Top 10 Actors You Didn't Know Played More Than One Role In Their Movie

Known for his range as an actor, Parks is almost unrecognizable in the two contrasting roles he portrays in Quentin Tarantino’s two-volume epic bloodbath. In Vol. 1, Parks plays Texas Ranger Earl McGraw, the law enforcement agent picking over the violent wedding scene in El Paso, Texas. In Vol. 2, Parks trades in his southern accent for a Hispanic one to portray Esteban Vihaio, a retired pimp Beatrix seeks out to help her hunt down Bill. While Tarantino never tries to hide the fact that Parks plays two different roles in the same story, our guess is you’d never know it if no one told you.

Ray Winstone may not look the part of Beowulf in real life, but thanks to performance-capture filmmaking, he didn’t have to. Winstone brings the titular character to life with energy and animosity in this film adaptation of the famous Old English epic poem, while the computer graphics team did the rest. But that isn’t Winstone’s only performance in the movie. Thanks to the modern marvels of technology, he also plays the dwarf performer and the Dragon, also known as “Golden Man”. Given that none of these characters resembles one another, we’ll give you a break if you didn’t catch on that all three were played by the same actor.

Jim Carrey has brought to life some memorable characters; think the Ace Ventura from the comedy of the same name or Stanley Ipkiss in “The Mask”. In this Tom Shadyac film, another one of Carrey’s creations makes a brief cameo. While Carrey appears in most of the film as Fletcher Reede, a lawyer who compulsively lies, his Fire Marshall Bill character from the sketch comedy TV series “In Living Color” can be seen in the background of the final airport scene. We’re willing to guess you probably missed that one the first time around.

Eddie Murphy and Mike Myers may be famous for playing multiple characters in their comedies, but Peter Sellers beat them to it by over 30 years. Sellers, an English actor well-known for his portrayal of Chief Inspector Clouseau in “The Pink Panthers” movies, plays three of the main characters in Stanley Kubrick’s Cold War satire. Thanks to his versatility as an actor, along with skillful costume changes, Sellers pulls off playing Group Captain Lionel Mandrake, President Merkin Muffley, and the title character. Each character’s personality is so different that it’s remarkable they’re all played by the same man.

It may be described as an adult fairy tale, but there’s no denying that this Guillermo del Toro fantasy film is creepy. And Doug Jones is the man who brings del Toro’s creepiest characters to life. Viewers first meet one of Jones’ characters, the Faun, near the beginning when he reveals Ofelia’s previous life to her. Later, Jones appears as the child-eating Pale Man whose eyeballs are lodged in his hands, rather than – y’know – in eye sockets in his head. Neither character bears any resemblance to the human who plays them... or any human for that matter, thankfully!

Film writers Simon Pegg and Edgar Wright are known for their appreciation of cameo appearances, which are peppered throughout the duo’s Three Flavours Cornetto trilogy. Arguably the most famous in their first effort of the trilogy are Coldplay members Chris Martin and Jonny Buckland, who show up on a televised program near the end of the movie promoting ZombAid. However, that’s not the only time Martin crops up. If you look closely just a couple of scenes before that, Coldplay’s leading man is almost unrecognizable as a bloodthirsty zombie outside the Winchester pub. His flawless portrayal of the undead really kept this celebrity cameo under wraps if you weren’t looking for it.

Andy Serkis is probably the most well-known actor no one recognizes. He’s a veteran motion capture and voice actor whose biggest roles have been as Gollum in the “Lord of the Rings” film trilogy and Caesar in the rebooted “Planet of the Apes” franchise. In “King Kong,” however, Serkis appears onscreen playing the minor part of Lumpy the cook. However, he also provides the motion-capture acting for Kong, the 25-foot gorilla. Thanks to the physicality he brings to the role, you’d never know a human provided the movements for the savage ape on screen.

Shapeshifting isn’t supposed to be possible in the real world. But maybe that doesn’t count when you’re acting in a Harry Potter movie. In the movie adaptation of the best-selling books by J.K. Rowling, Warwick Davis plays Filius Flitwick, the bespectacled charms professor and head of Ravenclaw house at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. However, thanks to a hook nose and pointed ears, Davis also appears in the movies as Griphook, the goblin who used to work at Gringotts Wizarding Bank in Diagon Alley. Given that they are not even the same species, it’s easy to understand how Davis gets away with playing these two characters.

In this Marvel film, Cumberbatch portrays the titular character, a cocky neurosurgeon turned superhero. You wouldn’t know it by reading the credits, but Cumberbatch also played the villain Dormammu of the Dark Dimension. Cumberbatch suggested the idea to director Scott Derrickson because he thought the villain should be a “horrific” reflection of Strange. Derrickson agreed and Cumberbatch ended up providing the facial capture for the character. His voice was also doubled with another uncredited British actor. Cumberbatch already had experience playing the computer-generated Smaug in “The Hobbit” film trilogy, so perhaps we should’ve seen this coming.

Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions:
- Dick Van Dyke

“Mary Poppins” (1964)



- Kevin Peter Hall

“Predator” (1987)



- Alain Chanoine

“Suicide Squad” (2016)

The late great Robin Williams had many iconic roles throughout his illustrious career, but arguably one of his most famous is his performance as The Genie in Disney’s “Aladdin”. Williams’ portrayal of The Genie is one of the most celebrated characters in animated film and marked a transition to celebrity voice actors. However, we bet you didn’t know that Williams also voices the Peddler in the very beginning of the movie, who tries to sell the viewer a bunch of useless junk from his caravan before he reveals the magic lamp and starts the story. A master-impersonator, Williams clearly hid the fact that the same actor voices the two characters very well.