plays it like Boulder would. It is a _tour de force_. ---
**Author:** ![Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b487fb/32.png) [@Walken\_After\_Midnight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walken_After_Midnight)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2023, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/multiple-levels-of-acting/991171/5 "2023-10-05T23:18:52Z")
In Tropic Thunder, American actor Robert Downey Jr plays fictional Australian method actor and five-time Academy Award winner Kirk Lazarus, who has had a controversial “pigmentation alteration” surgery to temporarily darken his skin for his portrayal of the black character, Staff Sergeant Lincoln Osiris, who, at one point in the movie, during a daring rescue, then impersonates a Vietnamese villager with a water buffalo. ---
**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 5, 2023, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/multiple-levels-of-acting/991171/6 "2023-10-05T23:24:30Z")
_Some LIke it Hot_. Tony Curtis plays a man who goes into drag to avoid the mob, and later plays Junior, pretending to be a rich heir in order to woo Marilyn Monroe. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2023, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/multiple-levels-of-acting/991171/7 "2023-10-05T23:37:07Z")
This is one of the best kinds of acting. My favorite example of this is when Dean and Sam Winchester in the TV series _Supernatural_ end up in an alternate dimension where they are movie stars on the set of the TV series _Supernatural._ They then have to act out events they experienced in universe. They turn out to be _horrible_ actors. ---
**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 5, 2023, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/multiple-levels-of-acting/991171/8 "2023-10-05T23:57:07Z")
QUANTUM LEAP once had Scott Bakula as Sam Beckett as Ray Hutton as Don Quixote… ---
**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:** [October 6, 2023, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/multiple-levels-of-acting/991171/9 "2023-10-06T00:04:58Z")
Speaking of Don Quixote, Man of La Mancha has four layers. You’ve got an actor, playing the role of Cervantes, who’s playing the role of Alonzo Quihano, who’s deluded into thinking he’s Don Quixote. If the Quantum Leap episode was specifically that play, then it’s six layers, which is tough to top. I was in a play in high school where I got a four-layer part, but I think the play was written by the faculty member who directed the drama club, so folks are unlikely to have heard of it. It was a murder mystery. My character was a priest… except the priest was actually a Mafia member trying to shake down the main character, and who was involved in some unspecified way in the death of the main character’s wife… except the Mafia member was actually a sheriff’s deputy, in an attempt to scare the main character into confessing to the murder of his wife in an insurance scheme. ---
**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 6, 2023, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/multiple-levels-of-acting/991171/10 "2023-10-06T00:58:30Z")
On _Jane the Virgin_, Yael Grobglas played both Petra and her twin sister Anezka. There’s a brief scene where Petra pretends to be Anezka pretending to be Petra. 🤯 ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2023, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/multiple-levels-of-acting/991171/11 "2023-10-06T01:03:56Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > I think Greta Garbo did that in a movie. She was a Queen pretending to be a pauper who falls in love. Then pretends to be a man traveling with her love interest to get back to the palace. The plot sounds like [Queen Christina](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_Christina_(film)), although I haven’t seen it. ---
**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 6, 2023, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/multiple-levels-of-acting/991171/12 "2023-10-06T01:23:29Z")
_Tootsie_ has Dustin Hoffman playing Michael Dorsey, who disguises himself as Dorothy Michaels, who plays Emily Kimberly on a soap opera, who eventually reveals herself as Edward Kimberly, her twin brother. _Noises Off_ has all its actors playing actors who play characters in a play. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2023, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/multiple-levels-of-acting/991171/13 "2023-10-06T01:32:32Z")
Fringe had Anna Torv playing Olivia, playing an alternate version of Olivia, playing Olivia who thinks she is the alternate version, and if I recall correctly, playing Olivia pretending to be the alternate version (or possibility the other way around). Torv also played Olivia momentarily possessed by Willam Bell - a character usually played by Nimoy, and Torv did a great job of seeming to be Nimoy, too. ---
**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 6, 2023, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/multiple-levels-of-acting/991171/14 "2023-10-06T01:39:11Z")
Mark McKinney as Jim Carrey as Jimmy Stewart vs. Jim Carrey as Jimmy Stewart as Jim Carrey: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/0BPL5tT9_2Y/maxresdefault.jpg "The Joe Pesci Show: Jim Carrey annoys Jimmy Stewart - Saturday Night Live") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0BPL5tT9_2Y) ---
**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 6, 2023, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/multiple-levels-of-acting/991171/15 "2023-10-06T01:47:42Z")
_The Patty Duke Show_ had the star playing “identical cousins” Cathy and Patty (plus a guest appearance by cousin Betsy). In multiple episodes, Patty posed as Cathy - sometimes for one or two lines on a phone call, but often as a major plot point. And let’s not forget William Shatner in _Star Trek’s_ “The Enemy Within” playing evil Captain Kirk impersonating good Kirk. ---
**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 6, 2023, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/multiple-levels-of-acting/991171/16 "2023-10-06T02:13:07Z")
> [@Kent\_Clark](#): > > And let’s not forget William Shatner in _Star Trek’s_ “The Enemy Within” playing evil Captain Kirk impersonating good Kirk. In **US** Lupito Nyong’o plays Red impersonating Adelaide, same thing. ---
**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 6, 2023, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/multiple-levels-of-acting/991171/17 "2023-10-06T05:42:09Z")
_Face/Off._ At the beginning, John Travolta plays hero cop Sean Archer, and Nick Cage plays nefarious villain Castor Troy. Then they trade faces, and each is required to live in the other’s world. It’s not just that Travolta is playing Troy and Cage is playing Archer — Travolta is effectively playing Cage playing Troy _pretending_ to be Archer, and vice versa. (A lot of people can’t get with _Face/Off_ because they say it’s campy and over-the-top ridiculous. But the campy ridiculousness is the point. It’s great fun if you can surrender to that vibe.) ---
**Author:** ![aurora\_maire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aurora_maire/32/328_2.png) [@aurora\_maire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aurora_maire)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2023, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/multiple-levels-of-acting/991171/18 "2023-10-06T05:49:55Z")
Tatiana Maslany was masterful at this in “Orphan Black” often playing multiple characters in the same scene and often pretending to be one of the other clones. Each clone had their own unique personality. In one episode Sara pretended to be Allison pretending to be Sara. It really felt like she was Allison trying to be Sara. The acting was amazing. ---
**Author:** ![Banksiaman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banksiaman/32/3334_2.png) [@Banksiaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banksiaman)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2023, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/multiple-levels-of-acting/991171/19 "2023-10-06T07:48:02Z")
Only one level deep, but Nick Bottom, of the Mechanicals theatrical troupe in Shakespeare’s _Midsummer Night’s Dream_ wanted to play pretty much every character in the play-with-a-play _Pyramus and Thisbe_. Fortunately for the real audience and the wedding party watching their play the roles had to be shared around with the other ham talent. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [October 6, 2023, 8:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/multiple-levels-of-acting/991171/20 "2023-10-06T08:03:56Z")
In Kind Hearts and Coronets (1949) Alec Guinness plays eight characters. [Kind Hearts and Coronets - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kind_Hearts_and_Coronets) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/multiple-levels-of-acting/991171.md?page=2)