History Main / LoadsAndLoadsOfRoles

!This trope is [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=16858350400.43778200 under discussion]] in the Administrivia/TropeRepairShop.

[[quoteright:289:[[Film/SoftBedsHardBattles https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/loadsandloadsofroles_1403.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:289:Creator/EddieMurphy wasn't the first.]]
->''"Oh look how great and funny I am. I don't even need anyone else. I could make an entire movie where I play all the parts and you would love it because I am Tyler Perry; the God of comedy!"''
-->-- '''[[WebVideo/TheSpoonyExperiment Miles Antwiler]]''' [[http://moviemoses.wordpress.com/2010/09/27/diary-of-a-mad-black-woman-darren-grant-2005/ on]] ''Film/DiaryOfAMadBlackWoman''

There's ActingForTwo. Then there's acting for twenty.

This is where one actor plays a considerable number of roles in a single work (we are not counting Sketch shows).

This is primarily a theatre trope, where it requires the ability to perform pretty rapid costume changes. If the character itself does this, then they're a MasterOfDisguise.

YouLookFamiliar is this trope applied to characters over the course of a TV series. YouALLLookFamiliar is the video game character model equivalent. If the characters are related, it's an UncannyFamilyResemblance. Compare with ManOfAThousandFaces and ManOfAThousandVoices. Contrast with TwoVoicesOneCharacter. May or may not involve SignificantDoubleCasting.

----
!!Examples:

[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Advertising]]
* A 2001 [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GqJGDpR-9WA TV advert]] for the Yellow Pages in UsefulNotes/NewZealand featured Creator/JoelTobeck (of ''[[Series/HerculesTheLegendaryJourneys Hercules]]'' and ''[[Series/XenaWarriorPrincess Xena]]'', and later ''Series/SonsOfAnarchy'', fame) as not just himself, but also a taxi driver, a security guard, a fashion model, and an army of department store assistants.
* In Advertising/{{Progressive}} Insurance's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1QA9pvLiu_s "Flo's family"]] series of ads, Flo's actress Creator/StephanieCourtney also plays the rest of the family (including the men).
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
* The AnimatedAdaptation of ''Literature/MyNextLifeAsAVillainessAllRoutesLeadToDoom'' has fun with this. Besides playing the main character Catarina Claes, actress Creator/MaayaUchida also voices the five members of the "Council of Catarinas" that embody her InnerMonologue[[note]]What each Catarina represents depends on the adaptation; in the manga they're labeled Normal, Chairwoman, Glasses, Semi-Confident, and Semi-Timid; in the anime they're Happy, Chairwoman, Studious, Fearless, and Spineless[[/note]]; accordingly, Uchida receives six separate credits in every episode.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
* In ''WesternAnimation/ThePolarExpress'', Creator/TomHanks portrays the train conductor, the mysterious hobo, Santa Claus, and the protagonist's father. He also provides the motion capture for the boy hero himself (his voice dubbed by Creator/DarylSabara) and narrates the film as the hero's older self. The film even pads this by giving him credit for the portrayal of Scrooge, who is a puppet operated and voiced by the hobo.
* ''WesternAnimation/KillerBeanForever'' has only five voice actors for budgetary reasons, each of whom plays one or two major characters. Bryan Session only plays Vagan and Cromwell, but every minor and supporting role in the film is filled by one of the other four cast members.
* The cast of ''WesternAnimation/{{Animalympics}}'' consists of Creator/BillyCrystal, Creator/GildaRadner, Creator/HarryShearer, the special's writer Michael Fremer, and that's it, the four of them playing the multitude of athletes, coaches, sportscasters, and so on in the massive ensemble. Fremer in particular plays more than half of the characters, with Radner the runner-up as she plays most of the women.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
* ''Film/KindHeartsAndCoronets''. Creator/AlecGuinness plays eight different characters, two of whom are father and son, and one of whom is a woman. A [[Creator/TheBBC BBC]] {{Radio}} remake had Harry Enfield reprising all of Guinness' roles.
* Creator/PeterSellers did this a lot.
** The most famous example is ''Film/DrStrangelove'', wherein he plays the title character, Gen. Ripper's British adjutant and the U.S. president. He was originally intended to play the bomber pilot as well, but he A) allegedly had a dubious time with the accent and/or B) sprained an ankle and could not work in the cramped cockpit set, [[StarMakingRole so the role went to Slim Pickens]]. Columbia Pictures only agreed to finance the film [[EnforcedTrope on condition that Sellers play multiple roles]].
** In ''Literature/TheMouseThatRoared'', Sellers plays Tully, Lord Mountjoy, and Grand Duchess Gloriana of [[{{Ruritania}} Grand Fenwick]]. This is explained (and {{Lampshaded}}) by the disclaimer at the beginning of the movie that the First Grand Duke was "[[ReallyGetsAround in every possible sense, the Father of His Country]]" (and indeed, his memorial statue looks exactly like Peter Sellers).
** The page image is from 1973's ''Soft Beds, Hard Battles'' (also known as ''Undercovers Hero''), in which Sellers plays 6 roles.
** In 1979's comic version of ''Film/ThePrisonerOfZenda'', he plays King Rudolf V, commoner lookalike Syd Frewin, and (in the opening sequence) the just-about-to-die King Rudolf IV. It's implied that Syd and Rudolf V are half-brothers.
** The biopic ''Film/TheLifeAndDeathOfPeterSellers'' has Geoffrey Rush not only playing Sellers and his characters, but also suggests Sellers is directing it and playing everyone else in the film by sometimes stopping the action and revealing, say, Creator/BlakeEdwards (Creator/JohnLithgow) to be played by Rush-as-Sellers, and commenting to the viewer on Sellers' behavior.
** And then there's his roles on radio -- it was said that he played so many parts on ''Radio/TheGoonShow'' that whenever he was sick or unable to perform it took multiple actors to sub for him!
* In the ''Creator/JerryLewis'' comedy, ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Family_Jewels_(film) The Family Jewels,]]'' a young heiress must choose which of her six uncles (all portrayed by Lewis) she wants to live with, while being chaperoned back and forth by the family chauffeur (again portrayed by Lewis).
* Creator/TimBurton's film of ''Film/CharlieAndTheChocolateFactory'', where one actor (Creator/DeepRoy) plays ''all'' the Oompa-Loompas through the miracle of CGI.
* Any ''Creator/MontyPython'' film, for all six of the Pythons involved--although [[StraightGay Graham Chapman]] usually had relatively few roles, due to being the relative StraightMan and thus usually playing the central characters.
** Creator/TerryGilliam also tended to have fewer roles since his primary talent was making the animated sequences and he wasn't much of an actor. He was mostly relegated to non-speaking roles or parts that involved a cackling lunatic.
* Creator/MikeMyers playing the role of several key characters in the ''Film/AustinPowers'' franchise. In the first film he played only Austin and Dr. Evil, but picked up the roles of Fat Bastard and Goldmember in the sequels.
* In ''Film/ComingToAmerica'', Creator/EddieMurphy and Arsenio Hall play several different roles, including white or female characters. Creator/EddieMurphy is doing this a lot more nowadays.
* In ''Film/DisasterMovie'', [[http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0054697/?ref_=ttfc_fc_cl_t7 Ike Barinholtz]] portrayed seven different characters: [[Series/AmericanGladiators Wolf,]] [[Film/NoCountryForOldMen Anton Chigurh,]] Police Officer, [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Film/Hellboy Hellboy,]] [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Franchise/Batman?from=Main.Batman Batman,]] [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Film/Beowulf Beowolf,]] and [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Literature/PrinceCaspian?from=Film.PrinceCaspian Prince Caspian.]]
* ''Film/TheLeagueOfGentlemen'', in which, as the ads put it, "three guys don the shoes and dresses of an entire town."
* Creator/JackBlack's character from ''Film/TropicThunder'' made a career out of this.
** In one surprisingly inspired scene Creator/RobertDowneyJr.'s character has an emotional breakdown that causes him to progressively remove his make up. At each stage he takes on a different accent and personality.
* In ''Film/{{Clerks}}'', several actors play multiple small roles. Given the late hours and low pay, many of those cast simply failed to show up, so Smith would have anyone who happened to be around step in. David Klein (the cinematographer) and Walter Flanagan get hit the hardest with this, with five and four roles respectively.
* Creator/BusterKeaton's silent comedy ''Film/ThePlayhouse'' (1921) opens with a scene in which ''every character'' at a theatrical performance - actors, stagehands, musicians, audience members , a twelve-man minstrel show - is played by Keaton, impressive both for Keaton's skill and for the technical aspects of pulling something like this off so early in film history. It's even lampshaded when one of the Keatons remarks to another, "This fellow Keaton seems to be the whole show."
* ''Film/TheWizardOfOz'' (1939) had Frank Morgan playing five different roles: The Wizard, Professor Marvel, a gatekeeper in Emerald City, a carriage driver, and a guard in the Wizard's palace. This has led some fans to speculate that the additional characters (besides Professor Marvel) are really the Wizard in disguise.
* ''Film/TheMuppetsWizardOfOz'' has Miss Piggy playing all four of the witches in Oz, as well as appearing as herself in the Kansas scenes.
* The 1971 adaptation of Creator/NeilSimon's ''Plaza Suite'' had Creator/WalterMatthau playing a different character in each of the film's three acts. The original Broadway production had Creator/GeorgeCScott and Maureen Stapleton appearing as different characters in all three acts, while a 1987 made-for-TV version had Carol Burnett playing three different roles.
* Creator/FredAstaire does this in ''Film/TheManInTheSantaClausSuit''. (Although technically [[spoiler:they are all the same guy. Guess who..]])
* In the Japanese VHS/DVD dub of ''Film/ForrestGump'', KatsuhisaHoki voices over the Doctor, Alabama Governor George Wallace and President UsefulNotes/LyndonJohnson.
* Speaking of ''Creator/TomHanks'', in the movie ''Film/JoeVersusTheVolcano'', ''Creator/MegRyan'' portrayed three different characters in the movie.
* Tony Randall in ''Film/SevenFacesOfDrLao'' plays Dr. Lao, various acts in his circus, and a brief moment as a spectator.
* Some movies and other works made by the Swedish comedy group ''Galenskaparna & After Shave''.
** In ''Leif'' the seven members plays a total of 37 characters. Kerstin Granlund the only woman play seven of them.
** In ''Stinsen brinner... filmen alltså'' they play 23 different characters. Most notable is Kerstin Granlund who play five and Per Fritzell who play seven (including the statue of ''the eternal traveler'').
* Denis Lavant plays eleven roles in ''Film/HolyMotors''.
* Every actor in the film adaptation of ''Film/CloudAtlas'' [[http://azsunblogger.blogspot.com/2013/06/cloud-atlas-study-guide.html?view=sidebar plays multiple roles in order]] to get across the concept of reincarnation (the story spans six different periods of history). Many of the roles are in different genders and races; Halle Berry, for instance, plays a Maori slave in the 1800s, a Jewish German woman in the 1930s, a 1970's news reporter, an Indian woman in the present day, an old Korean man in the future of 2144, and a woman from a futuristic society in a post-apocalyptic storyline.
* In ''Film/TradingMom'', Creator/SissySpacek plays four roles: The actual mother of the kids, and each mother the kids choose to replace her.
* In the Colombian movie ''De Rolling 2: Por el Sueño Mundialista'', Andrés López [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wj4Dji8Ckqo plays]] almost all the roles.
* Creator/MichaelJFox plays five roles in ''Film/BackToTheFuturePartII'': three different versions of Marty [=McFly=] (the one who originally went to 1955 in the first film, the one who returned to 1955 to retrieve the sports almanac, and his future self in 2015), as well as his son ''and'' his daughter in 2015.
* ''Film/TheLifeAndDeathOfColonelBlimp'' has Creator/DeborahKerr playing the protagonist's idol Edith. And she then plays two more women he meets throughout the course of his life - to illustrate how they remind him of Edith.
* Creator/DavidCarradine played four roles in ''Film/CircleOfIron'' - The Blind Man, Monkeyman, Death and Changsha.
* Film/ASeriesOfUnfortunateEvents2004 parodies this in its trailer, advertising the movie as starring "Jim Carrey, Jim Carrey, [[AndStarring and...Jim Carrey]]", while just showing the same character in different disguises.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
* On ''Series/ThirtyRock'', Rachel Dratch was originally cast as main character Jenna Maroney. The character was reconceived and recast with Jane Krakowski, but Dratch still appeared in many episodes in the first season, usually playing a different one-off character each time.
* ''Series/AmericanHorrorStory'':
** Keeping in mind that all seasons take place in the same continuity, this trope is actually played straight by most recurring actors.
** ''Series/AmericanHorrorStoryCult'' features Creator/EvanPeters in the roles of BigBad Kai Anderson and the (real and fictional) historical characters Creator/AndyWarhol, Marshall Applewhite, David Koresh, UsefulNotes/JimJones, [[UsefulNotes/{{Jesus}} Jesus Christ]] and UsefulNotes/CharlesManson. It helps that most of those historical characters appear in flashbacks related by Kai Anderson.
* The ''Series/{{Arrowverse}}'' loves introducing several doppelgangers via shape shifting characters, body changing devices, or/and [[AlternateSelf alternate selves]] via TheMultiverse and TimeTravel. For specifics:
** Creator/TomCavanagh has played at least eleven characters from TheMultiverse, including two impersonations of the Earth-1 version.
** If one includes ''Series/TheFlash1990'' where he played the eponymous hero and his clone, then Creator/JohnWesleyShipp has played a total of five characters.
** Creator/GrantGustin mainly plays the titular protagonist of ''Series/TheFlash2014'', but he has also played a VillainOfTheWeek shapeshifter who copied him (the same one with one of Cavanagh's case above), the protagonist's Earth-2 version, and five AlternateTimeline versions [[spoiler: which includes the Season 3 BigBad.]]
* Wayne Alexander played six different roles on ''Series/BabylonFive'': Sebastian aka UsefulNotes/JackTheRipper in "Comes the Inquisitor"; the Narn resistant G'Dan in "And the Rock Cried Out, No Hiding Place"; "the" First One Lorien in various Season Four episodes; a Drazi prisoner in "Intersections In Real Time"; a Drakh (named in ExpandedUniverse material as Shiv'Kala) in "Movements of Fire and Shadow", "The Fall of Centauri Prime", and "A Call to Arms"; and an alien soul in "The River of Souls".
* For the BBC TV adaptations of ''Literature/TheChroniclesOfNarnia'' Barbara Kellerman notably played three different characters - Jadis in ''Literature/TheLionTheWitchAndTheWardrobe'', the Hag in ''Literature/PrinceCaspian'' and the Lady of the Green Kirtle in ''Literature/TheSilverChair''. This has helped fuel {{Fanon}} that the two witch characters are actually the same person. Additionally several other actors doubled up and played other characters across the four adaptations.
* ''Series/DickAndDomInDaBungalow'': the multi-talented Dave Chapman and Ian Kirkby played tens of characters each- all kinds of impressions ([[UsefulNotes/FormulaOne Murray Walker]], Creator/BruceForsyth, Creator/RichardOBrien, [[Creator/MorecambeAndWise Eric Morecambe]]...) and also original creations like [[UsefulNotes/BritishCoppers Harry Batt]]. Melvin O'Doom had slightly fewer characters, but was also an all-purpose dancer. Even the hosts also played several recurring charaters each.
* ''Series/DoctorWho'' has had several actors who played very large numbers of minor roles, and actors who specialised in playing [[PeopleInRubberSuits Rubber Suit Monsters]] and hence appeared as many different "characters". In terms of humanoid characters with significant dialogue, the record is held by Creator/MichaelSheard, who played six different named characters in as many stories between 1966 and 1988.[[note]]Rhos in "The Ark", Dr. Summers in "The Mind of Evil", Lawrence Scarman in "Pyramids of Mars", Lowe in "The Invisible Enemy", Mergrave in "Castrovalva", and the Headmaster in "Remembrance of the Daleks". And also appeared as Orsino in the Big Finish audio drama ''The Stones of Venice''.[[/note]]
** The new series features Creator/NicholasBriggs, who is known for voice acting but has also played a number of one-shot characters between Doctor Who, its spinoffs, and ambiguously canon material created during the years after the end of the old series but before the beginning of the new one. But if voice acting does count, know that this man is the voice of ALL Daleks, Cybermen, Judoon, Ice Warriors, Zygons, maybe more. Despite this, he gives each race, and ''individual members of each race,'' distinct voices and personalities. The man is nothing less than a legend.
* ''Series/DoomPatrol2019'': Creator/DianeGuerrero plays Crazy Jane, who is one of [[SplitPersonality 64 distinct personalities]]. All personalities that surface are played by her, plus some that are only seen in her mind.
* The Creator/{{CBeebies}} series ''Gigglebiz'' has only one actor, Justin Fletcher, who plays just about every character. This becomes more meta in its spin-off ''Gigglequiz'', a PanelGame homage where he is the host ''and'' all of the panelists at once (via editing).
* The starring cast of ''Series/HorribleHistories'' all play multiple roles, some reoccurring across five series. The same performers play multiple parts in their own series, ''Series/{{Yonderland}}''.
* In ''Series/JulPaaVesterbro'', Creator/AndersMatthesen plays every single character who has talking roles in more than one episode. In other words, he plays 11 main and recurring characters, 3 one/two episode characters as well a cameo AsHimself.
* Irish comedy ''[[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Killinaskully Killinaskully]]'' has its writer Creator/PatShortt play five major characters (one of whom is female), frequently appearing in the same scene as himself.
* Child entertainer and comedian Koz played every single role on the Koz Zone which ran between shows.
* ''WebVideo/{{Mega 64}}''. The six main characters are played by three actors (two characters each), and there are a few regular recurring actors who almost always play different characters in each appearance.
* On ''Series/TheMightyBoosh'', dozens of prominent - and minor - characters are played by Noel Fielding, Julian Barratt and Rich Fulcher. Fielding (as well as playing the major character of Vince Noir) fills notable roles such as the Hitcher, the Moon, Old Gregg, Tony Harrison, Montgomery Flange, the Spirit of Jazz and Spider Dijon. Barratt (who plays Howard Moon) also plays Rudy van [=DiSarzio=], the Crack Fox, Mr Susan, Dennis the Shaman, Bryan Ferry, Sandstorm, and Jurgen Haabermaaster. Rich Fulcher, who is best known for playing Bob Fossil, has given ''many'' other very memorable performances over the course of the series, including Lester Corncrake, Kodiak Jack, Tommy the Cheese Priest, the Ape of Death, The Betamax Bandit, Alan (the Blue King of Xooberon) and "Eleanor", among others.
** Dave Brown really deserves a mention too. Although his only recurring roles are Bollo the gorilla and Joey Moose, he plays a fair few minor parts - Black Frost, the break-dancing Mutant, Naan Bread, Extreme Sports Calender etc.
* On ''Series/OrphanBlack'', Creator/TatianaMaslany plays over fifteen clone-sisters, including at least seven that could be considered major roles plus voicing a scorpion ImaginaryFriend of one of her clone characters. [[spoiler:Ari Millen plays seven different characters from a different, male, batch.]]
%%* Peter Kay in ''Series/PhoenixNights''
* Before becoming famous with ''Series/TheRedGreenShow'', Steve Smith and his wife Morag produced a Canadian sketch comedy show called ''Smith and Smith'', which aired in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Due to the show's very low budget, among other reasons, Steve and Morag played the majority of the roles themselves.
* There are five actors who have played seven or more different characters over the course of various ''[[Franchise/StarTrek Star Treks]]'': Vaughn Armstrong, Thomas Kopache, Creator/JeffreyCombs, J.G. Hertzler, and Randy Oglesby. Most of them started out playing a series of one-shot characters, then were given frequent recurring characters of their own. Creator/JeffreyCombs was even supposedly going to make the [[PromotionToOpeningTitles jump to actual cast member]], but ''Enterprise'' was canceled a season too soon.
** Honorable mention to Creator/MajelBarrett for playing several major characters: Number One (original pilot), Nurse Christine Chapel (Original Series), Lwaxana Troi (Next Generation), and Federation starship computers from ''TNG'' onward, including ''Enterprise'' (one-episode cameo) and the latest movie. This makes her the only person to be involved in every incarnation of the franchise. Of course, she ''was'' Gene Rodenberry's wife.
** Creator/RobertPicardo has played dozens of ''different'' incarnations of the Emergency Medical Hologram. (Identical in that they have the original base program, but different in that they have had different life experiences, if only subtly.) Not to mention playing the designer of the EMH, and a few holograms that aren't [=EMHs=], but ''look'' like the EMH.
** And then there's Creator/BrentSpiner, who's played three different Soong-type androids (Data, Lore, and B-4) and three different Soongs (Noonien, Arik, and Altan). The crowning achievement is in the episode "Brothers", where he plays Data, Lore, and Noonien Soong in the same scene ''at the same time'' (with the help of ChromaKey, of course). Also worth mentioning is the seventh-season Masks, where Data is possessed by a succession of alien deities from a probe taking over the Enterprise.
* In ''Film/TheStarWarsHolidaySpecial'', close to half the roles are played by [[Series/TheCarolBurnettShow Harvey Korman]].
* Creator/GarretDillahunt played four different roles in only two seasons of ''Series/TerminatorTheSarahConnorChronicles'', with plot justification: the second face of the show's initial main villain, the Terminator known as Cromartie, George Laszlo, an actor who Cromartie had himself madeover to look like, then [[KillAndReplace murdered]], John Henry, the innocent child AI who later takes over Cromartie's hardware body, and finally [[spoiler:Skynet]], briefly possessing John Henry's body.
* In ''Series/ThatsSoRaven'' Raven Symone played all of Raven's relatives in the episode where she visits her family in the country. This trope gets justified when it turns out it's AllJustADream.
* In the Japanese Nippon TV dub of the ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'' saga, Creator/KenjiNojima voices over Jasper Hail, Caius and Jared.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Music Videos]]
* The Music/JenniferLopez video for "Get Right" has Jennifer playing eight different characters in a nightclub: a DJ, the club bartender, two gossiping friends, a stripper, a nerd, a diva and then herself in the final moments.
* In Musc/Paul McCartney's video for "Coming Up", he played 10 different musicians in a band. His wife, Linda, played the two backup singers.
* Music/OzzyOsbourne played eight different roles in the video for "So Tired".
* In the video for Ken Hirai's ''Pop Star'', all seven characters that appear are played by Ken himself: The three singers in the "band", their manager, two people in mascot suits and the janitor.
* Stacie Oricco's video for "More To Life" has her switching between eight different personas. The complete list is: a white trash mother getting her possessions repossessed, a singer in a garage band, a runner in a marathon, a supermodel, a waitress, a powerful business executive, someone about to rob a liquour store and a powerful spy. She has one brief segment as herself at the very end.
* The video for Music/{{Outkast}}'s "Hey Ya" features Andre 3000 playing every member of a band (vocals, guitar, bass, keyboards and drums) appearing on an Ed Sullivan-like show.
* The video for Music/EagleEyeCherry's most famous single, "Save Tonight", features a shifting POV between a whole group of different people all throughout the city, with Cherry playing every single role.
* Music/SelenaGomez played four roles in the video for "Bad Liar": a teen in high school, both her parents, and a gym teacher.
* Music/TheFoxyBard: In [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tDLb-5upjcs one video]], William Morningwood, Uncle Silas, Shmuel Pallache, and Dovid Mordachai (all played by Foxy) are all having a conversation. Dovid is the only one who actually sings in that video though.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
* If your TabletopRPG has a lot of {{NPC}}s in it, your GameMaster will have to either enlist help playing them all, or else just play them all himself.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Theatre]]
* Taken to the extreme in ''Theatre/The39Steps'': the show has over a hundred roles; there are four actors. The lead man plays one role, the lead woman plays four, and the remaining two actors play ''all of the other roles'' between the two of them. HilarityEnsues, as does much switching of hats, when four or five of these characters are in the same scene. It prides itself in {{lampshading}} everything about this trope. [[spoiler:At the climax, while the hero, the love interest, and a police officer are confronting the villain, the villain is shot to ensure his silence by a gun-wielding arm that reaches in from offstage. This proves so shocking to the villain -- how can there be a gunman when all the cast are already on stage? -- that it takes him a while to remember to die.]]
* In ''Theatre/TheSolveItSquadReturns'' the four main characters all have different actors...and every other character is played by the same man. There are of course multiple scenes in which he has to switch between multiple characters using wigs, hats, glasses, and of course great acting skills, gets even funnier when he has to propose to, kiss, and run off into the sunset with himself.
* Another impressive example is ''Theatre/TheLaramieProject'', wherein eight actors play over seventy different roles total.
* ''Theatre/AngelsInAmerica'', which is also written to be performed by eight actors, specifically states in its ''dramatis personae'' that certain lead characters double for certain supporting characters, with the actresses playing Hannah and the Angel with the highest total role count. Memorably, Meryl Streep in the television adaptation.
* Creator/PatrickStewart once did a one-man version of ''Literature/AChristmasCarol''. No costume changes of course.
** In the 2009 CGI film, Jim Carrey plays no less than eight roles, including all ages of Scrooge and all three spirits.
** In the 1970 musical film, Albert Finney also played the adolescent/young adult Scrooge.
** ACT Theatre's annual production also does this, with some actors playing up to four or five roles.
* The various ''Theatre/GreaterTuna'' plays have most or maybe even all of the inhabitants of a very small (fictional) Texas town played by only two guys.
* Every performance by the Creator/ReducedShakespeareCompany, whose plays consist of three actors performing "abridged" versions of large bodies of work.
* The play ''Stones in His Pockets'', where two people played every role. With a few boxes as their only props.
* The Broadway version of ''Theatre/{{RENT}}'' has very distinctive-looking actors that together play all of the extras. In some scenes (like "Christmas Bells") the costume changes are fast enough and thorough enough to make it look like there are three times as many of them as there actually are.
* ''I Am My Own Wife'' is a one-man play with the sole actor playing more than forty different roles. However, many of them have only a few lines, and there are no costume changes--all of them are performed in the main character's (Charlotte von Mahlsdorf) black dress and pearls.
* At one point, a production of ''Theatre/TheImportanceOfBeingEarnest'' was staged with two actors. In the final scenes, they resorted to wearing both dresses and suits while holding umbrellas: they'd open the umbrellas to block the suits when playing women, and close them again when playing men.
* Anna Deveare Smith does this for the play/film ''Theatre/TwilightLosAngeles''.
* The Broadway musical ''Theatre/TheTwentyFifthAnnualPutnamCountySpellingBee'' has only nine actors in its entirety. The nine actors each have a main role, and double for 13 others. Often, the actors assume their other roles by unzipping vests, moving their hair, or merely changing their voices.
* ''Theatre/TheMysteryOfIrmaVep'' (not to be confused with the film ''Film/IrmaVep''): two actors (who are contractually obligated to be the same sex to insure that there ''will be crossdressing''), 8 characters, 60 quick costume changes ''each'' in the course of a show that only runs 100 minutes. Anyone who has worked on this show will freely admit that the dressers for the actors are as vital to success as the actors themselves.
* The play ''A Dream Play'' (originally ''Ett Drömspel'') by Swedish playwright August Strindberg is, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin as the title suggests]], AllJustADream. As such, nobody reacts to the fact that several characters are played by the same few actors, because it makes perfect sense in the dream.
* Productions of ''Theatre/{{Chicago}}'' may or may not involve supporting actors playing multiple roles, depending on their resources, but there's one that is explicitly required by the script: during Roxie's big trial scene, all twelve members of the jury are to be portrayed by a single actor.
* The Canadian classic ''Billy Bishop Goes To War''. One actor, eight characters, not including the "narrator" who also provides musical accompaniment.
* There is a stage version of ''Theatre/AroundTheWorldInEightyDays'' that was written for four men and one woman. The official character count is 39. "Actor 5" only plays Phileas Fogg, but his lack of roles is made up for by "Actor 1," who plays 16.
* Another Neil Simon play, the musical adaptation of the Patrick Dennis novel ''Little Me'', was produced on Broadway in 1962 with Creator/SidCaesar playing seven characters.
* Subverted in ''Theatre/{{Seussical}}''. [[CharacterNarrator The Cat in the Hat]] appears as different roles throughout the show, but he's still The Cat in the Hat.
* [[http://www.book-it.org/ Book-It's]] 2011 play of ''Literature/GreatExpectations'' had but 9 actor (save for a couple uncredited stage hands), most of them playing dual roles, in addition to minor characters/extras. Even better was their play of ''Literature/TheSecretGarden'', which used only three actors, with several {{cross cast role}}s.
* In the Hugh Wheeler version of ''Theatre/{{Candide}}'', the actor playing the narrator (Voltaire) also plays Pangloss and a few other characters, and has to perform quick costume changes with no time to duck offstage.
* All minor characters in ''Theatre/LittleShopOfHorrors'' are played by the same actor, according to the official script.
* In ''Theatre/JasperInDeadland'', several of the women in the cast portray the memories of Agnes in Jasper's [[MyLifeFlashedBeforeMyEyes flashback sequence]].
* In ''First Date'', the four ensemble actors, as well as the waiter, play all of the {{flashback}} characters, with on-stage costume changes.
* In certain productions of ''Theatre/{{Parade}}'' that involve smaller casts will inevitably involve actors who play multiple roles.
* Eric Overmyer's ''Theatre/OnTheVerge'' has four actors: three women play one character each, and one man plays everyone else. He ends up playing eight separate characters: [[ImAHumanitarian Alphonse]], [[AbsenceMakesTheHeartGoYonder Grover]], [[BigfootSasquatchAndYeti the Yeti]], [[{{Beatnik}} the Gorge Troll]], [[{{Psychopomp}} Mr. Coffee]], [[InscrutableOriental Madame Nhu]], [[JiveTurkey Gus]], and [[LoungeLizard Nicky Paradise]].
* ''Theatre/{{Urinetown}}'' has a number of supporting roles, and most are [[ActingForTwo doubled]], which means quick costume changes for some cast members.
* ''Theatre/AGentlemansGuideToLoveAndMurder'' has one actor playing all eight main members of the D'Ysquith family [[spoiler: and one less important member right at the end]]. Doesn't sound as impressive as some of the other examples in this subheading, but considering how elaborate the costumes are and how often at least one member is on stage, it's still fairly impressive.
* ''Theatre/PuffsThePlay'': The cast contains a total of eleven actors. The four actors who play the roles of Wayne, Oliver, Megan, and the Narrator generally stick to those roles (with a couple of small exceptions). One actor mainly focuses on playing Cedric for the first half, and then [[spoiler:Voldemort]] in the second half. The other six actors play the rest of the roles, including the other Puffs, the professors, other students (except Ron, who is played by a mop), the founders of Hogwarts, various fantastic beasts, Death Buddies, ghosts, and even a talking bathtub at one point.
* A 1960s British play about a young couple dealing with a succession of unsuitable housekeepers had the gimmick that one actress played all the housekeepers. With some very complicated stage directions when one of them was supposed to be chasing her replacement around the room.
* In-universe examples are part of the general chaos of ''Theatre/PeterPanGoesWrong'', with Annie in particular playing five different roles.
* In ''Theatre/TheTrailToOregon!'' literally every role other than the main five family members is played by Joey Richter, including one memorable scene where he has to switch between playing the Ox and the salesman selling the ox on-stage and mid-song.
* Most productions of ''Theatre/ComeFromAway'' have an EnsembleCast of 12 or so actors who switch between several roles; a necessity for a musical BasedOnATrueStory with so many people involved.
* The musical ''1600 Pennsylvania Avenue'' by Music/LeonardBernstein and Alan Jay Lerner had one actor playing all the Presidents of the United States and one actress playing all of their wives. This doubling culminated in a number about the contested 1876 election titled "Duet for One," which required the leading actress to flip back and forth between the roles of [[UsefulNotes/UlyssesSGrant Julia Grant]] and [[UsefulNotes/RutherfordBHayes Lucy Hayes]].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Video Games]]
* ''VideoGame/SpongeBobSquarePantsLightsCameraPants'': The console version has the characters competing to win roles in an episode of ''The New Adventures of Mermaid Man and Barnacle Boy''. There are eight roles to compete for, and whoever wins the most roles gets the role of the villain. It's possible for one character to win all nine roles, including the roles of both the villain, ''and the villain's stunt double''.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Animation]]
* In ''WebAnimation/RedVsBlue'', Burnie Burns plays Church, Lopez, Vic, and a number of smaller roles, including Omega, the Red Zealot, and most of the AIs in season 6.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Original]]
* Quite common in Website/ThatGuyWithTheGlasses.
** Creator/DougWalker is, among others, the WebVideo/TheNostalgiaCritic, [[WebVideo/BumReviews Chester A Bum]], WebVideo/AskThatGuyWithTheGlasses, [[WebVideo/VideoGameConfessions Dominic the Bartender]], [[WebVideo/DemoReel Donnie DuPre]], [[StrawFan Douchey]] [[ThisLoserIsYou McNitpick]], [[Creator/HunterSThompson Raoul Puke]], [[Franchise/{{Superman}} General Zod]], [[Series/LostInSpace Dr. Smith]], and [[Film/TheRoom Tommy Wiseau]] ([[OldShame along with Melvin, Brother of the Joker and Emo Jones]]).
** ''WebVideo/AtopTheFourthWall'': Linkara also plays Mechakara, 90s Kid, Ensign Munroe, Dr. Linksano, Harvey Finevoice, Cable, Boffo the clown and the Ninja-Style Dancer.
** ''WebVideo/TheSpoonyExperiment'': Creator/NoahAntwiler[=/=]Spoony plays *inhales* Dr. Insano, Chef Ramsay, [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVIII Squall Leonhart]], Literature/FuManchu, Spencer D. Bum, the [[Wrestling/UltimateWarrior Ultimate Spoony]], [[Franchise/PiratesOfTheCaribbean Cap'n Smiling Jack D'Arcy]], the [[TabletopGame/{{Atmosfear}} Gate Cleaner]], [[Wrestling/HulkHogan Hulk Spogan]], [[Film/BattlefieldEarth Terl]], "Spoonette", Spoontock! of the [[Franchise/StarTrek Klingon Empire]], [[VideoGame/{{Ultima}} Chuckles the Fucking Jester]], [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyX Tidus]] and [[CrosscastRole Yuna]], [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII Snow]] and [[VideoGame/{{Ultima}} The Goddamn Avatar]].
** The three cross-over Comicbook/{{Warrior}} reviews between ''WebVideo/AtopTheFourthWall'' and ''WebVideo/TheSpoonyExperiment'' all involve shifts between various versions of Linkara and Spoony for most scene shifts in the film footage. ''Some'' of those alternate versions are played by other actors. Many aren't.
** Creator/BradJones is WebVideo/TheCinemaSnob, WebVideo/KungTaiTed, Vic Dealio of "The Big Box" and WebVideo/EightiesDan.
* Podcast/TheChestnutHillImprovGroup is only three people, two of whom do a lot of voices between them.
* With the rare exception most of the many characters on ''WebVideo/EatYourKimchi'' are played by Simon and Martina.
* ''Website/{{Cracked}}'''s [[http://www.cracked.com/article_19369_the-6-most-mind-blowing-ways-your-brain-can-malfunction.html The 6 Most Mind-Blowing Ways Your Brain Can Malfunction]] mentions the "Fregoli delusion" that several distinct people that someone meets are one person who quickly changes clothes, named after a stage actor famous for quickly changing into different costumes.
* ''WebVideo/DrGlaucomflecken'': Will Flanary plays all the characters in the series except for the OBGYN.
* ''WebVideo/EpicRapBattlesOfHistory'': Majority of the characters were played by series creators [=NicePeter=] and [=EpicLloyd=]. Even in episodes where they do not do the rapping, they will still do cameos as background characters.
* Thomas Sanders plays ''all seven'' characters in ''WebVideo/SandersSides''. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] since the series is about the different [[LiteralSplitPersonality aspects of his personality]].
[[/folder]]
----

* The AnimatedAdaptation of ''LightNovel/MyNextLifeAsAVillainessAllRoutesLeadToDoom'' has fun with this. Besides playing the main character Catarina Claes, actress Creator/MaayaUchida also voices the five members of the "Council of Catarinas" that embody her InnerMonologue[[note]]What each Catarina represents depends on the adaptation; in the manga they're labeled Normal, Chairwoman, Glasses, Semi-Confident, and Semi-Timid; in the anime they're Happy, Chairwoman, Studious, Fearless, and Spineless[[/note]]; accordingly, Uchida receives six separate credits in every episode.

See TalkingToHimself for what this can lead to with voice actors. YouLookFamiliar is this trope applied to characters over the course of a TV series. YouALLLookFamiliar is the video game character model equivalent. If the characters are related, it's an UncannyFamilyResemblance. Compare with ManOfAThousandFaces and ManOfAThousandVoices. Contrast with TwoVoicesOneCharacter. May or may not involve SignificantDoubleCasting.

** In the 2009 CGI film, Jim Carrey plays no less than eight roles, including all ages of Scrooge and all three spirits. In this case, it overlaps with TalkingToHimself.

* The musical ''1600 Pennsylvania Avenue'' by Music/LeonardBernstein and Alan Jay Lerner had one actor playing all the Presidents of the United States and one actress playing all of their wives. This culminated in a number titled "Duet for One," which required the leading actress to flip back and forth between the roles of [[UsefulNotes/UlyssesSGrant Julia Grant]] and [[UsefulNotes/RutherfordBHayes Lucy Hayes]].

* In ''Machinima/RedVsBlue'', Burnie Burns plays Church, Lopez, Vic, and a number of smaller roles, including Omega, the Red Zealot, and most of the AIs in season 6.

* With each member having access to at least four characters in ''Roleplay/MarvelsRPG'', odds are that they will end up with this.

* A 2001 TV advert for the Yellow Pages in UsefulNotes/NewZealand featured Creator/JoelTobeck (of ''[[Series/HerculesTheLegendaryJourneys Hercules]]'' and ''[[Series/XenaWarriorPrincess Xena]]'', and later ''Series/SonsOfAnarchy'', fame) as not just himself, but also a taxi driver, a security guard, a fashion model, and an army of department store assistants.

See TalkingToHimself for what this can lead to with voice actors. YouLookFamiliar is this trope applied to characters over the course of a TV series. YouALLLookFamiliar is the video game character model equivalent. If the characters are related, it's an UncannyFamilyResemblance. Compare with ManOfAThousandFaces and ManOfAThousandVoices. May or may not involve SignificantDoubleCasting.

* The film ''Film/DisasterMovie'' is as two-dimensional as many of the characters in the film; nevertheless, [[http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0054697/?ref_=ttfc_fc_cl_t7 Ike Barinholtz]] portrayed seven different characters: [[Series/AmericanGladiators Wolf,]] [[Film/NoCountryForOldMen Anton Chigurh,]] Police Officer, [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Film/Hellboy Hellboy,]] [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Franchise/Batman?from=Main.Batman Batman,]] [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Film/Beowulf Beowolf,]] and [[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Literature/PrinceCaspian?from=Film.PrinceCaspian Prince Caspian.]]

* In ''Theatre/JasperInDeadland'', several of the women in the cast appear in Jasper's [[MyLifeFlashedBeforeMyEyes flashback sequence]] as a memory of Agnes.