9 Actors Who Surprised Us With Multiple Roles in One Movie

There are actors who are so talented and versatile that they’re able to play several roles in the same movie. And not just play but make us firmly believe we see a different person each time.

FunnyModo gathered some of the brightest examples of actors doing their job brilliantly, inspired by a great post by Innovative Actor’s Studio.

Cate Blanchett in Manifesto

In Manifesto, Cate Blanchett portrayed 13 people. In addition to those above, she was a teacher, a housewife, a widow, and six others. We couldn’t have imagined it, even when our beloved Elven queen transformed into Bob Dylan for I’m Not There.

Tom Hanks in Cloud Atlas

David Mitchell’s novel characters are a reincarnation of a single soul, and in the movie that connection is made with a cast that transitions from story to story. In addition to these four very different roles, Tom Hanks brilliantly portrayed two more characters: the hotel manager and a Timothy Cavendish lookalike actor.

Hugo Weaving in Cloud Atlas

Hugo Weaving got an even more colorful set of characters, all of whom are unpleasant to say the least.

Mike Myers in Austin Powers in Goldmember

Mike Myers is a really good comedian. Though critics had met this Bond movie parody quite coldly, many still watch it with pleasure. It’s only a pity that Mike hasn’t been invited to any decent movies since.

Cheech Marin in From Dusk Till Dawn

Mexican comedian Cheech Marin played three roles in the cult classic so well that many didn’t even notice all three were him. The most memorable was, of course, Chet Pussy with his famous calls.

Eddie Murphy in Norbit

Eddie Murphy is another actor who just loves playing all the key roles, completely transforming himself in the process. He also did just that in Coming to America and The Nutty Professor.

Noomi Rapace in Seven Sisters

Here, Noomi Rapace portrays all of the septuplets living in a totalitarian society where people are allowed to have no more than one child. Each sister only leaves home once a week on the day she’s named after. The actress’s task is all the more difficult for it being not a movie but a TV show.

Ralph Fiennes in Sunshine

Ralph dazzlingly portrays representatives of three generations of the Sonnenschein family going through lots of trials and tragedies: WWII, concentration camps, and the Hungarian Uprising of 1956.

James McAvoy in Split

There are 23 personalities inside Kevin Crumb’s body, and a 24th one is awakening right before our eyes. The viewers only see 7 of them: Dennis, Patricia, Hedwig, Barry, Orwell, Jade, and Beast — all of them unique and totally unlike each other. McAvoy’s acting deserved the highest praise both from viewers and critics.

Preview photo credit Bayerischer Rundfunk