# Same film series, same actor, different character **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 20, 2016, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-film-series-same-actor-different-character/743646 "2016-01-20T01:35:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 4
**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:** [January 21, 2016, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-film-series-same-actor-different-character/743646/61 "2016-01-21T20:30:02Z")
> [@Valgard](#): > > Can we include an actor playing multiple different characters in the _same_ movie? > > For example, Peter Sellers played Captain Mandrake, President Muffley and Dr. Strangelove (all main characters) in “Dr. Strangelove”. Sellers did this more than once: **Prisoner of Zenda** (1979) he played Rudolf IV, Rudolf V, and Syd Frewyn **The Fiendish Plot of Fu Manchu** (1980) – he played both the Villain (Fu Manchu) and the Hero (Nayland Smith) **Undercovers Hero** (sic) (1976) – he played SIX roles, including Adolph Hitler **The Mouse that Roared** (1959) he played three roles – Tully Bascomb, Prime Minister Count Rupert of Mountjoy, and Grand Duchess Gloriana XII (who was much prettier in the book, as I recall) **Let’s Go Crazy** (1951 – short) Five roles, including Groucho Marx **Penny Points to Paradise** (1951) a miserable two roles —besides **Dr. Strangelove** , of course. You could also argue that in **Casino Royale** (1967) he was Evelyn Tremble and James Bond, but I think that’s cheating. ---
**Author:** ![DWMarch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dwmarch/32/1010_2.png) [@DWMarch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DWMarch)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2016, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-film-series-same-actor-different-character/743646/62 "2016-01-21T21:04:16Z")
> [@LH75](#): > > Garret Dillahunt played Jack McCall and Francis Wollcot in Deadwood He also played five different characters on Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. Cromartie, George Laszlo, The Beast Wizard, Agent Kester and John Henry. > [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Heck, how many different Model 800s has Arnold played? Four? And that’s not even counting the two computer-generated ones that looked like a young Arnold. Let’s see: T-800 from the first Terminator. Uncle Bob from T2 The T-850 in T3 (and Sgt. Candy in a deleted scene) The T-RIP in T4 (CGI) The T-800 (older) in T5 along with a CGI T-800 (younger) You’d think these guys come off an assembly line or something. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2016, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-film-series-same-actor-different-character/743646/63 "2016-01-22T03:22:39Z")
Peter Sellers was originally supposed to play four roles, but he was injured and couldn’t play Major Kong: > **[Dr. Strangelove](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dr._Strangelove)** > > Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, known simply and more commonly as Dr. Strangelove, is a 1964 satirical black comedy film that satirizes the Cold War fears of a nuclear conflict between the Soviet Union and the United States. The film was directed, produced, and co-written by Stanley Kubrick and stars Peter Sellers, George C. Scott, Sterling Hayden, and Slim Pickens. The film is loosely based on Peter George's thriller novel Red Alert (1958). > The story con... John Malkovich did a scene in Being John Malkovich where he fell down the hole that put people inside his head and was everybody in the restaurant: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/lIpev8JXJHQ/hqdefault.jpg "Malkovich? Malkovich") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lIpev8JXJHQ) ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2016, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-film-series-same-actor-different-character/743646/64 "2016-01-22T03:28:32Z")
> [@DWMarch](#): > > Let’s see: > T-800 from the first Terminator. > Uncle Bob from T2 > The T-850 in T3 (and Sgt. Candy in a deleted scene) > The T-RIP in T4 (CGI) > The T-800 (older) in T5 along with a CGI T-800 (younger) > > You’d think these guys come off an assembly line or something. He also played one in Universal Studio’s _T2 3-D: Battle Across Time_. ---
**Author:** ![Battle\_Pope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@Battle\_Pope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Battle_Pope)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2016, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-film-series-same-actor-different-character/743646/65 "2016-01-22T03:45:06Z")
> [@Baker](#): > > In the TV series Babylon 5 the actor Louis Turenne played two different characters. He played Draal in two episodes, and Brother Theo in three episodes. **Wayne Alexander** in Bablyon 5: [ul] [li]Sebastian, aka ‘Jack’ in the season two episode _Comes the Inquisitor_ [/li][li]Lorien in Season 4. [/li][li]Narn named “G’Dan” in the season 4 episode _And the Rock Cried Out, No Hiding Place_ [/li][li]Drazi in the season four episode _Intersections in Real Time_ [/li][li]Drakh in the season five episodes _Movements of Fire and Shadow_ and _The Fall of Centauri Prime_. [/li][li]Drakh in _Babylon 5: A Call to Arms_ [/li][li]unnamed soul\* in Babylon 5: The River of Souls\*[/li][/ul] MJS got his money’s worth out of the guy. ---
**Author:** ![bonzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/45deac/32.png) [@bonzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bonzer)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2016, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-film-series-same-actor-different-character/743646/66 "2016-01-22T21:17:17Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > Reminded me of another, [Graham Stark](http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0823174/?ref_=tt_cl_t9): > > Hercule LaJoy in _A Shot in the Dark_ > Pepi in _Return of the Pink Panther_ > Two hotel clerks in _The Pink Panther Strikes Again_ > Dr. Auguste Balls in _Return of the Pink Panther_ > Hercule Lajoy (again) in _Trail of the Pink Panther_ > A bored waiter in _Curse of the Pink Panther_ > Professor Auguste Balls (again) in _Son of the Pink Panther_ Stark was basically Sellers’s best mate and lackey. While few others seem to have liked him, his reputation still managed [to take a post-Savile tumble](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/10806464/The-stark-truth-of-Peter-Sellers-sidekick.html). ---
**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:** [January 23, 2016, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-film-series-same-actor-different-character/743646/67 "2016-01-23T02:27:03Z")
[quote=“Wendell\_Wagner, post:63, topic:743646”] …John Malkovich did a scene in Being John Malkovich where he fell down the hole that put people inside his head and was everybody in the restaurant: [/QUOTE] Heh. I’d forgotten that - even the torch singer, and the baby! ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2016, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-film-series-same-actor-different-character/743646/68 "2016-01-23T18:54:29Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > A lot of Kevin Smith movies take place in the same universe and have recycled actors. > > Joey Lauren Adams played Gwen in _Mallrats_ and Alyssa in _Chasing Amy_. > > Jason Lee played Brody in _Mallrats_, Bankie Edwards in _Chasing Amy_, and Azrael in _Dogma_. Alyssa tells of having sex with Gwen in _Chasing Amy_. And Gwen was named after filmmaker/actress Guinevere Turner who called Alyssa up to sing in _Chasing Amy_. Stan Lee appeared in _Mallrats_ playing Stan Lee, of all people. Jason Lee appeared as both Brodie and Banky in _J&SBSB_. For Kevin Smith, having the person play multiple roles in the same movie started with _Clerks_. No budget meant making do. “Your mother was an inker.” ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2016, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-film-series-same-actor-different-character/743646/69 "2016-01-23T22:49:32Z")
> [@Valgard](#): > > Can we include an actor playing multiple different characters in the _same_ movie? > > For example, Peter Sellers played Captain Mandrake, President Muffley and Dr. Strangelove (all main characters) in “Dr. Strangelove”. There was also Meg Ryan in _Joe Versus the Volcano_. I thought the director was trying to make some New Age point about all women being the same woman, but lost interest due to all the film’s other suckage. Also, Moira Kelly in _Chaplin_ as Hetty Kelly / Oona O’Neill Chaplin. On the flip side, there’s two or more actors playing the same character in a movie. Usually it’s because they’re in different time periods (like Ralph Fiennes and David Kross in _The Reader_) or because an actor died (Bela Lugosi and some other guy in _Plan Nine from Outer Space_), but sometimes different actors play different aspects of a character’s personality (Brad Pitt and Ed Norton in _Fight Club_, Ashley Judd and Mira Sorvino in _Norma Jean & Marilyn_, or the best, Carole Bouquet and Ángela Molina as Conchita in _That Obscure Object of Desire_). Also, all the people who played Bob Dylan in _I’m Not There_. Dammit, if \*anybody’s \*gonna derail this thread, it’ll be _me!_ ---
**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:** [January 23, 2016, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-film-series-same-actor-different-character/743646/70 "2016-01-23T23:13:50Z")
> [@Horatio\_Hellpop](#): > > On the flip side, there’s two or more actors playing the same character in a movie. Usually it’s because they’re in different time periods (like Ralph Fiennes and David Kross in _The Reader_) or because an actor died (Bela Lugosi and some other guy in _Plan Nine from Outer Space_), but sometimes different actors play different aspects of a character’s personality (Brad Pitt and Ed Norton in _Fight Club_, Ashley Judd and Mira Sorvino in _Norma Jean & Marilyn_, or the best, Carole Bouquet and Ángela Molina as Conchita in _That Obscure Object of Desire_). Also, all the people who played Bob Dylan in _I’m Not There_. Dammit, if \*anybody’s \*gonna derail this thread, it’ll be _me!_ On the _flip_ flip side, how about the BACK TO THE FUTURE movies? Same actor as a different character in sequel after sequel – both Michael J. Fox as a succession of McFlys, and Thomas F. Wilson as a succession of Tannens. ---
**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:** [January 23, 2016, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-film-series-same-actor-different-character/743646/71 "2016-01-23T23:27:30Z")
> [@Horatio\_Hellpop](#): > > … but sometimes different actors play different aspects of a character’s personality (Brad Pitt and Ed Norton in _Fight Club_, Ashley Judd and Mira Sorvino in _Norma Jean & Marilyn_, or the best, Carole Bouquet and Ángela Molina as Conchita in _That Obscure Object of Desire_). Even better, Darth Vader. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2016, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-film-series-same-actor-different-character/743646/72 "2016-01-23T23:47:56Z")
> [@Morbo](#): > > Warwick Davis played a few different characters in Return of the Jedi, Phantom Menace, and Force Awakens. Of course, the only one of those he wasn’t in a full-body, face-covering costume was Weazel in TPM (created on the fly, when Lucas decided he wanted WD’s face to actually be seen, which his other character, Wald, would not allow), which makes that a lot easier to get away with. (They’ve also all got ‘W’ names, aside from Yoda, who he did some doubling for in TPM.) ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2016, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-film-series-same-actor-different-character/743646/73 "2016-01-24T00:53:50Z")
> [@TCMF-2L](#): > > I know TV is supposed to be excluded from this thread but I feel compelled to mention one of the most egregious examples: The combined TV universe of **Hercules: The Legendary Journeys** and **Xena: Warrior Princess**. These shows constantly recycled actors. > > One fine example? Actress **Lucy Lawless** had already played at least two characters in Hercules before starring as Xena. However, well after the Xena character had become established with her own show she returned to one of her earlier roles as Lyla (the woman who married a Centaur) which led to other characters in that episode making joking references to Lyla’s similarity to Xena. > > TCMF-2L Speaking of Xena, her sidekick Gabrielle, was played by Renee O’Conner, who herself had previously played Deianeira in one of the Kevin Sorbo Hercules TV movies that predated the Legendary Journeys series. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2016, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-film-series-same-actor-different-character/743646/74 "2016-01-24T01:07:36Z")
> [@LH75](#): > > Garret Dillahunt played Jack McCall and Francis Wollcot in Deadwood I came in to mention him. That actually angered an English acquaintance of mine enough for him to stop watching the show. I found it a little odd myself, I mean there’s no sad shortage of actors, but it really pissed this guy off. Admittedly, he was a few cars short of a full deck anyway. ---
**Author:** ![5\_time\_champ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/5/278dde/32.png) [@5\_time\_champ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/5_time_champ)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2016, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-film-series-same-actor-different-character/743646/75 "2016-01-24T01:27:28Z")
There were probably a number from The Godfather. Here’s two more: In Godfather I, Frank Sirvero played an uncredited, but very interested onlooker on the street when Sonny beats his brother-in-law, Carlo Rizzi. In Godfather II, he plays young consigliere, Genco Abbadando. In Godfather II, Carmine Caridi plays Carmine Rosato In Godfather III, he play Albert Volpe, “Lucky Coat Guy” ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2016, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-film-series-same-actor-different-character/743646/76 "2016-01-24T03:59:48Z")
> [@Valgard](#): > > Can we include an actor playing multiple different characters in the _same_ movie? Several actors each play multiple characters in _Cloud Atlas_. ---
**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:** [January 24, 2016, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-film-series-same-actor-different-character/743646/77 "2016-01-24T04:36:24Z")
> [@Horatio\_Hellpop](#): > > …sometimes different actors play different aspects of a character’s personality (Brad Pitt and Ed Norton in _Fight Club_, Ashley Judd and Mira Sorvino in _Norma Jean & Marilyn_, or the best, Carole Bouquet and Ángela Molina as Conchita in _That Obscure Object of Desire_). Also, all the people who played Bob Dylan in _I’m Not There_… Also recasting and supplementing Heath Ledger in _The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus_: [The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Imaginarium_of_Doctor_Parnassus#Effects_of_Heath_Ledger.27s_death) > [@Tangent](#): > > Several actors each play multiple characters in _Cloud Atlas_. Boy, did they! Very clever filmmaking: [Cloud Atlas (film) - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloud_Atlas_(film)#Main_cast) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/same-film-series-same-actor-different-character/743646.md?page=3)