History Main / AlterEgoActing

* The editorial staff from ''Website/CollegeHumor'' play exaggerated versions of themselves in their skits and TV show.

** When addressing complaints of how she treats Nella, Lindsay has also commented that WebVideo/TheNostalgiaChick is just a character and so is BFF Nella. In fact, if you want to see how they really are together, just check out their usually-{{squee}}ful conversations on Website/{{Twitter}}.

* Caused a major media shitstorm in the UK in 2014 when Website/{{Vine}} artist Dapper Laughs got his own [=ITV2=] show, ''On The Pull with Dapper Laughs'', a dating show in which he gave various men advice in getting girls. When Website/{{Twitter}} had a collective meltdown about the sexist content, Dapper Laughs' use of BlackComedyRape and the fact that a lot of his fans were the sort of people who [[InternetJerk send abuse to women online]], ITV pulled the show and Laughs was invited on the news to apologise. He appeared as 'himself' and explained that Dapper Laughs was just a character, that he didn't realise people took so seriously - prompting a certain amount of debate as to whether using an ironic 'character' made awful content acceptable. Creator/CharlieBrooker suggested that much of the problem was that, even though Laughs was a character, he was giving advice about dating to ''real people'' as that character, meaning it seemed sincere.

* Caused a major media shitstorm in the UK in 2014 when Website/{{Vine}} artist Dapper Laughs got his own [=ITV2=] show, ''On The Pull with Dapper Laughs'', a dating show in which he gave various men advice in getting girls. When Website/{{Twitter}} had a collective meltdown about the [[UnfortunateImplications sexist]] content, Dapper Laughs' use of BlackComedyRape and the fact that a lot of his fans were the sort of people who [[InternetJerk send abuse to women online]], ITV pulled the show and Laughs was invited on the news to apologise. He appeared as 'himself' and explained that Dapper Laughs was just a character, that he didn't realise people took so seriously - prompting a certain amount of debate as to whether using an ironic 'character' made awful content acceptable. Creator/CharlieBrooker suggested that much of the problem was that, even though Laughs was a character, he was giving advice about dating to ''real people'' as that character, meaning it seemed sincere.

* Sometimes Music/{{GWAR}} appears out of costume as RAWG; other times, they [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWRKlNlRsgI appear in costume and in character on daytime TV]], where HilarityEnsues.

* Weird case: Brazilian soccer legend Pelé refers to himself as two different persons, Edison (his birth name; the everyday person) and Pelé (the footballer).

* Rob Potylo used to record albums, play concerts, and make appearances on radio shows or at comedy clubs as Robby Roadsteamer, a trashy {{Jerkass}} GutturalGrowler initially inspired by the way he saw singers for local nu-metal bands carry themselves on stage. He did some interviews as himself where he'd acknowledge Robby Roadsteamer as a character, but for the most part, he would never appear publicly as himself. The character eventually got retired because he was concerned that if he kept it up too long he'd be pigeonholed - nowadays he makes music as himself rather than the character. It's since been joked that Robby Roadsteamer still exists, he just hasn't been heard from in years because he and his band left the Boston music scene for Western Massachusetts.

* Prior to mainstream fame, Music/{{Sia}} said: "A lot of people come up to me expecting to meet the person they have seen perform. It's not going to happen, unless my mania, my stage person, responds to them and not the real me." Post-fame, Sia remains almost completely silent at shows (except for singing).

* Dame Edna Everage, who refers to Barry Humphries as her "entrepreneur" or manager.

* Sharp-tongued Lily Savage was always entirely separate from her actor Paul O'Grady, and he usually speaks of her as if she's a completely different person. For example, when he gets people asking him to perform as Lily again, his usual reply is "She's gone off to join the convent."

See also AdamWesting, where a celebrity's public persona is a self-parody, but still uses their real name. A sort of opposire of this trope where fictional characters act like their own actors is found in the trope AnimatedActors.

** This one varies. Sometimes, the appearance on the talk show/cooking show/other show has the characters appear and does its best to hide the puppeteer(s). Other times (more rarely, but mostly with Henson himself, Frank Oz, and the majority of guest Muppet performers at the Muppetfest convention in 2001), the puppeteer and puppet will co-exist, with the puppeteers talking about their character while still slipping back into character to talk with the host/moderator(s), any other characters making an appearance, or [[TalkingToHimself the puppeteer him/herself]]. ([[MindScrew It's a little trippy, which is probably just how Henson liked it.]]). Lastly (and most rarely), it's just the puppeteer, which mostly happens on Muppet fansites (though even then it can slip into the second type).

->''"I created a monster''

->''They want Shady -- I'm chopped liver"''

* Caused a major media shitstorm in the UK in 2014 when WebOriginal/{{Vine}} artist Dapper Laughs got his own [=ITV2=] show, ''On The Pull with Dapper Laughs'', a dating show in which he gave various men advice in getting girls. When Website/{{Twitter}} had a collective meltdown about the [[UnfortunateImplications sexist]] content, Dapper Laughs' use of BlackComedyRape and the fact that a lot of his fans were the sort of people who [[InternetJerk send abuse to women online]], ITV pulled the show and Laughs was invited on the news to apologise. He appeared as 'himself' and explained that Dapper Laughs was just a character, that he didn't realise people took so seriously - prompting a certain amount of debate as to whether using an ironic 'character' made awful content acceptable. Creator/CharlieBrooker suggested that much of the problem was that, even though Laughs was a character, he was giving advice about dating to ''real people'' as that character, meaning it seemed sincere.

* The 2017 revival of ''Series/TheGongShow'' was hosted by Tommy Maitland, who is supposedly a British comedian and television presenter who came out of retirement to make his debut on American television, but is actually a character portrayed by Creator/MikeMyers. Myers made appearances on other shows promoting the show in character, other people associated with the revival maintain the fiction that Tommy Maitland is a real person, and Myers' name appears nowhere in the show's credits.

* Caused a major media shitstorm in the UK in 2014 when WebOriginal/{{Vine}} artist Dapper Laughs got his own [=ITV2=] show, ''On The Pull with Dapper Laughs'', a dating show in which he gave various men advice in getting girls. When Website/{{Twitter}} had a collective meltdown about the [[UnfortunateImplications sexist]] content, Dapper Laughs' use of RapeAsComedy and the fact that a lot of his fans were the sort of people who [[InternetJerk send abuse to women online]], ITV pulled the show and Laughs was invited on the news to apologise. He appeared as 'himself' and explained that Dapper Laughs was just a character, that he didn't realise people took so seriously - prompting a certain amount of debate as to whether using an ironic 'character' made awful content acceptable. Creator/CharlieBrooker suggested that much of the problem was that, even though Laughs was a character, he was giving advice about dating to ''real people'' as that character, meaning it seemed sincere.

** The host of ''Series/TheLateShowWithStephenColbert'' is the real Stephen Colbert, but a recurring character is "conservative pundit Stephen Colbert", played by Stephen Colbert and with the same mannerisms as the host of ''Series/TheColbertReport'' (see type 3)... but who isn't the host of that show, [[OurLawyersAdvisedThisTrope since that character is owned]] by Creator/ComedyCentral. Instead, he's [[LawyerFriendlyCameo his]] "[[SingleMindedTwins twin]] '''[[UpToEleven cousin]]'''".

* In an unusual subversion, comedian Andrew Clay Silverstein has been practically forced into a sort of Type 2 version of this trope. His character, Creator/AndrewDiceClay, is seen as such an [[UpToEleven over the top]] misogynist and homophobe that fans and detractors alike are unable or unwilling to separate the actor from his character, despite the profound difference between his real and assumed personalities, and his more recent attempts to distance himself from "The Diceman". This hasn't been helped by many other performers refusing to perform or appear with Silverstein, even out-of-character.

* As in the page quote, Music/{{Eminem}} generally raps as his alter ego Slim Shady, although he frequently blurs the line between the two personalities. In effect, there are three people in his music: Marshall Mathers, the quiet, slightly disturbed kid; Eminem, the self-assured, cocky rapper; and Slim Shady, the brutal, murderous gangster. Which one's in charge usually depends on his voice (the angrier he sounds, the further down the list he goes).
** His first album titles even reference his multiplicity: ''The Slim Shady EP/LP'', ''The Marshall Mathers LP'' and ''The Eminem Show''.

[[caption-width-right:350:Above: Creator/StephenColbert, humble liberal satirist.[softreturn] Below: [[Series/TheColbertReport Stephen Colbert]], egotistical conservative pundit. [[TheDanza No, they aren't the same person.]]

[[caption-width-right:350:Above: Creator/StephenColbert, humble liberal satirist.[softreturn] Below: [[Series/TheColbertReport Stephen Colbert]], egotistical conservative pundit. Do not confuse the two.]]

See also AdamWesting, where a celebrity's public persona is a self-parody, but still uses their real name.

-->-- '''Music/{{Eminem}}''', "Without Me"

[[caption-width-right:350:Above: Creator/StephenColbert, humble liberal satirist.[softreturn] Below: [[Series/TheColbertReport Stephen Colbert,]] egotistical conservative pundit. Do not confuse the two.]]

* Caused a major media shitstorm in the UK in 2014 when WebOriginal/{{Vine}} artist Dapper Laughs got his own [=ITV2=] show, ''On The Pull with Dapper Laughs'', a dating show in which he gave various men advice in getting girls. When Website/{{Twitter}} had a collective meltdown about the [[UnfortunateImplications sexist]] content, Dapper Laughs' use of RapeAsComedy and the fact that a lot of his fans were the sort of people who [[{{GIFT}} send abuse to women online]], ITV pulled the show and Laughs was invited on the news to apologise. He appeared as 'himself' and explained that Dapper Laughs was just a character, that he didn't realise people took so seriously - prompting a certain amount of debate as to whether using an ironic 'character' made awful content acceptable. Creator/CharlieBrooker suggested that much of the problem was that, even though Laughs was a character, he was giving advice about dating to ''real people'' as that character, meaning it seemed sincere.