Ajay Kumar at 15:12, 12 August 2023

2023-08-12T15:12:04Z

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{{Short description|One actor playing two or more roles}}
{{More citations needed|date=December 2009}}
[[File:Buried Treasure (1921 film) poster.jpg|thumb|200px|[[Marion Davies]] has multiple roles in ''[[Buried Treasure (1921 film)|Buried Treasure]]'' (1921) which has a [[reincarnation]] theme.]]
A '''dual role''' (also known as a '''double role''') refers to one actor playing two roles in a single production. Dual roles (or a larger number of roles for an actor) may be deliberately written into a script, or may instead be a choice made during production, often due to a low budget. In film and television, dual roles are often used for comic effect, or to depict [[identical twin]]s or relatives. In a theatrical production where more than one actor plays multiple characters, it is sometimes referred to as an "Ironman" cast.

==Theatre==
In [[theatre]], the use of multiple roles may be budget-related, may be intended to give an accomplished actor more stage time or a greater challenge, or may be of thematic significance to the story. The combination of factors leading to such a decision may often remain unknown. For example, debate exists over the significance of [[William Shakespeare]]'s use of dual roles, with a notable example being whether the characters of Cordelia and the Fool in ''[[King Lear]]'' were intended to be one and the same, or whether the mysterious [[Third Murderer]] in ''[[Macbeth]]'' is actually [[Macbeth (character)|Macbeth]] himself.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.shakespeare-online.com/plays/macbeth/enterthreemacbeth.html|title=Enter Three Murderers - Was Macbeth the Third Murderer |website=www.shakespeare-online.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://shakespeare.nowheres.com/qandr/students/3.15.97/messages/220.html |title=Possibilities for the third murderer|website=shakespeare.nowheres.com}}</ref>

In the works of [[absurdism|absurdists]] such as [[Tom Stoppard]], characters played by the same actor are often of thematic significance.{{cn|date=August 2020}}

In the musical ''[[Hamilton (musical)|Hamilton]]'', four actors/actresses are cast in dual roles, each a major supporting character, with a change of roles between the first and second acts. The actors who play [[John Laurens]]/[[Philip Hamilton]], [[Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette|Lafayette]]/[[Thomas Jefferson]], and [[Hercules Mulligan]]/[[James Madison]] wear identical white costumes in the opening song, "[[Alexander Hamilton (song)|Alexander Hamilton]]", and were given lines with intentional double meanings that would fit either of their dual roles.<ref name=MirandaMcCarter2016/>

[[File:The Jury of Fate.jpg|thumb|200px|right|[[Mabel Taliaferro]] plays twin brother and sister in ''[[The Jury of Fate]]'' (1917), where the sister assumes the brother's place after he is killed]]
==Film==
{{See also|List of actors who have played multiple roles in the same film}}

[[Lee Marvin]] won an [[Academy Award for Best Actor]] for a dual role in ''[[Cat Ballou]]'' (1965). [[Nicolas Cage]] was nominated for Best Actor for a dual role in ''[[Adaptation (film)|Adaptation]]'' (2002). [[Peter Sellers]] was nominated for Best Actor for a triple role in ''[[Dr. Strangelove]]'' (1964).

In some low-budget films, actors have been cast in more than one role to save money.{{cn|date=August 2020}}

Multiple casting has often included the casting of an actor as multiple members of the same family.

Starting in the 1970s, having a living double in a [[Bollywood]] film became "almost a genre in itself," according to filmmaker [[Govind Nihalani]].<ref name="Gulzar2003" /> In ''[[Ram Aur Shyam]]'', [[Dilip Kumar]] acted as two brothers who got separated immediately after their birth. ''[[Seeta Aur Geeta]]'' uses a female version of this [[plot device]] in which [[Hema Malini]] acted as two separated sisters. In ''[[Enthiran]]'' (2010), at the time the [[List of most expensive Indian films|most expensive Indian film]] ever made, [[Rajinikanth]] plays a dual role covering the two main characters, a scientist and the humanoid robot he created.

==Television==
In [[television]], [[soap opera]]s have commonly used the technique to either portray [[twin]]s (or even similar looking relatives), or to bring back an actor whose character has been killed. {{cn|date=August 2020}} As an example, [[Denise Crosby]]'s character, [[Tasha Yar]] is killed off in the first season of ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation]]'' and another character was created to bring back Crosby in the third season.

==References==
{{Reflist|30em|refs=
<ref name=Gulzar2003>{{cite book |editor-last1=Gulazāra |editor-link1=Gulzar |editor-last2=Nihalani |editor-first2=Govind |editor-link2=Govind Nihalani |editor-last3=Chatterjee |editor-first3=Saibal |title=Encyclopaedia of Hindi Cinema |title-link=Encyclopaedia of Hindi Cinema |year=2003 |publisher=Popular Prakashan |isbn=978-81-7991-066-5 |page=213}}</ref>
<ref name=MirandaMcCarter2016>{{cite book |last1=Miranda |first1=Lin-Manuel |authorlink1=Lin-Manuel Miranda |last2=McCarter |first2=Jeremy |title=Hamilton: The Revolution |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=f4WfCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA17&q=meanings |year=2016 |publisher=Grand Central Publishing |isbn=978-1-4555-6753-9 |pages=17 n.9}}</ref>
}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dual Role}}
[[Category:Acting]]

Dual role - Revision history

Ajay Kumar at 15:12, 12 August 2023