# Same Actor: Different Roles / Different Movies – Same Scene **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 11, 2015, 10:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-actor-different-roles-different-movies-same-scene/722245 "2015-06-11T10:18:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![minlokwat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minlokwat/32/2844_2.png) [@minlokwat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minlokwat)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2015, 10:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-actor-different-roles-different-movies-same-scene/722245/1 "2015-06-11T10:18:25Z")
The title (sort of) says it all. I’m talking about instances where the same actor is in two different movies, playing two different roles but performing a similar scene. Not talking about self-parody or type-cast actors such as Arnold who is in lots of movies where he delivers a one-liner and then blows the bad guy away. Quick example: **Bill Murray** performs the Heimlich maneuver in Groundhog Day and What About Bob. Better example: **Jack Nicholson** has a scene where he is a writer who becomes supremely annoyed when he is interrupted as he’s working. He goes off on Shelley Duvall in The Shining and Greg Kinnear in As Good As It Gets. Same actor, two different roles from two different movies, very similar scene. ---
**Author:** ![Reeses\_Monkey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reeses_monkey/32/2885_2.png) [@Reeses\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeses_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2015, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-actor-different-roles-different-movies-same-scene/722245/2 "2015-06-11T10:56:02Z")
Would you count John Lithgow doing the Footloose speech again on Third Rock From The Sun? ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2015, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-actor-different-roles-different-movies-same-scene/722245/3 "2015-06-11T13:13:26Z")
In _Blazing Saddles_, **Gene Wilder** (as the Waco Kid) tells the story of how his gunfighting days ended when he was challenged to draw by a six-year-old kid. (“Little bastard shot me in the ass.”) In _Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory_, when Wilder (as Willy Wonka) first meets Mike Teevee, Teevee is dressed in a cowboy outfit and pulls a toy gun on him. ---
**Author:** ![Yodalicious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yodalicious/32/8195_2.png) [@Yodalicious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yodalicious)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2015, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-actor-different-roles-different-movies-same-scene/722245/4 "2015-06-11T13:42:50Z")
Sean Bean dies in most of his roles. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2015, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-actor-different-roles-different-movies-same-scene/722245/5 "2015-06-11T13:49:12Z")
Robert DeNiro reprised his Travis Bickell “Are you talkin’ to ME?” bit when he played Mr. Big in _Rocky and Bullwinkle_. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2015, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-actor-different-roles-different-movies-same-scene/722245/6 "2015-06-11T13:52:58Z")
> [@Daddypants](#): > > Sean Bean dies in most of his roles. Wins the thread! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![breezman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4491bb/32.png) [@breezman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/breezman)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2015, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-actor-different-roles-different-movies-same-scene/722245/7 "2015-06-11T14:07:17Z")
**Frank Oz** plays a warden in the **Blues Brothers** , and returns all of Jon Belushi’s belongings to him when he leave prison. There’s a similar scene in **Trading Places** where Frank Oz is going through Dan Aykroyd’s belongings after he’s been arrested. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2015, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-actor-different-roles-different-movies-same-scene/722245/8 "2015-06-11T14:18:02Z")
> [@breezman](#): > > **Frank Oz** plays a warden in the **Blues Brothers** , and returns all of Jon Belushi’s belongings to him when he leave prison. There’s a similar scene in **Trading Places** where Frank Oz is going through Dan Aykroyd’s belongings after he’s been arrested. I just saw _Bluse Brothers 2000_ the other day (yeah, I know) and Oz was the warden of the prison Elwood was released from. That falls under the self-parody exemption of the OP, though. Didn’t see Spielberg in it anywhere, presumably he’d now be the mayor of Chicago. ---
**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:** [June 11, 2015, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-actor-different-roles-different-movies-same-scene/722245/9 "2015-06-11T14:19:50Z")
> [@minlokwat](#): > > Quick example: **Bill Murray** performs the Heimlich maneuver in Groundhog Day and What About Bob. Tom Hanks urinating. No, seriously. ---
**Author:** ![Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/intergalactic_gladiator/32/112_2.png) [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Intergalactic_Gladiator)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2015, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-actor-different-roles-different-movies-same-scene/722245/10 "2015-06-11T14:34:27Z")
Jennifer Connelly stands at the end of piers a lot. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2015, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-actor-different-roles-different-movies-same-scene/722245/11 "2015-06-11T14:42:37Z")
[This should speak for itself…](http://www.screenjunkies.com/gallery/18-awesome-david-caruso-memes/) ---
**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:** [June 11, 2015, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-actor-different-roles-different-movies-same-scene/722245/12 "2015-06-11T14:54:47Z")
> [@Intergalactic\_Gladiator](#): > > Jennifer Connelly stands at the end of piers a lot. I came in to mention this. She’s at the end of a pier at the end of _Requiem for a Dream, House of Sand and Fog_, and _Dark City_: > **[Jennifer Connelly on a Pier](https://www.head-fi.org/threads/jennifer-connelly-on-a-pier.423593/)** > > Sorry this is completely random, but I watched these three movies in rapid succession, and I couldn't help but laugh in these quite serious movies! > > Requiem for a Dream > > > Dark City > > > House of Sand and Fog > > > It's like a running Hollywood... ---
**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:** [June 11, 2015, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-actor-different-roles-different-movies-same-scene/722245/13 "2015-06-11T14:57:23Z")
John Hurt having an alien burst from his chest in **Alien** and in **Spaceballs**. Of course, the latter is a direct parody of the former. It’d be better if they were wholly unrelated. ---
**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:** [June 11, 2015, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-actor-different-roles-different-movies-same-scene/722245/14 "2015-06-11T14:59:34Z")
Kate Capshaw got to scream while watching the Villain reaching into a guy’s chest, tear out his victim’s heart, and show it to the victim (who doesn’t die) in both **Dreamscape** and **Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom** , both from 1984. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2015, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-actor-different-roles-different-movies-same-scene/722245/15 "2015-06-11T15:10:50Z")
While not specifically the very same thing, at least the mood carries through in [Clint Eastwood quotes: Top 5](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UdKUxDuovzs) – and these are just the tip of the iceberg, ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2015, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-actor-different-roles-different-movies-same-scene/722245/16 "2015-06-11T15:13:36Z")
Ryan O’Neal says “Love means never having to say you’re sorry” in _Love Story_, but when Barbra Streisand repeats the line to him in _What’s Up, Doc?_, he deadpans, “That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard.” ---
**Author:** ![minlokwat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minlokwat/32/2844_2.png) [@minlokwat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minlokwat)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2015, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-actor-different-roles-different-movies-same-scene/722245/17 "2015-06-11T16:17:39Z")
OP checking back in. Not that there are rules to this or anything but I was thinking of more fleshed-out scenes. I know certain actors are known for performing a similar action in lots of their movies. Tom Hanks peeing was mentioned up thread. It seems Jeff Goldblum is eating in lots of his films. I also wasn’t thinking of scenes where the actors are winking at the audience with sly allusions to some previous work. I was going to ring in earlier with another example illustrating what I had in mind but I’ve got nothing. Anyway the topic is out there and can be interpreted however one would like. I thought there would be a ton of examples but I’m temporarily drawing a blank. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2015, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-actor-different-roles-different-movies-same-scene/722245/18 "2015-06-11T17:11:23Z")
I can only come up with the “similar actions in every movie thing” - like Sam Rockwell dancing, Val Kilmer rotating a coin across his knuckles, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Lowry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@Sam\_Lowry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Lowry)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2015, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-actor-different-roles-different-movies-same-scene/722245/19 "2015-06-11T18:08:21Z")
Ellen Burstyn has twice in one year played an elderly woman with a parent who is much younger, in Interstellar and The Age of Adaline. In both there is a scene where the younger parent leaves, seemingly for forever. ---
**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:** [June 11, 2015, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-actor-different-roles-different-movies-same-scene/722245/20 "2015-06-11T19:01:56Z")
> [@Morbo](#): > > I can only come up with the “similar actions in every movie thing” - like Sam Rockwell dancing, Val Kilmer rotating a coin across his knuckles, etc. Tom Cruise double-karate-chopping the air while sprinting in a business suit. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-actor-different-roles-different-movies-same-scene/722245.md?page=2)