Any of us can easily recall one or two dozen talented actors who can play anyone (and even anything). What about multiple roles in the same film? “Yes, of course!”, You say, “Films and TV shows, where one actor plays two twins, are full.”
And if we are not talking about twins at all, but about completely different (both externally and psychologically) personalities? This, you see, is much more complicated. But sometimes such "tricks" in the cinema are simply necessary for various reasons, for example: a new plot twist requires this, or the director decided to use a non-standard artistic technique, or the film has a very limited budget (and the producer decided to save this way), etc.
So, in fact, situations where one actor literally "juggles" several characters at once in the same picture are not uncommon. Moreover, some people manage to “get accustomed” to two, three or more images at the same time, so that we begin to believe that there are really different people on the screen (or not people).
Here are 10 examples of such truly masterful transformations.
List
- 10. Michael Fassbender, “Alien: Testament” | 2017
- 9. Rife Fiennes, “Taste of Sunshine” | 1999
- 8. Eddie Murphy, A Trip to America | 1988
- 7. Michael Keaton, The Many | 1996
- 6. Michael Jay Fox, “Back to the Future 2” | 1989
- 5. Tom Hanks, Cloud Atlas | 2012
- 4. Numi Rapas, “The Secret of the Seven Sisters” | 2017
- 3. Tatyana Maslani, “The Dark Child” | 2013-2017
- 2. James McAvoy, Split | 2016
- 1. Cate Blanchett, Manifesto | 2015
10. Michael Fassbender, “Alien: Testament” | 2017
Another film of the famous franchise about alien monsters with acid instead of blood, almost invulnerable and adaptable to any environment (the sixth in the Aliens universe and the second in a series of prequels), was released recently.
And one of the most memorable characters in it is the android David, fanatically obsessed with the studies of Aliens and idolizing them as ideal creatures worthy of not only living, but also crowding out all other existing species.
And although at first glance David is almost completely identical to another android - Walter, they (in their "worldview") are complete opposites.
Walter, unlike David, who considers people an endangered species, honestly serves them and tries to protect them. Both of them masterfully played by Michael Fassbender.
9. Rife Fiennes, “Taste of Sunshine” | 1999
In the film about the difficult fate of three generations of the Jewish family, Sonnenshine Rife Fiennes plays (and brilliantly!) Just 3 characters: grandfather, father and son. Three men, whose fates are at the same time very different and very similar, find in their character (someone earlier, and someone a little later) those features that unite them: preservation of dignity and honor under any circumstances.
Ignaz, Adam and Ivan go through many troubles, tragedies and trials: revolution, war, concentration camps and, finally, the 1956 Hungarian uprising. All three of them, as Jews, are forced to find ways to survive, in order to finally understand that, in spite of everything, they must remain faithful to themselves and their people.
8. Eddie Murphy, A Trip to America | 1988
Here is someone who, and Eddie Murphy loves reincarnation! And the more cardinal they are, the more it seems that the actor gets more pleasure. Change gender, weight, age? Yes Easy! It was, Murphy easily changed the race! Recall at least Norbit's Tricks: there he simultaneously portrayed Norbit's “nerd,” his cellulite girlfriend Raspyusha, and Chinese stepfather Mr. Wong.
And in “Crazy Professor” he played the role of the fat professor Klamp, his very thinner alter ego, as well as 7 (!) Members of the professor's family, including his grandmother. And another example is Brooklyn's Vampire: here Murphy played the vampire Maximilian, Paul’s preacher and the white bandit Guido.
But, perhaps, the film “A Trip to America”, where Murphy, along with Arsenio Hall, played 4 roles at once, was the favorite work of this talented comedian among the audience! Moreover, both transformed so cool that not every viewer immediately guessed who was in front of him on the screen at the moment.
Eddie Murphy played African prince Akim, singer from the Sexy Chocolate band, Randy Watson, old hairdresser Clarence and his Jewish client Sol, and Arsenio Hall - the servant of Akim Sammy, preacher Brown, hairdresser Morris and the ugly girl in the bar.
7. Michael Keaton, The Many | 1996
At the same time, Michael Keaton played 4 roles in the movie "The Many". The plot of it is that Dag Kinney, who works at the construction company, has stopped doing anything in his life. He is an excellent family man and madly in love with his wife and daughter, but he has not had time to stay with them for at least a couple of hours a day, because he works all the time.
And once a familiar genetic scientist offers Doug a way out - cloning. When our hero has a clone, it becomes much easier for him, but Doug is still full of affairs. And then he asks for a second clone, and then a third (which comes out very “extravagant”).
And all would be fine - now this four manages to work and to take care of the family, if not for one “but”: the clones are interested in women - Doug’s colleagues and (what a horror!) His wife ... All 4 characters are completely different in character, and Keaton plays them just superbly (especially the eccentric clone), obviously experiencing great pleasure.
6. Michael Jay Fox, “Back to the Future 2” | 1989
Many of us perfectly remember the cult trilogy of Robert Zemeckis “Back to the Future”. Michael JF Fox (the charming Marty McFly) in the second film also portrayed four characters at once - the young Marty (remember how he famously annealed with a guitar on stage in 1955?), Marty aged (in 2015), as well as their unborn children - Marty Jr. and Marlin. (By the way, the girl from Jay Fox turned out to be very pretty).
Not only did the images really come out very realistic, for the sake of their embodiment, Michael steadfastly stood for 4-5 hours every day in the make-up chair. And all the scenes were shot where several MacFlays were simultaneously in the frame, without computer special effects (they simply weren’t there then).
Michael J. Fox acted out each character, moving in the frame, and then they were combined by overlay. Hmm ... It was probably fun to have a lively conversation with yourself ...
5. Tom Hanks, Cloud Atlas | 2012
One of the strangest and most unusual films of the last decade can be safely called “Cloud Atlas”, which consists of 6 stories and is based on the equally extravagant book of the same name by David Mitchell.
Its main idea is that the reincarnation of the human soul still exists. Therefore, in each of the six short stories, it is as if the same people are present, but in different incarnations.
This moment was beaten with the help of the same cast, passing from history to history. It should be noted that casting for all the main roles turned out to be simply brilliant: such stars as Tom Hanks (6 roles, and all were performed at least 120% of 100%), Holly Berry (6 roles) played in Cloud Atlas , also played simply masterfully), Hugo Weaving (4 roles, characters are very diverse and everything, as for the selection, very unpleasant), etc.
According to most film critics (and, indeed, viewers), the main “highlight” of the film was precisely the incredible Tom Hanks (by the way, he partially funded this picture because he was delighted with the script).
4. Numi Rapas, “The Secret of the Seven Sisters” | 2017
And in this film, the Swedish actress Numi Rapas had to play seven twin sisters at once. According to the plot, in a long overpopulated totalitarian world of the future, it is allowed to have no more than one child in one family.
But the Settman couple immediately gives birth to 7 girls. Their mother dies, and the father decides to hide the truth from the government: according to the official version, he has only one daughter - Karen. And the sisters spend their whole lives at home, going out only once a week each: on a day that is consonant with its name - Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, etc.
They know how to play the role of one and the same person - Karen Settman. But one day, Monday did not return from work. Other sisters are obliged to find out what happened to her ... Rapas was transformed from one sister to another by simply changing clothes and changing makeup. But here are seven characters (sisters - very different) she played very selflessly and very reliably.
3. Tatyana Maslani, “The Dark Child” | 2013-2017
Canadian actress Tatyana Maslani was even more “lucky” - she had 5 years to play in the series “The Dark Child” of numerous clones of a girl named Sarah Manning (there were more than 14 of them, including one man, and each, of course, had its own own character traits, facial expressions, gestures, speech, etc.).
It all started with the fact that Sarah became an accidental witness of the girl’s suicide, to the smallest detail similar to herself (detective Elizabeth Childs) and, deciding to seize the opportunity and clear the bank account of the deceased, appropriated her identity “for a while”, which, of course, entailed a lot of problems.
In general, the series raises the problem of the moral side of human cloning. For this work, Tatyana Maslani received the well-deserved Emmy Award (in 2016).
2. James McAvoy, Split | 2016
And another “many-faced” lyceum is the incredibly talented and charismatic Briton James McEvoy. In the film “Split” he played only one role, but at once 24 personalities (often not just dissimilar, but also directly opposite).
The thing is that his character - Kevin Kramba - has a dissociative disorder (it is also a multiple split) of his personality. That is, a whole company “coexists” at once in it: from 9-year-old Hedwig, nervous Dennis and pleasant Patricia to a “beaten-off” psychopath nicknamed the Beast.
Viewers perceived the film itself rather coolly, but McEvoy’s very complex and delightfully believable game earned high marks from ordinary moviegoers and professional critics alike. By the way, the plot of “Split” is based on the very real story of the American Billy Milligan, described in the documentary novel by Daniel Keyes.
1. Cate Blanchett, Manifesto | 2015
The gorgeous Cate Blanchett also needs no special introduction. Recently, she again proved to the whole cinema world that she can amaze her talent again and again by playing 13 heroines in one film at once, each of whom (in her own manner) discusses life, freedom, politics, art, love and death etc. A teacher, a housewife, a widow, a wanderer and other ladies are not at all alike.
And if the content of the film may seem boring to people who are far from art, then Cate Blanchett's virtuoso transformation in each new plot is something fantastic! They say she spent 6 hours in the make-up chair for each take. Heroic actress!