10 Actors Who Can't Help But Play Themselves

Don't worry: Danny Dyer is on this list.

by Andrew Pollard
Ever watch a particular character in a movie and realise that his look, mannerisms and personality are alarmingly familiar? One popular reason for this is that certain actors are notorious for basically playing themselves - or at least extensions of themselves - in every picture that they appear in. Whether this is down to a case of lack of range and versatility from the actor in question or just that they have a very simple 'if it's not broke, don't fix it' outlook - hell, in some cases, it could even be a case of not forgetting what brought you to the dance in the first place - here we take a look at 10 names that have made a career of playing themselves on the big screen. Even if what we see may not actually be themselves, these actors have played the same role so many times that public opinion is that they just regurgitate the same performance over and over. Of course, there are certain exceptions to this rule, where these actors have strayed from their usual, predictable performance, and these turns will be duly noted, too...
Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.