The idea of casting one actor to play multiple roles in the same film is nothing new to the movies. It’s often been used for comedic effect, with one actor going into full makeup for various roles and changing their voice multiple times, often to something comically exaggerated. Though, there have been other times where the idea is used for more dramatic effect, and the seemingly humorous set up is meant to be something that holds more weight to it.
Such is the case with the recently-released Gemini Man, Ang Lee’s sci-fi drama that stars Will Smith as an assassin who finds himself being hunted by a clone of himself. While the film didn’t exactly sit well with critics or do well at the box office, Smith’s performance was noted as being one of the stronger elements of the film, and it does go to show that an actor can portray multiple characters in the same film and can still be taken seriously.
To coincide with Gemini Man’s release, here are ten other instance where an actor portrayed multiple roles in the same film - both comedic and dramatic - and they yielded some truly memorable results.
(This will be in alphabetical order and will mostly stick to films where a main actor played multiple parts. For example, Django Unchained contains James Remar in two supporting parts, one of which is a cameo. While it’s an excellent movie, Remar’s performances were nowhere near the focal point of the film and thus, it wouldn’t make much sense to include this here.)
1) Coming to America
When it comes to the notion of actors playing multiple roles in the same film, Eddie Murphy is up there as far as actors most known for doing so, and his best use of this was in Coming to America. While he is very funny as the main character Prince Akeem, the good natured prince who finds himself in America and isn’t accustomed to the ways of American life, it’s his supporting parts that steal the show. Murphy also appears as a soul singer, a barbershop customer, and what is easily the film’s highlight, Clarence, the loud-mouth barber who argues with his regulars and fellow barbers and insults them every step of the way. Co-star Arsenio Hall also takes on multiple parts in the film, with a main role as Akeem’s friend Semmi, as well as another barber, a reverend, and a female club-goer. With a sequel underway over thirty years later, this remains one of Murphy’s funniest films.
2) Dr. Strangelove (or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb)
Eddie Murphy has listed comedian Peter Sellers as one of his idols, often doing the “multiple characters” schtick as a tribute to Sellers’ use of this in Dr. Strangelove. In terms of comedies utilizing the same actor for multiple characters, Dr. Strangelove is consistently ranked as the best example of this technique. The film was heavily centered around the political climate at the time, constantly taking shots at the Cold War and the general attitude towards it, often with pitch black jokes and delivery so deadpan it’s almost easy to miss. Sellers takes on multiple roles in the film, portraying the totally bizarre, titular Strangelove, along with President Merkin Muffley and Captain Lionel Mandrake. He was originally also supposed to play Major “King” Kong, which was recast with Slim Pickens in the part after Sellers sprained his ankle. A rare straightforward comedy from the great Stanley Kubrick, this remains a comedy classic.
3) Face/Off
John Travolta and Nicolas Cage play both themselves and each other! If that isn’t the winning formula to cinematic greatness, then I don’t know what is. Face/Off is something that sounds so incredibly silly that it really shouldn’t have worked. It follows John Travolta as a special agent who, in order to gain information of a bomb in the city, undergoes a face transplant allowing him to take on terrorist Nicolas Cage’s face while he’s in a coma. And when Cage awakens from the coma, he forces the doctors to transplant Travolta’ face onto him. Though a lot of what drives this movie is the fact that both Travolta and Cage are such notoriously over-the-top actors that it’s a lot of fun to watch themselves do over-the-top impressions of each other. Performances aside, Face/Off still winds up being a lot of fun thanks to the stylish direction of John Woo, who seemed well aware of the type of movie he was making, and gives us some brilliantly choreographed action scenes that sometimes make us forget just how ludicrous the movie truly can be.
4) The Great Dictator
Charlie Chaplin’s Hitler parody remains one of the best political satires of all-time in this pseudo-Prince and the Pauper story. Chaplin plays an unnamed Jewish barber in the nation of Romania - a parody of Germany at the time - as well as the nation’s ruthless dictator, Adenoid Hynkel. While a lot of the film is played for laughs, containing plenty of Chaplin’s trademark physical comedy, as well as having the barber resemble his famous Tramp character, this also veered into very dramatic territory, especially towards the end. Chaplin’s speech as the barber, criticizing fascist governments and the state of the world, is still a wildly popular speech to this day, and is one of the big reasons the film is still viewed as just as culturally significant now as it was in 1940.
5) Mary Poppins
Made back when a Disney live-action film didn’t receive unanimous groans from audiences everywhere for being a cash-grab remake, this film was actually a long sought-after project for Walt Disney himself, as portrayed in Saving Mr. Banks. Disney tried getting the approval from author PL Travers for years and the payoff was worth it once he did eventually obtain the rights. Dick Van Dyke, who portrays the titular character’s friend Bert, is the one who takes on multiple roles here. In addition to Bert, he plays a small, but integral, supporting part as Mr. Dawes, the frail director of the bank where David Tomlinson’s George Banks works. Van Dyke is nearly unrecognizable as the decrepit Mr. Dawes, and the end credits originally show the role was played by “Navckid Keyd” before the letters unscramble to reveal it’s him. Filled with plenty of heart, humor, wonderful performances, and excellent music, Mary Poppins remains Disney’s finest achievement to this day.
6) Monty Python and the Holy Grail
Monty Python took the idea of actors playing multiple characters - among many other things - to some of the silliest extremes, something they were always keenly self-aware of. And that concept was best realized in their classic Monty Python and the Holy Grail. A parody of the King Arthur tale, the film finds nearly all the main Python members as different takes on classic Knights of the Round Table, including Lancelot, Bedevere, and Gallahad, as they search for the titular grail. However, in addition to the knights, the Pythons also play nearly every single other character in the film. And with the way technology was at the time, they had to cheat multiple instances where two of the same actors characters shared a scene together, never featuring them both in the same shot. An endlessly quotable movie filled with some of the funniest scenes to ever grace a movie screen, Monty Python and the Holy Grail remains a classic.
7) Monty Python’s Life of Brian
Holy Grail may have the overall broader appeal of the Monty Python movies, but do not underestimate just how brilliant the group’s second film was. Life of Brian contained some of the group’s raunchier material, with both Flying Circus and Holy Grail being relatively clean for the most part, and is more of a religious satire than a broad parody. Though just because the group was taking on weightier themes didn’t mean they lost any of that energy that made their previous efforts so beloved. Life of Brian is just as razor-sharp as any other Python work, with brilliant exchanges and plenty of quotable moments of its own, even getting a hit song out of the whole experience with “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life.” And just like any other Python production, every one of the group portrays nearly every character in the film, save for a handful of minor roles that went to others. And once again, the concept winds up being wonderfully hilarious.
8) Nocturnal Animals
While just about every other movie on this list was either a comedy or contained bits of silliness in one way or the other, Nocturnal Animals is one of the few movies on this list that is almost completely serious. The film follows two different narratives, one taking place in the real world and other portraying the events of a novel written by one of the main characters. Jake Gyllenhaal is the one who takes on multiple roles here, portraying Edward Sheffield in the real world segments - the estranged ex-husband of Amy Adams’ Susan - as well as Tony Hastings, the main character in Edward’s novel. The events of the novel, in which Gyllenhaal portrays a dedicated family man bent on revenge when they’re killed, is meant to heavily contrast with the events of the real world, in which Gyllenhaal’s Edward never dedicated as much time as he should have to Susan, and the events of the novel cause Susan to reminisce heavily on her life and where she is now. It’s not as famous as many of the other films on this list, but it’s an extremely well-acted drama with some great themes that was one of 2016’s best films.
9) There Will Be Blood
Paul Thomas Anderson’s epic drama remains one of his finest achievements to date, telling the story of oil tycoon Daniel Plainview, excellently played by Daniel Day-Lewis, over the course of thirty years, from his beginnings as a small-time prospector, to a wealthy madman. While the film is heavily driven by Day-Lewis’ performance, the film also contains a major supporting performance by Paul Dano, who takes on dual roles here. While Dano is initially seen as the well-meaning small businessman Paul Sunday, he is mostly seen as Paul’s slimy twin brother Eli, who constantly butts heads with Daniel over the years and is a major antagonist in Daniel’s journey. The film tends to be a slow-burn at times, culminating in a 160-minute run time, but manages to be engaging nearly every step of the way. With fantastic performances, a well-written screenplay, and excellent direction, this is without a doubt a modern classic.
10) The Wizard of Oz
When you think of a classic film, one title that will almost always come to mind is The Wizard of Oz. Considered revolutionary for its use of Technicolor at a time when films were still mostly in black-and-white, as well as containing plenty of iconic musical numbers, images, and quotes, The Wizard of Oz is not only just a memorable film, but a pop culture icon. Characters such as the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, the Cowardly Lion, the Wicked Witch of the West, and the Wizard himself are now almost instantly recognizable, especially thanks to the wonderful performances from a talented cast. However, these Oz inhabitants were not the only characters their respective actors played. In a deviation from L. Frank Baum’s original book, a little more time was spent in Kansas, and we’re introduced to real life counterparts to all of the Oz characters, with Dorothy’s travel companions being farm workers, the Wicked Witch being an antagonistic town resident, and the Wizard himself being a fortune teller. Frank Morgan, who portrayed the Wizard and his real life counterpart, also showed up two more times throughout the film as an angry doorman in Oz as well as a cab driver in Oz. Still as beautiful and heart-warming today as it was when it was first released in 1939, The Wizard of Oz is the definition of a timeless classic.
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