20 Brilliant Sci-Fi & Fantasy Films Where Actors Play Opposite Themselves

Master of the motley macabre, Tim Burton adapted 1960s American Gothic soap Dark Shadows for the big screen back in the early ‘10s, and it was to absolutely nobody’s surprise that he chose his pet plaything Johnny Depp to slink into the role of vampire-in-a-strange-land Barnabas Collins.

Barnabas awakens from centuries of slumber in 1972 and must acclimatise to a whole new world and ways of living. He uses his powers and treasures in efforts to restore his fallen family to glory, and in the process encounters a crooked cast of kooky characters, including the enrapturing governess Maggie Evans/Victoria Winters (Bella Heathcote).

Victoria’s duality is already present in her use of an alias, but the doubling runs far deeper, because Victoria is a dead ringer for Barnabas’ 18th-century love Josette du Pres. And, unsurprisingly, both are played by Heathcote. Despite dressing up in costumes from two eras and taking on radically different demeanours between the parts, the double role was not a challenge for the actress because her two characters are separated by time, only converging in Barnabas’ mind, where present reality and memories meet.