Stars Who Played Two or More Characters in Movies or TV Shows

Credit: Lorey Sebastian/Walt Disney/Kobal/Shutterstock; Moviestore/Shutterstock; Courtesy of Netflix

Stars Who Played Two or More Characters in Movies or TV Shows

Seeing double … or triple! Vanessa Hudgens, Armie Hammer, Nina Dobrev and more stars have taken on multiple roles in the same movie or TV shows over the years. Hudgens, for her part, played baker Stacy and her royal look—alike, Duchess Margaret of Montenaro, in Netflix’s The Princess Switch in 2018. Two years later, the Disney alum returned for the sequel — and a third character for Hudgens, Fiona, was added to the mix. While the streaming service has plans for a third installment, the actress ruled out a fourth part in the movie. “No, no, that’s just too outrageous. We’re already at max outrageous here with three characters, we’re just going to keep it at that,” Hudgens told TheWrap. “And I would 100 percent lose my mind if I tried to add another me, even though it would probably be Scottish [and] I love that accent and it would be a great excuse to master the Scottish accent. But no, that’s not happening.” Hudgens’ Princess Switch 2 Switched Again costar Sam Palladio, meanwhile, opened up to Us Weekly about what it’s like to film a movie with the lead actress taking on several parts. “It was tricky. Props to Vanessa, you know, like, having to learn three lead characters is pretty crazy,” Palladio explained on our “Watch With Us” podcast in November 2020. “And I heard her head was spinning some days. Also doing sort of three, trying to make them different and three differing accents. You know, this one has this inflection and this crazy character does this, so, you know, yeah, props to her. But it was a lot of fun.” The Nashville alum added that it was “sometimes confusing” to act in a movie with the lead taking on several roles. “You're doing green screen stuff as well and split screens,” he said. “It was a lot of fun. But certainly, when you get to the end of a 15-hour filming day, it's a lot.” While Hammer played twins in 2010’s The Social Network, Dobrev took on the roles of Elena Gilbert and doppelgänger Katherine Pierce for six seasons of The CW’s Vampire Diaries. "It's kind of confusing. But it's exactly what I want. It's the biggest, most welcome challenge,” Dobrev told the Digital Spy in 2010. "Both characters are very multidimensional and layered and complicated and flawed. One is very sweet and a girl next door who has issues and tries to deal with them to the best of her abilities. And she has a lot of pressure coming from different directions but somehow manages to plow through and protects everyone and rises to the occasion when it's difficult. She's very strong and courageous, I think, and I admire her persistence.” Scroll through for more actors and actresses who played more than one role in the same movie or TV show:

Credit: Lorey Sebastian/Walt Disney/Kobal/Shutterstock; Moviestore/Shutterstock; Courtesy of Netflix

Stars Who Played Two or More Characters in Movies or TV Shows

Seeing double … or triple! Vanessa Hudgens, Armie Hammer, Nina Dobrev and more stars have taken on multiple roles in the same movie or TV shows over the years. Hudgens, for her part, played baker Stacy and her royal look—alike, Duchess Margaret of Montenaro, in Netflix’s The Princess Switch in 2018. Two years later, the Disney alum returned for the sequel — and a third character for Hudgens, Fiona, was added to the mix. While the streaming service has plans for a third installment, the actress ruled out a fourth part in the movie. “No, no, that’s just too outrageous. We’re already at max outrageous here with three characters, we’re just going to keep it at that,” Hudgens told TheWrap. “And I would 100 percent lose my mind if I tried to add another me, even though it would probably be Scottish [and] I love that accent and it would be a great excuse to master the Scottish accent. But no, that’s not happening.” Hudgens’ Princess Switch 2 Switched Again costar Sam Palladio, meanwhile, opened up to Us Weekly about what it’s like to film a movie with the lead actress taking on several parts. “It was tricky. Props to Vanessa, you know, like, having to learn three lead characters is pretty crazy,” Palladio explained on our “Watch With Us” podcast in November 2020. “And I heard her head was spinning some days. Also doing sort of three, trying to make them different and three differing accents. You know, this one has this inflection and this crazy character does this, so, you know, yeah, props to her. But it was a lot of fun.” The Nashville alum added that it was “sometimes confusing” to act in a movie with the lead taking on several roles. “You're doing green screen stuff as well and split screens,” he said. “It was a lot of fun. But certainly, when you get to the end of a 15-hour filming day, it's a lot.” While Hammer played twins in 2010’s The Social Network, Dobrev took on the roles of Elena Gilbert and doppelgänger Katherine Pierce for six seasons of The CW’s Vampire Diaries. "It's kind of confusing. But it's exactly what I want. It's the biggest, most welcome challenge,” Dobrev told the Digital Spy in 2010. "Both characters are very multidimensional and layered and complicated and flawed. One is very sweet and a girl next door who has issues and tries to deal with them to the best of her abilities. And she has a lot of pressure coming from different directions but somehow manages to plow through and protects everyone and rises to the occasion when it's difficult. She's very strong and courageous, I think, and I admire her persistence.” Scroll through for more actors and actresses who played more than one role in the same movie or TV show:

Credit: Courtesy of Netflix

Vanessa Hudgens: 'The Princess Switch'

“It definitely had its moments of frustration,” Hudgens admitted in 2020 about filming the Princess Switch 2. “But what do you expect when you’re playing three characters?”

Credit: Lorey Sebastian/Walt Disney/Kobal/Shutterstock

Lindsay Lohan: 'The Parent Trap'

Lohan took on the role of twins Annie and Hallie in the 1998 remake of the Parent Trap. Hayley Mills did the same the 1961 original as twins Sharon and Susan.

Credit: Moviestore/Shutterstock

Eddie Murphy: 'Coming to America,' 'The Nutty Professor'

The actor is no stranger to taking on multiple roles in the same film, playing several characters in 1988’s Coming to America and 1996’s The Nutty Professor.

Credit: Disney

Hilary Duff: /The Lizzie McGuire Movie'

After three years on Lizzie McGuire, Duff tackled the title character’s Italian popstar look—alike, Isabella, in the 2003 feature film.

Credit: Shutterstock(2)

Mike Myers: 'Austin Powers'

Myers played the title character, Dr. Evil, Fat Bastard and Goldmember in 1997’s Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery and its two sequels.

Credit: Moviestore/Shutterstock

Nicolas Cage: 'Adaptation'

Cage starred as Charlie Kaufman and his fictional twin brother, Donald Kaufman, in the 2002 movie.

Credit: YouTube

Armie Hammer: 'The Social Network'

The actor played the Winklevoss twins in the 2010 movie about the invention of Facebook.

Credit: Amblin Entertainment/Universal Pictures/Kobal/Shutterstock

Michael J. Fox: 'Back to the Future II'

Fox reprised his role as Marty McFly and played his family members Marty McFly Jr. and Marlene McFly in the 1989 sequel.

Credit: Bob Mahoney/The CW; Quantrell Colbert/The CW

Nina Dobrev: 'The Vampire Diaries'

Over the course of her six-season run, Dobrev took on four characters across the TVD universe.

Credit: Eric McCandless/ABC

Dove Cameron: 'Liv & Maddie'

Another Disney star taking on two roles, but this time for four seasons. Cameron earned a daytime Emmy in 2018 for her part as identical twins.

Credit: Freeform

Troian Bellisario: 'Pretty Little Liars'

The actress was revealed to be her character Spencer Hastings' long-lost identical twin, Alex Drake, in the 2017 PLL series finale.