7 Times Actors Perfectly Imitated Another Actor On-Screen

Actors are frequently tasked with portraying real-life characters on-screen. But what if that role is played by another actor, or even a co-star? Some of Hollywood’s most talented performers have nailed the impersonation of other actors. They’ve done it not only through natural talent, but also by doing their homework and thoroughly researching the performers they’re emulating. Sounds interesting? If yes, then let’s hop onto the list of these 7 times when actors perfectly imitated another actor on-screen.

7. Jim Carrey Had Trouble Separating Himself From Andy Kaufman While Portraying The Comedian In ‘Man on the Moon’:

In the 1999 movie Man on the Moon, a homage to the late comedian Andy Kaufman, co-star Jim Carrey reenacts the comic’s greatest successes in minute detail. But it wasn’t until the 2017 documentary Jim & Andy: The Great Beyond that the extent to which he went to mimic Kaufman became clear. The video shows how deeply Carrey immersed himself in method acting and struggled to separate his identity from Kaufman’s. I didn’t pass out, but the odds were stacked against Andy. I broke a handful of times on weekends and so on, but from the moment I got up to the time I went to bed, the decisions were all his.

6. Rob Lowe Played A Young Robert Wagner In ‘Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me,’ And The Voice Was So Accurate, The Editors Thought It Had Been Dubbed:

Rob Lowe may have portrayed Number 2 in Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999), but his imitation of a younger Robert Wagner ranks him first. Lowe’s imitation of the original henchman in the sequel was so convincing that editors couldn’t tell Lowe’s voice from Wagner’s. They believed Wagner had done voiceover work for the video. Mike Myers, who portrays Austin Powers, was allegedly fascinated with Lowe’s Wagner imitation while they were out golfing and wanted to incorporate Lowe into the film. Lowe had already met Wagner as a friend of the actor’s daughter. And evidently, as Lowe remembered in an interview, impressions are another of his talents: I’m a clone. It’s a talent I’ve only used with friends, not in movies. Mike enjoys my first impressions. One of the guys I work with is Robert Wagner, who appeared in the original Austin Powers film, but Mike needed a younger Robert Wagner this time.

5. In ‘Face/Off,’ John Travolta Studied The Facial Expressions Of Costar Nicolas Cage To Ensure Accuracy:

In the 1997 film Face/Off, FBI agent Sean Archer (John Travolta) has a running conflict with terrorist Castor Troy (Nicolas Cage). The Archer chooses to take on Troy’s persona in order to prevent a hazardous scheme from emerging, but things become complicated when both players must appear to be confined within the other’s body. In an interview, Travolta stated that the assignment was difficult, although it was probably simpler for him than for Cage because the latter actor had distinct mannerisms: “I knew it was a really daring thing to attempt to pull off, us becoming each other.” We don’t look anything similar, and we don’t act anything like each other. But I had an easier time than Nic did, since Nic had a very particular set of characteristics… He had a difficult time locating me. Travolta recreated his Cage imitation on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon in 2019 and demonstrated that he still has a little bit of his co-star inside of him.

4. Ewan MacGregor Studied The Films Of Alec Guinness Before ‘Phantom Menace’ To Imagine How He’d Play Obi-Wan As A Younger Guy:

When Ewan McGregor took on the part of Obi-Wan in Star Wars: Episode I: The Phantom Menace (1999), he risked the responsibility of playing a heritage character in a popular franchise, putting himself at the mercy of potentially disappointed fans. Because the film was a prequel, McGregor played a younger Obi-Wan Kenobi and had to depict him in a recognizable manner. The Graham Norton Show revealed that he not only studied Alec Guinness’ performance as Obi-Wan, but also watched many of the older actor’s earlier films; “The fun thing about doing them in the first place, when I was much younger, was trying to imagine Alec Guinness, how he would play these scenes as a younger guy.” It prompted me to watch a lot of his early work, which I had not previously seen. He’d been in some brilliant, amazing pictures, and I’d had a lovely time studying him in those films.

3. In ‘Jumanji,’ Jack Black Discovered He Was Strangely Good At Playing A Teenage Girl:

The board game takes on a new life as a video game in Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle (2017). When a group of detained teens boot up the video game, they become engrossed in it and realize they have been turned into their avatars. With increased skills but no way out, the quartet must find out how to complete the game and return to the real world. Jack Black plays Shelly Oberon, the in-game mascot for 16-year-old Bethany Walker (Madison Iseman), which requires him to mimic the characteristics of a teenage girl. He apparently had no trouble channeling the adolescent, as he told Collider: In a strange sense, I feel like I was born to play the current life. It was really simple to channel my inner 16-year-old girl. I’m not sure why. But only to have that magnetic power. It’s subtle, but once you’ve got it, you know you’ve got it. And all it takes is a glance, a slight gesture, and you know you’ve got it.

2. James Franco Said He Was Able To Portray Tommy Wiseau In ‘The Disaster Artist Because The Two Were So Alike In Real Life:

In 2019’s The Disaster Artist, James Franco totally morphed into the mystery that was Tommy Wiseau. Franco crafts a mockumentary of the cult blockbuster film The Room, which Wiseau produced, wrote, and directed in this meta masterpiece. Franco, who also directed the film and won a Golden Globe for best actor in a musical or comedy for the part, told Vox that his metamorphosis into Wiseau wasn’t a full shift for him because the two men had “direct crossings” in their lives: “I have no shame in stating that.” For me, it’s a really personal story. I’ve referenced Tommy from the premiere of The Room several times. “This is my story, this is my life,” he added. My narrative and my life are intertwined in The Disaster Artist. I moved to Hollywood and fought to make it as an actor. I’ve created projects in which I took huge swings, and others didn’t like them. They didn’t become cult classics, but you know.

1. Jon Hamm Ditched His Charming Persona To Perfectly Channel The Hilariously Annoying Larry David In ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’:

Curb Your Enthusiasm’s episode “Elizabeth, Margaret, and Larry,” in which Jon Hamm portrays himself as charged with playing a Larry David-type role, puts a hilarious perspective on body-swapping. He follows David around to get a sense of who he is. According to AV Club reviewer Danette Chavez, as he begins following Larry around, Hamm is initially turned off by his quirks, but by the end of the episode, he has his mentor down to a T: “I don’t know what kind of preparation Jon Hamm usually does for a role, but his research and dedication here make “Elizabeth, Margaret, and Larry” one of the season’s highlights.” He begins to dress like Larry, down to the eyeglass glasses… Over lunch with Larry and Richard, he uses words like “appetizer allotment,” prompting Richard to observe that there are now “two Larry Davids.”

So, yeah, these are 7 Times Actors Perfectly Imitated Another Actor On-Screen. Well, what to say? These actors really did an amazing job imitating these other actors, and to assure you all, they really did a mind-blowing job. Don’t believe me? You should, as we at Animated Times have collected 7 of the best times when actors perfectly imitated these other actors on-screen. Have a look at them in the list above and let us know your thoughts on these moments in the comments section below. Till then, keep reading Animated Times, the perfect place to get a closer look at the entertainment industry, upcoming movies, TV series, celebrity gossip, and much more. We’ll have you covered. Keep reading animated times, guys, for more.