20 actors who played a character with their real name

Daniel Day-Lewis publicly retired from acting earlier in his career than anyone expected, but not before playing a character in a movie that shared his name. Day-Lewis played Daniel Plainview in the film There Will Be Blood, and the name sharing was powerful enough to earn Day-Lewis an Oscar. 

Jack NIcholson has acted for so long that he’s actually played two characters that he shares a name with. He portrayed Jack Torrance in The Shining, and he played Jack Napier — better known as the Joker — in 1989’s Batman.  

For some actors, their defining role is a character with whom they share a name. Such is the case for Same Rockwell, who shared a name with his character, Sam Bell, in the film Moon. 

It’s more common for television actors, especially those who work in comedy, to share a name with their characters than it is for movie actors, so it’s not surprising that John Goodman has played multiple characters named John throughout his career. Most notably, he played John Chambers in Argo.

Men aren’t the only actors who’ve shared their character’s name. In The Wedding Date, Amy Adams played a character named Amy. And she was a very convincing Amy. 

Something about John Cusack suggests that he’s played multiple characters with the same first name. And he has. He famously played John Kelso in Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. It’s not too shocking, though. His name is John, after all. 

Speaking of men with very common names, Michael Douglas has also played a character with the same name. He played Michael Andropolis in the movie Running. He was also in a TV movie in the ‘70s called When Michael Calls, but he played a character named Craig. 

Paul Giamatti has played multiple characters named Paul. He portrayed Paul Gill in Rock of Ages and Paul Hunham in The Holdovers, the latter of which earned him his second Oscar nomination. 

Jerry Lewis played Jerry Lewis in, like, a lot of his projects. But not in all of them. In The King of Comedy, he played a character named Jerry Langford. Can’t say he wasn’t versatile! 

Susan Harrison only ever earned 11 screen credits in her acting career, and she managed to play a character with the same first name in one of them. Harrison played Susan Hunsecker in Sweet Smell of Success. 

Amy Schumer has played herself in multiple projects. She’s also played characters named Amy in multiple projects. It’s not a surprise that she played a character named Amy in the film Trainwreck. She did write it, after all. 

Considering how common of a name Jeff is, it’s a little surprising that Jeff Bridges hasn’t played more roles that share his first name. He does have one, though. He played Jeff “The Dude” Lebowski in The Big Lebowski.

Some actors get to portray characters that share a last name, which is arguably more unique as characters often don’t even have last names. Kyle Chandler got to play a character named Joe Chandler in the Oscar-winning film Manchester by the Sea.

Emily Blunt’s character in The Devil Wears Prada was also named Emily (different last name, though). And there’s no wondering if her character name was changed when she got the part. The character had the same name in the book that the film was adapted from. 

Yeah, actors in Hollywood have been playing characters with the same first name for decades. In Rebel Without a Cause, James Dean played a character named James Stark, though he went by Jim.

Speaking of people named James, James Franco played the Old Hollywood icon in his eponymous biopic, James Dean. It’s almost as if Franco were destined to take on the esteemed role. 

Sarah Jessica Parker played Sarah Sanderson, one of the legendary witchy sisters, in the classic Halloween film Hocus Pocus, as well as its sequel. It would’ve really been wild if the character had been named Sarah Jessica Sanderson. 

Catherine Zeta-Jones is best known for playing characters named Velma, Elena, Helena, and Gin, among others. But she’s gotten the chance to play a character named Catherine — Catherine the Great, to be specific, in the eponymous film. 

For whatever reason, it’s not at all surprising that Colin Firth has had multiple roles where his character has been named Colin. It wouldn’t be surprising if he sought out roles with the name Colin. Firth played Colin Ware in Hope Springs and Colin Craven in The Secret Garden. 

Unlike Colin Firth, Anthony Hopkins gives off the vibe that he would turn down a role if the character were also named Anthony. Perhaps he went soft on his rules toward the end of his career because, in 2020 and 2022, he played a character named Anthony in the films The Father and The Son, the former getting him his second Oscar (the oldest person to ever win in a competitive acting category).