25 actors who played multiple roles on the same show

From Mark Ruffalo's "I Know This Much Is True" to Jenna Ortega on "Wednesday," here are TV stars who took on more than one part.

Double the characters, double the fun. It's always a treat when actors show off their range by playing multiple roles on the same show, whether the dynamic be twins, clones, or family members of different generations. Actors like Tatiana Maslany and Mark Ruffalo have even won Emmys for their multifaceted work playing more than one character throughout their respective series.

Here are our picks for the best instances of stars playing multiple characters on the same show, from series-spanning dual roles to guest stars showing up as a completely different character than their previous one.

Mark Ruffalo, I Know This Much Is True (2020)

On the HBO miniseries I Know This Much Is True, based on the novel of the same by Wally Lamb, Mark Ruffalo plays twin brothers Dominick and Thomas Birdsey. After a violent act of self-harm lands Thomas (who's living with schizophrenia) in an institution, caregiver Dominick fights to rescue his brother from being housed in a dangerous facility, forcing him to confront not only his pain from trauma in his life, but, in a series of flashbacks, a fractured family history hidden from him — but not from his twin. Ruffalo won an Emmy for his dual performances. —Christian Holub

Paul Rudd, Living With Yourself

Paul Rudd was double-billed on the Netflix show he produced, starring as both Miles Elliot and his clone. —C.H.

Tatiana Maslany, Orphan Black

The reigning queen of this acting style, Tatiana Maslany won an Emmy in 2016 for her work playing more than a dozen clones of Sarah Manning on Orphan Black. —C.H.

Related: Orphan Black star Tatiana Maslany on the Clone Club: 'It's the reason you do your job'

Tobias Menzies, Outlander

Perhaps the eeriest element of Outlander's time travel is the strong familial resemblance between Frank Randall (Tobias Menzies), the 20th-century husband of Claire (Caitríona Balfe), and his ancestor Black Jack Randall, the terror of 18th-century Scotland. —C.H.

Justin Theroux, Sex and the City

While procedurals like Law & Order sometimes bring in guest actors who previously appeared on the show to play someone new, Sex and the City amusingly did this with Justin Theroux from seasons 1 to 2.

In the first season, Theroux played a braggadocious author named Jared whom Carrie (Sarah Jessica Parker) briefly meets and wants nothing to do with. He came back for season 2 — this time with a shorter haircut and glasses — as another writer, Vaughn, whom Carrie is in a relationship with but soon dumps. We're still waiting for Theroux to come back and strike out a third time with Carrie on And Just Like That. —Kevin Jacobsen

Related: Why Justin Theroux played two different roles on Sex and the City

Jeffrey Tambor, Arrested Development

Bluth patriarch George Sr. (Jeffrey Tambor) is mostly in prison or on the run from authorities on Arrested Development, while his twin brother, Oscar (also played by Tambor), is decidedly more carefree. His long, flowing hair is his major distinguishing feature — which his brother eventually cuts to trick the police into arresting Oscar rather than him. —K.J.

Nina Dobrev, The Vampire Diaries

Originally, it is something of a mystery why the Salvatore vampire brothers are so fascinated by teen orphan Elena Gilbert (Nina Dobrev) on The Vampire Diaries. Eventually, it becomes clear that Elena is a doppelg?nger of Katherine Pierce, the vampire who originally turned Stefan (Paul Wesley) and Damon (Ian Somerhalder). As a result, Dobrev was playing both the primary hero and main villain of the show for multiple seasons.

In time, it is revealed that both Elena and Katherine are themselves doppelg?ngers of Amara, the original immortal woman. Dobrev played another doppelg?nger of that same line, Tatia, on the spinoff series The Originals. —C.H.

Related: Megan Thee Stallion won't put up with Elena hate from Vampire Diaries fans

James Franco, The Deuce

The title of The Deuce, David Simon's HBO show about the Golden Age of Porn, has multiple meanings. On the most basic level, it recalls an old nickname for 42nd Street in Times Square (a major hub of that era), but also refers to star James Franco pulling double duty as twin brothers: bartender Vincent Martino and gambler Frankie Martino. —C.H.

D'Arcy Carden, The Good Place

D'Arcy Carden started The Good Place as Janet, an indispensable guide to the show's version of the afterlife. But, just as the Good Place has its opposite in the Bad Place, so, too, does Janet have an evil equivalent: Bad Janet, who loves texting and hates being helpful. (And don't forget Neutral Janet and Disco Janet...) But things get even wilder when everyone on the show becomes Janet for an episode. —C.H.

Jaleel White, Family Matters

As Steve Urkel on Family Matters, Jaleel White embodies the archetypal nerd — complete with huge glasses, an annoying voice, and an unrequited crush on Laura Winslow (Kellie Shanygne Williams). But, eventually, Steve uses his nerdy smarts to invent technology capable of transforming himself into a more suave alter ego: Stefan Urquelle. —C.H.

Ewan McGregor, Fargo

Ewan McGregor impressively did double duty as brothers Emmit and Ray Stussy in the third season of Fargo. The older Emmit is the more outwardly successful one, owning a parking lot empire, while the younger Ray is a financially insecure parole officer who decides to rob his wealthy brother. —K.J.

Related: Ewan McGregor says his Fargo character is like Trump

Garret Dillahunt, Deadwood

It's a testament to Garret Dillahunt's abilities as a character actor that he managed to play two completely different characters over the course of Deadwood's run, without any real connection between them. In season 1, he was Jack McCall, the killer of Wild Bill Hickok. But the actor returned in season 2 as Francis Wolcott, chief geologist for the Hearst mining operation (with a penchant for murdering sex workers). —C.H.

Terry O'Quinn, Lost

As John Locke, Terry O'Quinn was one of the defining characters on Lost — certainly one of the first Oceanic Flight 815 survivors to embrace the mystical qualities of the Island. But, in the final seasons, Locke's form is stolen by the Man in Black, who uses it to taunt the other survivors as he makes his final plans.

Funny enough, this wasn't even O'Quinn's first time doing double-time on a show. He also played multiple characters over the course of The X-Files, though they were much less prominent. —C.H.

Ali Larter, Heroes

Even in season 1 of Heroes, it felt like Ali Larter was portraying two different characters because loving mom Niki Saunders could only access her super-strength when her alternate personality "Jessica" was in control. But Niki's death at the end of season 2 didn't stop Larter from starring in season 3. This time she was playing Tracy Strauss, a separated-at-birth identical sibling of Niki's with the power to manipulate ice and cold. —C.H.

Donald Glover, Atlanta

As the creator, star, and showrunner of Atlanta, Donald Glover's presence was all over the critically acclaimed FX dramedy, usually in the form of protagonist Earn. But he went a step further in season 2, putting on whiteface to portray the ethereal Teddy Perkins character who almost succeeds in killing LaKeith Stanfield's Darius. —C.H.

Related: Atlanta: Hiro Murai says directing 'Teddy Perkins' was 'very unnerving'

Sarah Paulson, American Horror Story: Freak Show

Due to the anthology format of American Horror Story, actors like Jessica Lange and Evan Peters played a new character each season, but Sarah Paulson took it to a new level with her dual performance in Freak Show, the series' fourth season. Paulson played Bette and Dot Tattler, conjoined twins working at a freak show in the early-'50s who have distinctly opposing personalities: Bette is the idealistic dreamer while Dot is cynical and more protective. —K.J.

Related: The 16 best American Horror Story characters, from Tate Langdon to Twisty

Peter Capaldi, Doctor Who

Peter Capaldi is a lifelong Doctor Who fan, so it's easy to imagine him leaping at the chance to play Roman official Caecilius in "The Fires of Pompeii" episode during the run of David Tennant's Tenth Doctor. Who could've predicted that a few years later Capaldi would return to Doctor Who, this time to play the Twelfth Doctor?

Funnily enough, "The Fires of Pompeii" also featured a minor role by Karen Gillan, who would also return to the show (though sooner than Capaldi) to portray the Doctor's companion, Amy Pond. Other Doctor Who alums who appeared in multiple roles include Freema Agyeman (who guest starred in a 2006 episode before notably playing companion Martha Jones alongside the Tenth Doctor) and Eve Myles (who guested as Gwyneth in a 2005 episode and then co-led the spinoff Torchwood as Gwen Cooper, who then appeared on Doctor Who in 2008). —C.H. and K.J.

Patton Oswalt, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

A classic concept in Marvel's S.H.I.E.L.D. comics is the "Life Model Decoy," robots that could stand in for VIPs like Nick Fury. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. organically replicated the effect in the form of the three Koenig brothers, all played by Patton Oswalt. Eric Koenig is the first, and helps play an instrumental role in saving Phil Coulson (Clark Gregg) and his team from the HYDRA coup in the back half of season 1. But, after Eric is killed by a HYDRA sleeper, Oswalt returned in the roles of his identical brothers Sam and Billy, who carry on their late brother's upbeat attitude, video game obsession, and steadfast guarding of secret spy bases.

In season 6 of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., star Gregg also got to try playing multiple characters. In the wake of Coulson's death, Gregg returned to the show as Sarge, a mysterious man from another dimension with strange ties to Coulson. —C.H.

Yael Grobglas, Jane the Virgin

As if playing devious schemer Petra Solano wasn't enough, Yael Grobglas started pulling double duty as Petra's long-lost twin sister, Anezka Archuletta, on Jane the Virgin. —C.H.

Jeffrey Wright, Westworld

Jeffrey Wright was the face of Westworld, at least in season 1. Whenever Bernard takes his glasses off because he can't understand the data he's getting from one of the hosts, it's a representation of every viewer trying to decipher the complex plot mechanics. Eventually, we learn his face is even more important than that: Bernard himself is a host, made in the image of Westworld co-founder Arnold, who appears in some crucial flashbacks. —C.H.

Jerry Orbach, Law & Order

Jerry Orbach's first appearance on Law & Order came during the season 2 episode "The Wages of Love," where he played a defense attorney named Frank Lehrmann. Little could anyone have guessed that Orbach would return to the show a year later to begin his iconic 12-season run as Det. Lennie Briscoe. —C.H.

Lisa Kudrow, Friends

Friends had a lot of guest stars, but it also wasn't afraid to give its core cast multiple characters to play. Lisa Kudrow played both Phoebe Buffay and Phoebe's twin sister, Ursula Buffay, who first appeared on Mad About You.

This dynamic lasted longer than the one episode where David Schwimmer pulled double duty as Rachel's (Jennifer Aniston) new boyfriend, Russ. —C.H.

Related: Friends star Lisa Kudrow hated playing Ursula and 4 more things you didn't know about the NBC comedy

Sheryl Lee, Twin Peaks

For most actors, playing a dead body would be the end of their time on a show. But the death of Laura Palmer in the first episode of Twin Peaks was just the beginning of Sheryl Lee's work on the franchise. Later in the first season, Laura's identical (albeit brunette) cousin Maddy Ferguson shows up to help with the investigation. Lee expanded on the role of Laura in the movie prequel Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me. In the 2017 revival Twin Peaks: The Return, Lee played Carrie Page, whose resemblance to Laura Palmer is a source of fascination to Dale Cooper (Kyle MacLachlan). —C.H.

Martin Lawrence, Martin

Martin Lawrence's titular sitcom featured him in the starring role of Detroit radio DJ Martin Payne, but he also channeled his comedic talents into other characters like Sheneneh Jenkins, martial arts expert Dragonfly Jones, his own character's mother Mama Payne, and more. Martin certainly set the standard for comedic successors like The Kroll Show. —C.H.

Jenna Ortega, Wednesday

While Jenna Ortega mostly plays the deadpan Wednesday Addams on Netflix's Wednesday, she also appears intermittently as Goody Addams, an ancestor of hers from the 1600s. And, as it turns out, psychic powers run in the Addams family, as we see how Wednesday and Goody possess similar abilities, and the latter tries to guide her descendant from the great beyond. —K.J.

Related: Jenna Ortega didn't ask Christina Ricci for any Wednesday Addams advice on set: 'I didn't want to rip her off'

Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly.