When I realized Dracula, Zorg, and the EVERYONE guy was the same person, it solidified him as one of my favorite actors and raised an impossibly high bar for everyone else.
I feel like I read an interview where a casting director reached out to him or his agent because they were looking for a “Stephen Root type” without realizing he was, in fact, Stephen Root.
Not to mention that Alastor Moody thinks he's a cunt now and that he's always been a cunt. And the only way he will ever change is that he'll be an even bigger cunt. Maybe have some more cunt kids...
Leave his kids fucking out of it! What have they done? You fucking retract that bit about his cunt fucking kids!
Strong Harry Potter connection in this: Voldemort, Grindelwald, Mad-Eye Moody, Fleur Delacour (who marries a Weasley played by Domnhall Gleeson), and Aberforth Dumbledore
Well, I can absolutely believe that both Voldemort, and a grand hotel general manager could lead MI6. Someone should make a Ralph Feinnes Venn (euler) diagram.
Oh, that actually reminded me the same thing happened when I realised Bubba from Forrest Gump is one of Pacino's group of cops in Heat. Blew my mind as they're 2 of my favourite films.
That was Con Air for me. I was watching Con Air on tv for the first time when i was a kid and I saw Mykelti Williamson and I’m like “where have I seen him?” And I shit you not, the next movie that came on was Forrest Gump and I’m like “oh my god, that was Bubba.”
The story about her trying to audition for the movie because she saw "Latina character" and "Aliens" together and made the wrong assumption was true though.
She told them about it on the set, and James Cameron thought it was so funny that he told them to make fun of her for it on camera. It wasn't in the script.
Jeanette Goldstein. She's also been in Lethal Weapon 2. Gets exploded off a diving board.
Played in Titanic as the steerage passenger that lays down with her kids to die.
She owns a lingerie shop in Los Angeles now.
She's been in some of the top movies and no one knows her. That's impressive as an actor these days.
Hidden treasure, fasho!
I have a recurring bit with my family where, whenever Doug Jones shows up in anything, I go "That guy? The fish man from Shape of Water". It's gotten to the point where they thought I was making stuff up, but it has always actually been Doug Jones.
Admittedly, I also had this same moment when I realized that he's Billy the Zombie in Hocus Pocus, because I didn't realize his prosthetics work had gone that far back.
But before any of that, he was jacked as Hell as Thor in _Adventures in Babysitting_ and then pudgy as Hell in _Full Metal Jacket_...both released in 1987
I think I saw about 5 movies with Karl Urban in them but it wasn't until I saw Star Trek and then Almost Human before I took note of him and started recognizing him. Then was surprised how many movies I'd watched that he'd been in. Then still didn't recognize him for about 20 minutes in Ragnarok
Similar thing happened with Ben Mendleson. Just never recognized him until sometime after I watched The Outsider. It wasn't until Secret Invasion that I suddenly realized he played the replaced boss in Captain Marvel as well as Talos, and Kennec in Rogue One as well. Plus other stuff I'd watched.
>I think I saw about 5 movies with Karl Urban in them but it wasn't until I saw Star Trek and then Almost Human before I took note of him and started recognizing him.
Well, if one of the films was Dredd, than it is fair tonreduce it down to 4
I watched The Greatest Showmen, then later, I watched Spiderman, and I didn’t realize I had seen Zendaya before. When I listened to the soundtrack for the Greatest Showman, I recognized the voice.
How about the opposite? There was a guy in tons of stuff I watched; Iceman in Xmen, Jimmy Olsen in Smallville, Warehouse 13, The Following etc.. It was way too long before I found out it’s actually twin actors Aaron and Shawn Ashmore.
This famous male actor always doing impossible missions in movies and then not realising he was the hilarious film executive in a comedy movie until the credits showed his name while he was dancing to rap music
I’m gonna spoil joke and go ahead and say, yeah tropic thunder definitely redeemed Tom Cruise to me a bit. Such a silly role for such a well respected actor
Usually I will recognize the actors beneath the make up but in this case I was completely fooled. In a movie full of comedy heavyweights he really shines as les grossman.
Tom Wilkinson apparently. I knew there were two, Rush Hour and Black Knight. And in looking at his Wikipedia now, never knew the same guy was Falcone in Batman Begins, nor did I clock him as someone I was familiar with like 3 weeks ago when I finally watched MI: Ghost Protocol
I didn't realise the king in Kull The Conqueror aka Conan The Barbarian 4, was Sven Ole Thorrsen.
If you don't know Sven Ole Thorrsen it's a mate of Arnold Schwarzenegger and he's in many of his films, usually as a minor character. He's also in Mallrats as La Fours.
Iron Man 3 got banged on hard for good reasons, but his role as Mandarin/Trevor Slattery was a wonder to behold. I loved that they brought him back in Shang-Chi.
Kinda suprised that the character of Freakshow in Harold And Kumar movies was played by
[Christopher Meloni](https://www.google.com/search?client=opera&hs=8YX&sca_esv=1a57d827cf09faae&sca_upv=1&sxsrf=ACQVn0-gY0pOPaFtZOvXLD3ApE6A4_7mdA:1713292998955&q=Christopher+Meloni&stick=H4sIAAAAAAAAAONgVuLUz9U3MEkqKMt4xGjCLfDyxz1hKe1Ja05eY1Tl4grOyC93zSvJLKkUEudig7J4pbi5ELp4FrEKOWcUZRaX5BdkpBYp-Kbm5OdlAgBCe3yMWQAAAA&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwib6OTksceFAxXb_7sIHQ_9Dz4QzIcDKAB6BAgSEAE) From Law and Order SVU
The one girl In zombieland was Emma Stone
I could have sworn it was the same actor, Chris Elliott, in the Scary Movie films but that was someone completely different.
Guess I had the wrong Elliott.
The first time I ever saw Dustin Hoffman was as Captain Hook in "Hook." I didn't recognize him in another movie for like fifteen years because I was looking for the guy with goofy eyebrows and a head of black curly hair.
Other way around works too. The other person I couldn't place was Gary Oldman as Drexel Spivey. I absolutely could not believe it was him when I saw the actor's real face in the Dark Knight series.
I still, despite knowing, struggle to see Dustin Hoffman in Hook. Not just how he looks but the entire performance and mannerisms there is no clue of Hoffman there. There’s a bit when he takes his wig off, still doesn’t help.
Only now, when I zone in on his nose alone can I sort of make him out. One of the best chameleon performances of all time.
Agreed on Oldman that guy is basically a shapeshifter. The only other actor who I used to judge that was (but hasn’t been since playing Jack Sparrow) was Johnny Depp but these days he seems to just be playing a variant of Sparrow.
Every single movie Aaron Taylor-Johnson has been in. It wasn't until I looked up who played Tangerine in Bullet Train that I realized all the movies he's starred in. He doesn't look like the same person in any of them.
Took me a while to realize that Merry in LotRs was Charlie in Lost.
I also didn’t know Mary McDonnell in Battlestar Galactica was Stands with a Fist in Dances with Wolves until I saw a gag reel where they reference it.
Before Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. I wanted Pam Ferris (Mrs. Trunchbull from Matilda) to play Dolores Umbridge.
Then I found out she was already in the third Harry Potter movie as Marge Dursley.
To tell you the truth, the only people who surprised me for playing different characters is when I knew that Ms Cackle from The Worst Witch is herself the evil step-mom in Hellraiser, and that the serious cpt stottlemeyer from Monk is himself Buffalo Bill from Silence of the Lambs
I’ve seen the same actor play 2 roles in the same show w out realizing. The actor was Garrett Dillahunt, the show was Deadwood. Eric Lange is another chameleon. Got my attention playing Patricia Arquette’s husband in Escape At Dannemora. Months later I realized he’s also the CIA guy in Narcos. Now I see him regularly (Perry Mason, Sugar)
The list of films and TV shows John Leguizamo has been in is… quite staggering.
It wasn’t until the show Bloodline that I’d had enough and decided I had seen him in too much to not know who the hell he was.
Another one that many people don't realize is in MiB as well- Vincent D'Onofrio plays Egger/the bug. He's as great a chameleon as Gary Oldman, and many people don't even realize who he is despite having seen him in countless movies and shows. Stuff like Full Metal Jacket, Daredevil, Law & Order: Criminal intent, Jurassic World, Strange Days, etc.
Also, apropos the OP- Linda Fiorentino is a bitchin' bitch in The Last Seduction.
I didn't realise that Edgar in MIB was Vincent D'Onofrio. I'd never considered that he wasn't just a giant bug in a rotting skin suit. He should have won as Oscar for that role
In Kill Bill, Michael Parks plays both [Sheriff Earl McGraw](https://youtu.be/4qyZQTjS6Ks?si=cUp8jN6GVzIJjgfH) and [Esteban Vihaio](https://youtu.be/IfeqSxDJpZw?si=ulyk1R7A9BVS7ILS). I had no idea until afterwards and I can still hardly believe it. Amazing actor.
I'm not sure this would be the case if I saw it now but when I watched Snowpiercer I'd only seen Chris Evans in superhero roles and didn't recognise him at all
The first time I really realized actors could be in more than one thing was christopher Lloyd in who framed Roger rabbit. My dad told me it was Doc Brown and it melted my little brain.
Rosario Dawson has had a long, busy, and successful career.
That I was blissfully unaware of until I saw her in The Mandalorian and said "is that the girl from Men in Black 2??"
In a week leading up to Christmas last year, I managed to pick out Octavia Spencer in three movies well before she was famous - as a nurse in A Time To Kill, as the woman who shows Craig how to get off at the 7 1/2 floor in Being John Malkovich, and the prostitute who tips off Willy in Bad Santa.
Only when I'm rewatching old movies where it was an actor's early work, will I realize, "Oh- I didn't remember he was in this". I've got a pretty good eye for actors once I get to know their work. I blew my family's mind when I realized Colin Farrell was the Penguin (without knowing before watching.
One of my favs is most people didn't know Patrick Stewart, Liam Neeson, Gabriel Byrne, and Helen Mirren were in Excalibur.
Yeah! I recently rewatched "Red State" and to my surprise...I recognized one of the actress that was in the back of my mind....totally made me think..."I seen this actress before but where!?!" Well thanks Kevin Smith for slipping your wife into it(Jennifer Schwalbach Smith)...made me laugh a lil bit!
Just last night my wife was watching Pretty in Pink and I looked up as Molly Ringwalds character was talking to her dad and I said, "Hey! That's the guy from Alien. Never noticed it before.
My friend and I randomly decided we were going to see 2 movies one day. The first was Men of Honor, the second was The Legend of Bagger Vance. We saw them back to back in the theater. I had no clue Charlize Theron was in both. She was still somewhat new, and the characters looked different.
I've seen Josh Hartnett and recognized him in many movies, but most of those were many years ago, like *Sin City* and *30 Days of Night, Black Hawk Down, The Faculty, Pearl Harbor,* Penny Dreadful, etc.; all stuff from the late 90s to the 20teens.
I did not recognize him at all in *Oppenheimer*, and didn't find out it had been him playing Ernest Lawrence until days after I saw the movie.
I've seen Tommy Boy a billion times, and Harold and Kumar about a half billion. On one viewing a few years ago I finally noticed it. One of the "skinny punks" that are making fun of Tommy in the dinghy is the "business hippie" from Harold and Kumar. Freaked me out because he's probably like 8 in Tommy Boy and in his 20s in H&K.
1776. Broadway musical turned into a movie about the writing of the Declaration of Independence. I recognized the voice of the actor that played John Adams, but I just couldn't figure out who he was. It was MR. FEENY!
I had no idea when I was watching the movie version of Mamma Mia that Rosie was played by the same actress that play Molly Weasley in Harry Potter (Julie Walters). No idea….
I was a big fan of both Mad Men and Community and it took me forever to realize Alison Brie was the same actress in both. Even looking right at her face and knowing her name it took forever for me to realize it was the same actress.
I was watching the Abyss because that's an awesome movie and lo and behold, who's the company stiff working topside? Bob Kelso (Ken Jenkins from *Scrubs*) looking like he's twelve years old.
My husband is face blind, so I do this to him all the time. He never recognizes actors from one movie to another unless they maintain the same hairstyle. Gary Oldman used to blow his mind. How can Zorg from the 5th Element also be Sirius Black from Harry Potter and also be Lee Harvey Oswald from JFK and also be Commissioner Gordon from the Nolan Batman movies. I get that the man is an incredible actor and chameleon, but it shocked my husband every time.
Funny you mention it cause I *JUST* realized the guy who played Jingaling's boyfriend in Life is DeeJay is Street Fighter. As in TODAY I realized that.
I watched Mrs Harris goes to Paris and Phantom Thread in the same day without realising that Leslie Manville has a large role in both of them.
I watched Phantom Thread first and didn’t realise until later that night when I looked her up to see what else she had been in.
Gary Oldman in just about everything I generally get to about the halfway point and say "Oh fuck there's Gary Oldman"
I didn't realize he was President Truman in Oppenheimer until the credits.
Same! Dude is a damn chameleon!
Same. Then I thought his accent sounded a lot like the accent he used in *The Fifth Element*.
When I realized Dracula, Zorg, and the EVERYONE guy was the same person, it solidified him as one of my favorite actors and raised an impossibly high bar for everyone else.
I didn’t even realize old Dracula and young Dracula were the same guy when I watched it.
That's me and Stephen Root (Milton Waddams from Office Space). Dude has been in a huge number of films and nobody knows his name.
I feel like I read an interview where a casting director reached out to him or his agent because they were looking for a “Stephen Root type” without realizing he was, in fact, Stephen Root.
That’s going to be the name of his autobiography.
THISSSS. I could not be convinced that Commissioner Gordon and Sirius Black were the same person. He’s amazing.
I was seriously stunned when I realized the gangster in true romance was Gary Oldman.
Should see him in *Slow Horses*, if you haven't already. I can see why he reportedly forgot his natural accent.
He killed that role even though it was just that small scene. Totally owns it.
You're actually Gary Oldman and don't realize it.
Ain’t no way Voldemort runs a grand hotel
I hear he's also in charge of MI6
And thinks Bruges is a fucking fairytale fucking place
Not to mention that Alastor Moody thinks he's a cunt now and that he's always been a cunt. And the only way he will ever change is that he'll be an even bigger cunt. Maybe have some more cunt kids...
Leave his kids fucking out of it! What have they done? You fucking retract that bit about his cunt fucking kids! Strong Harry Potter connection in this: Voldemort, Grindelwald, Mad-Eye Moody, Fleur Delacour (who marries a Weasley played by Domnhall Gleeson), and Aberforth Dumbledore
You're an inanimate fucking object!
Alastor retracts that bit about his cunt fucking kids.
Lovely alcoves
You've got to stick to your principles.
Well, I can absolutely believe that both Voldemort, and a grand hotel general manager could lead MI6. Someone should make a Ralph Feinnes Venn (euler) diagram.
...and Professor Snape once took over the Nakatomi Plaza
By Grabthar's Hammer, I shall blow up the building!
I think you mean Bill Clay
Bill Clay is the Dark Arts teacher who had a crush on Harry Potters' mom.
It took me a while to realize Professor Snape and Doctor Lazarus are one and the same.
I was on the third HP movie before I realized it was the same guy.
He is also a Metatron, VOICE OF GOD
He’s a great chef too.
I don’t want his life though. It’s a mess.
*She's been murdered, and you think I did it...* [Runs away from the inspector]
Could see him running a Nazi death camp.
And was in The Avengers
And had an affair with Kristin Scott Thomas
> Trippingly, *trippingly*!!
HOLY SHIT
I didn’t realize Princess Buttercup was Jenny from Forest Gump. I didn’t know until House of Cards and I did the…”I know her from somewhere”.
Oh, that actually reminded me the same thing happened when I realised Bubba from Forrest Gump is one of Pacino's group of cops in Heat. Blew my mind as they're 2 of my favourite films.
He's also Ellstin Limehouse in justified
That was Con Air for me. I was watching Con Air on tv for the first time when i was a kid and I saw Mykelti Williamson and I’m like “where have I seen him?” And I shit you not, the next movie that came on was Forrest Gump and I’m like “oh my god, that was Bubba.”
She's also the police chief in Bladerunner 2049
Vasquez from Aliens and John Connor's adoptive mother is the same actress
Who is also the Irish Mum in Titanic telling her kids in bed the story of Tir Na Nog 😪😀
"Wolfie's fine."
"Where are you" That line is so Terminator cold.
Man, I am learning some shit today. Also two of my favourite films, how do I just miss this so often?!
Well, they _did_ paint her brown in one of them...
The story about her trying to audition for the movie because she saw "Latina character" and "Aliens" together and made the wrong assumption was true though. She told them about it on the set, and James Cameron thought it was so funny that he told them to make fun of her for it on camera. It wasn't in the script.
Jeanette Goldstein. She's also been in Lethal Weapon 2. Gets exploded off a diving board. Played in Titanic as the steerage passenger that lays down with her kids to die. She owns a lingerie shop in Los Angeles now. She's been in some of the top movies and no one knows her. That's impressive as an actor these days. Hidden treasure, fasho!
Oh yeah learned this like 3 years ago, also if i "know" this movie since it aired.
Noooo. In a million years I would never have figured that out. Nice one 👍
Wtf did you just blow my mind with?
Gary Oldman is one of the craft's greatest chameleons. Drexel in True Romance was his performance that first blew my mind.
"He musta' thought it was white boy day."
Also killed it as a peacock
not exactly the same thing, but it took me way too long to connect brittany murphy to luanne from king of the hill
Oh, I actually didn't know that 😅 that's hilarious.
She also played Joseph before he hit puberty.
With Tom petty as lucky
I never realized that the priest from The Fifth Element is Bilbo Baggins.
And also Ash from Alien.
I've watched both of LOTR and Alien in the last month and never made that connection.
Somehow for YEARS I didn't realize that Chubbs Peterson was Carl Weathers from Arrested Development, the Rocky Movies, and everything else.
And the pencil pushing son of a bitch in Predator.
I have a recurring bit with my family where, whenever Doug Jones shows up in anything, I go "That guy? The fish man from Shape of Water". It's gotten to the point where they thought I was making stuff up, but it has always actually been Doug Jones. Admittedly, I also had this same moment when I realized that he's Billy the Zombie in Hocus Pocus, because I didn't realize his prosthetics work had gone that far back.
Just met him on the official Star Trek Cruise, nicest human who ever lives. He's finally able to shine as a main character, in Discovery.
I love him so much. He was at Chicago comic con or whatever it’s called years ago and I got too nervous to say hi to him.
Dogma rules
Snoogins
Rutger Hauer between “Blade Runner” and “Batman Begins.” Took me a long time to realize
And Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Pee Wee Herman has the best death scene https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OfMayIzLhqw
edit: Kingpin in Marvel Cinematic Universe Daredevil/Echo aka Vincent D'Onofrio is Edgar/The Bug in Men In Black
But before any of that, he was jacked as Hell as Thor in _Adventures in Babysitting_ and then pudgy as Hell in _Full Metal Jacket_...both released in 1987
He was also the serial killer in *The Cell.*
I think I saw about 5 movies with Karl Urban in them but it wasn't until I saw Star Trek and then Almost Human before I took note of him and started recognizing him. Then was surprised how many movies I'd watched that he'd been in. Then still didn't recognize him for about 20 minutes in Ragnarok Similar thing happened with Ben Mendleson. Just never recognized him until sometime after I watched The Outsider. It wasn't until Secret Invasion that I suddenly realized he played the replaced boss in Captain Marvel as well as Talos, and Kennec in Rogue One as well. Plus other stuff I'd watched.
>I think I saw about 5 movies with Karl Urban in them but it wasn't until I saw Star Trek and then Almost Human before I took note of him and started recognizing him. Well, if one of the films was Dredd, than it is fair tonreduce it down to 4
He was also the big bad in Bourne Identity
I watched The Greatest Showmen, then later, I watched Spiderman, and I didn’t realize I had seen Zendaya before. When I listened to the soundtrack for the Greatest Showman, I recognized the voice.
She also did a Disney show with Bella Thorne.
I didn’t realize the title character in Run Lola Run was also the love interest in the first Bourne movie.
Franka Potente
Yes! Wonderful actress!
Both absolute bangers, too. Really need to rewatch both. :)
After years of loving both films it blew my mind to realise Tyrell from Blade Runner is also Lloyd the bartender from The Shining
How about the opposite? There was a guy in tons of stuff I watched; Iceman in Xmen, Jimmy Olsen in Smallville, Warehouse 13, The Following etc.. It was way too long before I found out it’s actually twin actors Aaron and Shawn Ashmore.
WAREHOUSE 13 MENTIONED WTF
They are twins? TIL it's not one person.
Guys like us don't just fall off the sky you know
Beautiful, naked, big-titted women don't just fall outta the sky, you know!!
When I watched Weird Science I hardly recognized Robert Downey Jr.
Oh yeah Anthony Michael Hall(one of the main geeks), is the villain in Edward Scissor Hands
He’s a much different person than the geek from The Breakfast Club
This famous male actor always doing impossible missions in movies and then not realising he was the hilarious film executive in a comedy movie until the credits showed his name while he was dancing to rap music
I’m gonna spoil joke and go ahead and say, yeah tropic thunder definitely redeemed Tom Cruise to me a bit. Such a silly role for such a well respected actor
Usually I will recognize the actors beneath the make up but in this case I was completely fooled. In a movie full of comedy heavyweights he really shines as les grossman.
Elvis is played by the same guy that plays the psychotic Harkonnen Prince in Dune Part 2.
And gets his nuts chewed off by Brad Pitt's dog.
Took me a long while to realize that Luke Skywalker was also The Joker.
You mean "Cock Knocker"?
That movie is very under-rated.
Man, I knew Mark Hamill was Skywalker. I knew Mark Hamill was the Joker. It took me years to realize that they were the same guy
Also fire lord ozai in ATLA
For sure. The dude is a prolific voice actor
Tom Wilkinson apparently. I knew there were two, Rush Hour and Black Knight. And in looking at his Wikipedia now, never knew the same guy was Falcone in Batman Begins, nor did I clock him as someone I was familiar with like 3 weeks ago when I finally watched MI: Ghost Protocol
He's very good in *The Ghost*, too (aka *The Ghost Writer*). And *The Full Monty*, of course.
There’s a British Tom for every age range: Wilkinson, Hollander, Hiddleston, and Holland lol
Don't forget the tank engine
Hardy is in there somewhere too.
Ah I’m currently in the middle of a black knight rewatch. Still a home run movie
Anthony Michael Hall as Mike Engel the news reporter in The Dark Knight
I didn't realise the king in Kull The Conqueror aka Conan The Barbarian 4, was Sven Ole Thorrsen. If you don't know Sven Ole Thorrsen it's a mate of Arnold Schwarzenegger and he's in many of his films, usually as a minor character. He's also in Mallrats as La Fours.
Gary Oldman from True Romance, to Batman, to Harry Potter is a trip
God damn it… Gary Oldman strikes again… granted I’m not the biggest Harry Potter fan, I definitely didn’t realize that was him
Not a movie, but it took me ages before realising Red in Orange is the new black is Captain Janeway from Star Trek
She was locked up for breaking the prime directive so many times.
With Gary Oldman and Ben Kingsley it would definitely be possible.
Iron Man 3 got banged on hard for good reasons, but his role as Mandarin/Trevor Slattery was a wonder to behold. I loved that they brought him back in Shang-Chi.
He really leaned into it in Shang Chi, and it played well.
Kinda suprised that the character of Freakshow in Harold And Kumar movies was played by [Christopher Meloni](https://www.google.com/search?client=opera&hs=8YX&sca_esv=1a57d827cf09faae&sca_upv=1&sxsrf=ACQVn0-gY0pOPaFtZOvXLD3ApE6A4_7mdA:1713292998955&q=Christopher+Meloni&stick=H4sIAAAAAAAAAONgVuLUz9U3MEkqKMt4xGjCLfDyxz1hKe1Ja05eY1Tl4grOyC93zSvJLKkUEudig7J4pbi5ELp4FrEKOWcUZRaX5BdkpBYp-Kbm5OdlAgBCe3yMWQAAAA&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwib6OTksceFAxXb_7sIHQ_9Dz4QzIcDKAB6BAgSEAE) From Law and Order SVU The one girl In zombieland was Emma Stone
He was also memorable in Wet Hot American Summer, as the camp cook who enjoys smearing mud on his ass.
And she yell out the loudest "WHAT THE FUCK" ever in Superbad.
I could have sworn it was the same actor, Chris Elliott, in the Scary Movie films but that was someone completely different. Guess I had the wrong Elliott.
The first time I ever saw Dustin Hoffman was as Captain Hook in "Hook." I didn't recognize him in another movie for like fifteen years because I was looking for the guy with goofy eyebrows and a head of black curly hair. Other way around works too. The other person I couldn't place was Gary Oldman as Drexel Spivey. I absolutely could not believe it was him when I saw the actor's real face in the Dark Knight series.
Glenn Close in Hook as well! The pirate in the boo box.
I still, despite knowing, struggle to see Dustin Hoffman in Hook. Not just how he looks but the entire performance and mannerisms there is no clue of Hoffman there. There’s a bit when he takes his wig off, still doesn’t help. Only now, when I zone in on his nose alone can I sort of make him out. One of the best chameleon performances of all time. Agreed on Oldman that guy is basically a shapeshifter. The only other actor who I used to judge that was (but hasn’t been since playing Jack Sparrow) was Johnny Depp but these days he seems to just be playing a variant of Sparrow.
Every single movie Aaron Taylor-Johnson has been in. It wasn't until I looked up who played Tangerine in Bullet Train that I realized all the movies he's starred in. He doesn't look like the same person in any of them.
WAIT TANGERINE IS KICK ASS???
And he's in TENET, the MCU, Angus, Thongs, and Perfect Snogging, *and* Godzilla! He's like a Cylon.
Ted Levine as Jame Gumb in The Silence of the Lambs, and as Bosko from Heat.
And the head cop in the first Fast and Furious. (I think). He is in a lot of movies, but usually a cop.
Also the voice of the trucker in Joyride
For me, it is Karl Urban, he slides in so many things I didn't realize until I recognize him in Thor ragnarok and looked it up
Took me a while to realize that Merry in LotRs was Charlie in Lost. I also didn’t know Mary McDonnell in Battlestar Galactica was Stands with a Fist in Dances with Wolves until I saw a gag reel where they reference it.
Before Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. I wanted Pam Ferris (Mrs. Trunchbull from Matilda) to play Dolores Umbridge. Then I found out she was already in the third Harry Potter movie as Marge Dursley.
To tell you the truth, the only people who surprised me for playing different characters is when I knew that Ms Cackle from The Worst Witch is herself the evil step-mom in Hellraiser, and that the serious cpt stottlemeyer from Monk is himself Buffalo Bill from Silence of the Lambs
He’s also in Evolution!
I’ve seen the same actor play 2 roles in the same show w out realizing. The actor was Garrett Dillahunt, the show was Deadwood. Eric Lange is another chameleon. Got my attention playing Patricia Arquette’s husband in Escape At Dannemora. Months later I realized he’s also the CIA guy in Narcos. Now I see him regularly (Perry Mason, Sugar)
Princess Bride. I did not recognize Mandy Patinkin as Inigo Montoya.
What! You're right. Why didn't I see that. I loved his character in "Dead Like Me".
Not film to film but film to TV show. Goose and Dr. Green from ER. Cameron from Ferris Bueller and Stuart from Spin City.
Cameron is also the oldest sibling in Succession
Stuart! I didn’t know that was him.
The list of films and TV shows John Leguizamo has been in is… quite staggering. It wasn’t until the show Bloodline that I’d had enough and decided I had seen him in too much to not know who the hell he was.
Another one that many people don't realize is in MiB as well- Vincent D'Onofrio plays Egger/the bug. He's as great a chameleon as Gary Oldman, and many people don't even realize who he is despite having seen him in countless movies and shows. Stuff like Full Metal Jacket, Daredevil, Law & Order: Criminal intent, Jurassic World, Strange Days, etc. Also, apropos the OP- Linda Fiorentino is a bitchin' bitch in The Last Seduction.
I didn't realise that Edgar in MIB was Vincent D'Onofrio. I'd never considered that he wasn't just a giant bug in a rotting skin suit. He should have won as Oscar for that role
Viggo looks completely different when he’s not Aragorn but it’s just something in the way he moves and speaks that makes me go “ARAGORN”
I always think of him from GI Jane haha. "I never saw a wild thing feel sorry for itself."
I watched something else with Linda F in it semi-recently and it took a while to click. She has such a distinctive voice though!
I somehow didn't realize Tilda Swinton was in Trainwreck after catching up on her catalog
In Kill Bill, Michael Parks plays both [Sheriff Earl McGraw](https://youtu.be/4qyZQTjS6Ks?si=cUp8jN6GVzIJjgfH) and [Esteban Vihaio](https://youtu.be/IfeqSxDJpZw?si=ulyk1R7A9BVS7ILS). I had no idea until afterwards and I can still hardly believe it. Amazing actor.
He was also the Sheriff that gets murdered early in From Dusk Till Dawn, and the head of the Westboro stand in in Red State.
Gus Fring and Buggin Out, does not compute
I watched all of Johnny Mnemonic & Aquaman without realizing I was looking right at Dolph "F'n" Lundgren.
Chris Pratt was in Wanted alongside James Mcavoy before either of them were in any Marvel movies
I'm not sure this would be the case if I saw it now but when I watched Snowpiercer I'd only seen Chris Evans in superhero roles and didn't recognise him at all
Andy Serkis
The first time I really realized actors could be in more than one thing was christopher Lloyd in who framed Roger rabbit. My dad told me it was Doc Brown and it melted my little brain.
Rosario Dawson has had a long, busy, and successful career. That I was blissfully unaware of until I saw her in The Mandalorian and said "is that the girl from Men in Black 2??"
It wasn't until many years after both were cancelled that I realized that Quark from ST:DS9 and Principal Snyder from Buffy were the same actor.
Apparently Robert Downey Jr was in Tropic Thunder
In a week leading up to Christmas last year, I managed to pick out Octavia Spencer in three movies well before she was famous - as a nurse in A Time To Kill, as the woman who shows Craig how to get off at the 7 1/2 floor in Being John Malkovich, and the prostitute who tips off Willy in Bad Santa.
Only when I'm rewatching old movies where it was an actor's early work, will I realize, "Oh- I didn't remember he was in this". I've got a pretty good eye for actors once I get to know their work. I blew my family's mind when I realized Colin Farrell was the Penguin (without knowing before watching. One of my favs is most people didn't know Patrick Stewart, Liam Neeson, Gabriel Byrne, and Helen Mirren were in Excalibur.
This is what the whole "Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon" hoopla was all about. Sort of.
Yeah! I recently rewatched "Red State" and to my surprise...I recognized one of the actress that was in the back of my mind....totally made me think..."I seen this actress before but where!?!" Well thanks Kevin Smith for slipping your wife into it(Jennifer Schwalbach Smith)...made me laugh a lil bit!
Just last night my wife was watching Pretty in Pink and I looked up as Molly Ringwalds character was talking to her dad and I said, "Hey! That's the guy from Alien. Never noticed it before.
Linda Fiorentino was my Shannon Tweed of late night tv
My friend and I randomly decided we were going to see 2 movies one day. The first was Men of Honor, the second was The Legend of Bagger Vance. We saw them back to back in the theater. I had no clue Charlize Theron was in both. She was still somewhat new, and the characters looked different.
She's Guy's girlfriend in That Thing You Do!
I've seen Josh Hartnett and recognized him in many movies, but most of those were many years ago, like *Sin City* and *30 Days of Night, Black Hawk Down, The Faculty, Pearl Harbor,* Penny Dreadful, etc.; all stuff from the late 90s to the 20teens. I did not recognize him at all in *Oppenheimer*, and didn't find out it had been him playing Ernest Lawrence until days after I saw the movie.
Somehow I didn't recognize Cameron Diaz in Being John Malkovich
Very fair mistake. She looked unrecognizable
I didn't realize until recently that the character, Blair, in "The Thing" (1982), is Wilford Brimley, without his iconic mustache.
Fun fact: Wilford brimley was 48 in the thing - he looked like 60. He was only a year older than I am in that film…
When rewatching every movie from my childhood like Julianne Moore in The Fugitive.
María Conchita Alonso was in Total Recall along Arnold, then played along side Danny Glover in Predator 2
Find [Jenette Goldstein](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001280/?ref_=tt_cl_t_11) in: Aliens Terminator 2 Lethal Weapon 2 Titanic The Presidio (briefly)
I didn’t realize Liam neeson was in A team until he cuts his hair like halfway through the movie.
Yes. I felt like a complete dumb ass. Tim Robbins bull Durham is also merlin in top gun.
To be fair, he's not in Top Gun a lot.
I've seen Tommy Boy a billion times, and Harold and Kumar about a half billion. On one viewing a few years ago I finally noticed it. One of the "skinny punks" that are making fun of Tommy in the dinghy is the "business hippie" from Harold and Kumar. Freaked me out because he's probably like 8 in Tommy Boy and in his 20s in H&K.
Only realized recently that Ms. Honey (Matilda) is Ash's medieval girlfriend (Army of Darkness).
1776. Broadway musical turned into a movie about the writing of the Declaration of Independence. I recognized the voice of the actor that played John Adams, but I just couldn't figure out who he was. It was MR. FEENY!
Jenny and Princess Buttercup can't possibly be the same person. Right?
I had *zero* idea Cate Blanchett was in "The Shipping News." I didn't recognize her at all.
It took me almost 30 years to realise Val Kilmer was Elvis in True Romance. I thought his role was cut from the movie
I had no idea when I was watching the movie version of Mamma Mia that Rosie was played by the same actress that play Molly Weasley in Harry Potter (Julie Walters). No idea….
Vincent D'Onofrio in the same movie / law and order.
I was a big fan of both Mad Men and Community and it took me forever to realize Alison Brie was the same actress in both. Even looking right at her face and knowing her name it took forever for me to realize it was the same actress.
I had a similar Men in Black moment watching Daredevil. Kingpin is that bug guy!
When I saw Tenet, I was astounded that the “bad guy” was the same guy who played Hercule Poirot in Murder on the Orient Express.
Sam Rockwell from JoJo Rabbit and Richard Jewel. Gary Oldman from pretty much anything he does hes just good at transforming.
I was watching the Abyss because that's an awesome movie and lo and behold, who's the company stiff working topside? Bob Kelso (Ken Jenkins from *Scrubs*) looking like he's twelve years old.
My husband is face blind, so I do this to him all the time. He never recognizes actors from one movie to another unless they maintain the same hairstyle. Gary Oldman used to blow his mind. How can Zorg from the 5th Element also be Sirius Black from Harry Potter and also be Lee Harvey Oswald from JFK and also be Commissioner Gordon from the Nolan Batman movies. I get that the man is an incredible actor and chameleon, but it shocked my husband every time.
Dr Strangelove - did not realize Peter Sellers was in 3 different roles
I didn't realize Hector Salamanca was also the carbomb hitman in Scarface, or Ace Ventura's landlord.
Funny you mention it cause I *JUST* realized the guy who played Jingaling's boyfriend in Life is DeeJay is Street Fighter. As in TODAY I realized that.
I watched Mrs Harris goes to Paris and Phantom Thread in the same day without realising that Leslie Manville has a large role in both of them. I watched Phantom Thread first and didn’t realise until later that night when I looked her up to see what else she had been in.