Hamilton: Every Actor Who Plays Multiple Parts (& Why)

Multiple actors play two or more roles in Hamilton, though there’s usually a pretty clear connection between their different characters. Actors tackling more than a single role is nothing uncommon in theater productions and is often done as a way of highlighting a theme or creating subtext. Traditionally, for example, the characters Captain Hook and Mr. Darling are supposed to be portrayed by the same actor in the stage version of Peter Pan, as a way of showing how they both embody Wendy’s fear of growing up. Interestingly, director P.J. Hogan even carried this practice over into his 2003 movie adaptation of the fairy tale by having Jason Isaacs handle both roles.

Other screen adaptations of famous stage works (like HBO and director Mike Nichols’ Angels in America miniseries) have followed suit, as a way of not only honoring their theatrical roots, but also carrying over their substance. The Hamilton movie currently streaming on Disney+ is really a live-recording of the Broadway musical filmed with its original cast in June 2016, so it doesn’t actually change anything from the staged version of the show in terms of lighting cues, blocking, dance choreography, or even the intermission. That includes smaller details that might go unnoticed on your initial watch, like the recurring appearance of Death (or, rather, a character known as “The Bullet”).

More noticeable, of course, is Hamilton‘s use of the same actors for different parts. But who, exactly, switches characters between the first and second act…and, more to the point, why do they do this?

The Main Cast

Most of the main cast play the same roles throughout Hamilton, including creator Lin-Manuel Miranda (as Alexander Hamilton), Leslie Odom Jr. (Aaron Burr), Phillipa Soo (Eliza Schuyler), Renée Elise Goldsberry (Angelica Schuyler), Chris Jackson (George Washington), and Jonathan Groff (King George). From a storytelling perspective, this makes sense; Burr and Hamilton are foils to one another and their relationship follows the same trajectory over the course of the narrative, so there’s no need to switch up the roles. The remaining characters are similarly present throughout Hamilton’s life, which is reflected in the continuity of their casting. However, while they’re also major parts of the show, costars Daveed Diggs, Anthony Ramos, Okieriete Onaodowan, and Jasmine Cephas Jones all switch their characters after the first act.

These casting changes aren’t random, either. Case in point, Digg plays the French military officer and Hamilton’s ally Marquis de Lafayette in Act 1, only to return as Francophile and, in an ironic twist, Hamilton’s rival Thomas Jefferson in Act 2. Onaodowan likewise goes from playing Hamilton’s friend (the spy Hercules Mulligan) to his enemy (Founding Father James Madison), yet there the change serves to create a contrast between being a young, idealistic rebel and a practical, matured governor. The link between Ramos’ characters – Hamilton’s pal John Laurens and son Philip – is even clearer; both die under tragic circumstances, forcing a heartbroken Hamilton to face his failings as a revolutionary and father. (Update: Laurens and Philip’s big songs, “Ten Duel Commandments” and “Blow Us All Away”, also both involve duels and counting up to ten, as one of our readers pointed out.) Finally, Jones’ switch from playing Peggy Schuyler (the only Schuyler sister Hamilton didn’t love) to Maria Reynolds (the woman who seduced Hamilton) adds another layer of dramatic irony to the proceedings.

The Ensemble

Outsider of the main cast, there are a handful of members of the Hamilton ensemble who tackle multiple roles (named roles, that is) in the filmed version of the show. Sydney James Harcourt actually has the most parts out of the whole lot thanks to his brief appearances as Philip Schuyler (the Schuyler sisters’ father, whose blessing Hamilton must win before he marries Eliza) in Act 2 and the doctor present during the show’s duels, in addition to Maria Reynolds’ cuckolded husband James from Act 2. Elsewhere, Thayne Jasperson shows up in the musical number “Farmer Refuted” as the Loyalist Samuel Seabury, much like Jon Rua briefly plays the incompetent U.S. Continental Army general Charles Lee during the songs “Stay Alive” and “Ten Duel Commandments” from Act 1. They’re joined by Ephraim Sykes as George Eacker, the young lawyer who mortally wounds Hamilton’s son Philip during a duel from the Act 2 number “Blow Us All Away”.

Thematically, it makes sense for these roles to be handled by the ensemble. In the play, the characters in question impact Hamilton in some way before fading into the background of the story (figuratively speaking), much like the ensemble (somewhat more literally) fade into the background of the show as part of the scenery. Further, having Jasperson (one of Hamilton‘s few white cast members) play a minor speaking part gives him a moment in the spotlight, but without detracting from the musical’s emphasis on people of color (Sykes and Rua included). As for Harcourt, there’s something appropriate about him playing two men who have… strong opinions about Hamilton‘s love life, albeit for very different reasons.