The 10 Best Movies In Which Actors Play Multiple Characters, Ranked (According To IMDb)

It used to be common in stage theater for actors to play multiple characters, but it’s not as usual in modern cinema. These days, it’s a device that has become somewhat of a novelty and it usually played for laughs, but when it’s pulled off well, it’s impossible for audiences not to be impressed.

Though it’s generally comedy movies that have heavily used this filmmaking device, there are a surprising amount of dramas and biopics that include it. Between parodies of James Bond, historical epics from the ’90s, and Quentin Tarantino westerns, there’s a surprising variety of great movies in which actors play multiple characters.

10 Austin Powers: International Man Of Mystery (1997) – 7.0

Mike Myers playing multiple characters is one reason why Austin Powers is still great. Though Myers has played multiple characters in many movies, the Austin Powers series, about a time traveling parody of James Bond, is his most famous. In the first Austin Powers film, International Man of Mystery, Myers plays both the spy and his archenemy, Dr. Evil, who is a clear parody of Bond villain Blofeld.

Even though each consecutive movie in the series has a lower score on IMDb, they still have their fans, and they even expand Myer’s canon of characters. The Spy Who Shagged Me adds Fat Bastard, a former Ministry of Defense soldier and current Japanese sumo wrestler. And Goldmember sees the introduction of the titular antagonist, a Dutch supervillain who loves dry skin. Myers plays both of these characters.

9 Coming To America (1988) – 7.1

Eddie Murphy has been known to play multiple characters in movies from The Nutty Professor to Norbit, but the most iconic of them all is 1988’s Coming To America. It starred Eddie Murphy at the height of his powers, and it’s one of his most popular movies in an epic ’80s run that included 48 Hrs, Trading Places, and Beverly Hills Cop.

Despite how action-oriented some of those films are, Coming To America was the actor’s most ambitious undertaking. Murphy played several major characters, including Prince Akeem, Soul, and Clarence. There’s even a sequel that came 32 years later, and Coming 2 America is arguably even better than the original.

8 From Dusk Till Dawn (1996) – 7.2

From Dusk Till Dawn is a strange and unique film, as it’s part road-trip movie, part survival-horror movie. And the second half takes place in a bar that, it turns out, is frequented by vampires. Amid all that chaos is a hilariously hammed-up supporting role from Cheech Marin, who plays the weirdest club promoter there has ever been.

But that’s not all, as Marin has two other roles. He also plays a border guard and a gangster whom George Clooney’s character encounters at the end of the movie. Each character has one thing in common: They’re all the types of strange characters that Marin is famous for portraying.

7 Split (2016) – 7.3

Though James McAvoy doesn’t technically play multiple roles in Split, his character, Kevin Crumb, suffers from disassociated identity disorder, and his multiple personalities are completely distinct from one another.

It isn’t just Crumb’s personality that changes either, as his body chemistry alters with each of his 24 personalities, making each one very much a different character. Between Kevin, an innocent and sweet child; Dennis, an obsessive well-built man; and Patricia, a manipulative woman, it’s M. Night Shyamalan’s best-written character and a wonderfully terrifying performance from McAvoy.

6 Sunshine (1999) – 7.5

Sunshine is an outlier when it comes to movies in which one actor plays multiple roles, as most of these movies are comedies or at least played by character actors. That’s not the case with Sunshine.

Not to be mistaken for the Danny Boyle-directed sci-fi movie of the same name, Sunshine is a three-hour romantic epic that spans three generations of a Hungarian-Jewish family. Ralph Fiennes plays the main character of each generation that’s depicted, and it’s a showcase for Fienne’s incredible acting skills. He’s able to expertly give each character different idioms pertaining to each decade, as it’s set over a period of 60 years.

5 The Social Network (2010) – 7.7

The characters in 2010’s The Social Network are why The Social Network 2 shouldn’t be made, as the supporting cast (which wouldn’t return) is one of the best things about it. And that’s no different when it comes to the Winklevi, the twins who presumably came up with the original idea for Facebook. The twins are both played by Armie Hammer. His dual performance was accomplished with technologically advanced for the time.

Given how director David Fincher is known to be one of the most technologically-minded filmmakers working today, Hammer’s face was actually superimposed on a double who acted alongside him in the scenes.

4 Mary Poppins (1964) – 7.8

Many Mary Poppins fans might not even know that Dick Van Dyke plays two characters in the film, as the makeup is so well done. The actor doesn’t just play jack-of-all-trades Bert, but also Mr. Dawes Sr., the elderly director of the bank where Mr. Banks works.

The two characters are almost polar opposites, as Bert is happy getting by on the little money he makes from chimney sweeping, whereas Mr. Dawes Sr. is completely selfish and greedy. Van Dyke is completely unrecognizable in the latter role, but nobody else was better for the part. However, Walt Disney himself didn’t agree. On the TV special Mary Poppins Returns: Behind the Magic – A Special Edition of 20/20, the actor revealed had to pay the studio head to play the pensioner.

3 Monty Python And The Holy Grail (1975) – 8.2

Monty Python and the Holy Grail is the first narrative film from the comedy troupe that earned famed with their sketch series, Monty Python’s Flying Circus. Over the course of its four seasons and 45 episodes, the five members of the troupe played countless characters, so it only made sense for them all to take on multiple roles.

Though Monty Python and the Holy Grail is the troupe’s first attempt at a feature-length film, the cast still uses the same approach as they do to sketch comedy, and that’s why it’s so unique. Most of the cast play several characters, whether it’s John Cleese as Sir Lancelot and the Black Knight or Graham Chapman playing King Arthur and the hiccuping guard.

2 Django Unchained (2012) – 8.4

There are so many theories about Django Unchained, whether it’s that it’s a sequel to Inglourious Basterds or that Dr. King Schultz is invincible. But there’s one thing in the movie that hasn’t influenced any theories, even though it seems like perfect ammunition for fans.

In the movie, James Remar plays two characters: Butch Pooch, who is transporting Django at the beginning of the movie, and Ace Speck, who is Calvin Candie’s right-hand man. There is seemingly no reason as to why James Remar plays two different characters, but it is slightly ironic. At the beginning of the movie, Shultz kills Speck, and in the final act, Pooch kills Schultz.

1 Dr. Strangelove (1964) – 8.4

Classic comedy series like Monty Python’s Flying Circus and Austin Powers are laugh-out-loud funny thanks to actors who play entirely different characters. But they might not even exist if not for Dr. Strangelove. The 1964 Stanley Kubrick-directed movie isn’t just one of the best comedy war movies, but it’s also the blueprint for movies that feature actors playing multiple characters, and it hasn’t been topped in the almost 60 years since its premiere.

Peter Sellers plays the titular nuclear war expert, which is an Oscar-caliber performance in itself. However, the comedian also plays the President of the United States and an RAF exchange officer. Even though Kubrick once called the idea crass, it turned out to be the highest-rated Kubrick movie on IMDb.