25 Actors Who Played Multiple Roles In The Same Film

In Stanley Kubrick's 1964 cold war satire Dr. Strangelove, Peter Sellers tackled three major roles. He portrayed RAF officer Lionel Mandrake, American President Merkin Muffley, and the eccentric nuclear advisor Dr. Strangelove, earning an Academy Award nomination for his comedic mastery.

Alec Guinness delivered a landmark acting feat in the 1949 British black comedy Kind Hearts and Coronets. He embodied eight separate members of the aristocratic D'Ascoyne family, including a suffragette, a general, an admiral, and an elderly duke, each distinguished by precise body language.

In his first true sound picture, the 1940 satire The Great Dictator, Charlie Chaplin played two fundamentally opposed figures. He portrayed an unnamed Jewish barber suffering under persecution alongside Adenoid Hynkel, the ruthless dictator ruling the fictional nation of Tomainia.

Dick Van Dyke brought lively charm to Walt Disney's 1964 musical Mary Poppins as Bert, the cheerful jack-of-all-trades and chimney sweep. Under heavy prosthetic makeup and credited playfully as Navckid Keyd, he also portrayed the frail, elderly bank chairman Mr. Dawes Sr.

Comedy legend Mel Brooks wrote, directed, and starred in the 1987 sci-fi parody Spaceballs. Brooks pulled double duty on screen, portraying both the incompetent dictator President Skroob of planet Spaceball and the wise, golden-skinned spiritual sage Yogurt who teaches the Schwartz.

Tim Burton's zany 1996 alien invasion comedy Mars Attacks featured Jack Nicholson in two colorful, contrasting parts. Nicholson played the serious yet overwhelmed American President James Dale, while also having fun as slick Las Vegas casino developer Art Land.

Eddie Murphy pioneered modern multi-character comedy in the 1988 classic Coming to America. Alongside his lead role as Prince Akeem of Zamunda, Murphy vanished beneath groundbreaking prosthetics created by Rick Baker to portray barbershop owner Clarence, singer Randy Watson, and Jewish customer Saul.

In the 1989 sequel Back to the Future Part II, Michael J. Fox took time-travel acting to new levels. Beyond playing the teenage hero Marty McFly across past and future, Fox portrayed Marty's clumsy future son Marty Jr. and his daughter Marlene McFly during the Hill Valley sequence set in 2015.

Robert Rodriguez's 1996 cult horror film From Dusk Till Dawn showcased Cheech Marin across three separate scenes. Marin first appeared as an observant border guard, returned as the rapid-talking strip club barker Chet Pussy, and concluded as Carlos, the getaway contact in Mexico.

In the 1998 period drama The Man in the Iron Mask, Leonardo DiCaprio took on the dual roles of King Louis XIV of France and his secret identical twin brother Philippe. DiCaprio skillfully contrasted the cruel vanity of the reigning monarch with the gentle humility of the hidden prisoner.

At age eleven, Lindsay Lohan made her feature film debut in the 1998 family comedy The Parent Trap. She played separated identical twins Hallie Parker and Annie James, flawlessly switching between an American accent and a British accent while carrying nearly every shared frame.

Mike Myers expanded his comedic universe in the 1999 spy spoof Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me. Myers starred as swinging British agent Austin Powers, his arch-nemesis Dr. Evil, and the repulsive Scottish henchman Fat Bastard, giving each figure unique vocal mannerisms.

In Istvan Szabo's epic 1999 historical drama Sunshine, Ralph Fiennes portrayed three consecutive generations of men within the Hungarian Jewish Sonnenschein family. Fiennes portrayed patriarch Ignatz, Olympic champion Adam, and modern political survivor Ivan across an entire century.

Honoring the classic stage tradition created by J.M. Barrie, the 2003 live-action fantasy film Peter Pan cast Jason Isaacs in dual parts. Isaacs played the strict London father George Darling in the real world and the menacing pirate Captain Hook in Neverland.

Spike Jonze's 2002 meta-comedy Adaptation earned Nicolas Cage an Academy Award nomination for portraying twin screenwriters. Cage captured the neurotic self-doubt of real-life writer Charlie Kaufman while contrasting him against his outgoing, cheerful fictional twin brother Donald.

Beloved British actor Warwick Davis played two prominent magical roles across the Harry Potter film series. Davis brought warm energy to Charms master Professor Filius Flitwick, while also portraying the guarded Gringotts goblin Griphook in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

In Robert Zemeckis's 2004 holiday animation The Polar Express, Tom Hanks utilized motion-capture technology to portray five distinct characters. Hanks voiced and performed movements for Hero Boy, the boy's father, the stern Train Conductor, the mysterious mountain Hobo, and Santa Claus.

Christopher Nolan's 2006 mystery thriller The Prestige featured Christian Bale as dedicated stage magician Alfred Borden. Audiences discovered during the climactic twist that Borden shared his entire life and stage act with an identical twin brother who posed as his quiet assistant Fallon.

Contortionist and actor Doug Jones brought Guillermo del Toro's dark fantasy Pan's Labyrinth to life in 2006. Enduring hours of prosthetics, Jones portrayed both the ancient, goat-legged Fauno and the nightmare-inducing Pale Man who holds his eyeballs in his open palms.

Tyler Perry wrote, directed, and led the 2006 comedy-drama Madea's Family Reunion. Perry transformed into the sharp-tongued matriarch Mabel Madea Simmons, while also playing her crude brother Uncle Joe Simmons and the level-headed family attorney Brian Simmons.

In the 2009 family adventure Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian, comedic voice master Hank Azaria took on three characters. Azaria starred as the lisping pharaoh villain Kahmunrah, while also supplying the voices and postures for Rodin's The Thinker and the Lincoln Memorial statue.

In the Wachowskis' ambitious 2012 sci-fi epic Cloud Atlas, Hugo Weaving played six villainous figures across several centuries. His roles included nineteenth-century advocate Haskell Moore, abusive nursing home matron Nurse Noakes, hitman Bill Smoke, and the devilish apparition Old Georgie.

Halle Berry took on six distinct reincarnations across past, present, and future eras in 2012's Cloud Atlas. Berry portrayed an 1849 Maori native woman, 1930s European aristocrat Jocasta Ayrs, 1970s investigative journalist Luisa Rey, and post-apocalyptic explorer Meronym.

Shattering his customary romantic comedy persona, Hugh Grant took on six antagonistic characters in 2012's Cloud Atlas. Grant played nineteenth-century clergyman Giles Horrox, corporate boss Lloyd Hooks, treacherous brother Denholme Cavendish, and a brutal post-apocalyptic cannibal warlord.

In Marvel Studios' 2016 blockbuster Doctor Strange, Benedict Cumberbatch performed as master sorcerer Stephen Strange. Cumberbatch also provided the facial motion-capture performance and uncredited voice for Strange's terrifying interdimensional adversary, the cosmic entity Dormammu.