Film Roles: Actor to Role

This page covers questions in the style "Which character did [actor's name] play in [film title]?".  Alternatively (for less well–known characters), it may be "What was the name of the character played by [actor's name] play in [film title]?".

Please note that in the interests of succinctness (not to mention political correctness), on this page the term 'actor' includes both male and female actors.

Brad Pitt in Troy (2004)		Achilles
The role that Anjelica Huston claimed to have based in part on her friend Jerry Hall, "to give the character more warmth"		Morticia Addams
Malcolm McDowell in A Clockwork Orange		Alex (DeLarge)
Humphrey Bogart in The African Queen (1951) – played as a Canadian, although he was a London Cockney in the 1935 novel		Charlie Allnut
Russell Crowe in Master and Commander		Jack Aubrey
Tina Turner in Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome		Aunty Entity
James Stewart in It's a Wonderful Life		George Bailey
Robert de Niro in Taxi Driver		Travis Bickle
Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca		Richard (Rick) Blaine
Dustin Hoffman in The Graduate		Benjamin Braddock
Roy Scheider in Jaws ("You're gonna need a bigger boat") and Jaws 2		Chief (Martin) Brody
Michael Caine in Zulu		Lt. Gonville Bromhead
Liza Minnelli in Cabaret		Sally Bowles
Jon Voight in Midnight Cowboy		Joe Buck
Will Ferrell (title role) in Anchorman (2004, and 2013 sequel)		Ron Burgundy
Kate Winslet in Titanic		Rose DeWitt Bukater
Clint Eastwood in Dirty Harry (1971), Magnum Force (1973), The Enforcer (1976), Sudden Impact (1983), The Dead Pool (1988)		Harry Callahan
Elvis Presley in Change of Habit – later used as a pseudonym		Dr. John Carpenter
Played by William Boyd in 66 films, 1935–48		Hopalong Cassidy
Hugh Grant in Bridget Jones's Diary (2001)		Daniel Cleaver
Brilliant but mad scientist voiced by Hugh Laurie in Monsters vs. Aliens (2009)		Dr. Cockroach
John Wayne in True Grit		Rooster Cogburn
Marlon Brando in The Godfather		Don (Vito) Corleone
Roddy McDowall in Planet of the Apes		Cornelius
Michael Caine in The Italian Job		Charlie Croker
Colin Firth in Bridget Jones's Diary		Mark Darcy
Leonardo di Caprio in Titanic		Jack Dawson
Harrison Ford in Blade Runner – a special policeman (bounty hunter)		Rick Deckard
Gloria Swanson in Sunset Boulevard		Norma Desmond
Gene Hackman in The French Connection		Jimmy 'Popeye' Doyle
Leslie Nielsen in the Naked Gun series (first appeared in the short–lived TV series Police Squad)		Det. Frank Drebin
Tim Robbins in The Shawshank Redemption (1994)		Andy Dufresne
Judi Dench in Shakespeare in Love (1998)		Elizabeth I
Rowan Atkinson in a series of James Bond parodies (2003, 2011, 2017)		Johnny English
Paul Newman in The Hustler (1961), and in its sequel The Color of Money (1986)		'Fast' Eddie Felson
Gregory Peck in To Kill a Mockingbird (Best Actor Oscar)		Atticus Finch
Eddie Murphy in the Beverly Hills Cop series		Axel Foley
Michael Douglas in Wall Street		Gordon Gekko
Rod Steiger in In the Heat of the Night		Bill Gillespie
Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany's		Holly Golightly
Jason Robards in Julia (real–life writer – the film was essentially a fictionalised memoir, not a biopic)		Dashiell Hammett
Bill Murray in Lost in Translation (2003) – same name as a veteran English broadcaster		Bob Harris
Jane Fonda in Julia (real–life American playwright – the film was essentially a fictionalised memoir, not a biopic)		Lillian Hellman
Steve McQueen in The Great Escape		Capt. Virgil Hilts
Demi Moore in Ghost		Molly Jensen
Marilyn Monroe in Some Like it Hot		Sugar Kane
Charles Bronson in the Death Wish series		Paul Kersey
Joan Collins in The Stud (1978) and The Bitch (1979)		Fontaine Khaled
Peter Sellers in I'm Alright Jack		Fred Kite
Marlon Brando in A Streetcar Named Desire (also on Broadway)		Stanley Kowalski
Robert Englund (the villain) in the Nightmare on Elm Street series		Freddy Krueger
Tom Hanks in The Da Vinci Code		Robert Langdon
John Cleese in A Fish called Wanda (real name of a Hollywood star)		Archie Leach
Marilyn Monroe in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes		Lorelei Lee
Orson Welles in The Third Man		Harry Lime
Gene Kelly in Singin' in the Rain		Don Lockwood
Ingrid Bergman in Casablanca		Ilsa Lund
Bill Nighy in Love Actually (an ageing rock star)		Billy Mack
Frank Sinatra in From Here to Eternity		Pte. Angelo Maggio
Madonna in Dick Tracy		Breathless Mahoney
Marlon Brando in On the Waterfront		Terry Malloy
Whitney Houston in The Bodyguard		Rachel Marron
Russell Crowe in Gladiator		Maximus Decimus Meridius
Bruce Willis in the Die Hard series		John McClane
Tom Hanks in Bonfire of the Vanities		Sherman McCoy
Michael J. Fox in Back to the Future		Marty McFly
David Essex in Stardust		Jim McLean
Jack Nicholson in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest		Randle McMurphy
Al Pacino in Scarface		Tony Montana
Japanese secret agent, created for the US Saturday Evening Post by John P. Marquand (to replace Charlie Chan following the death of Earl D. Biggers in 1933); played by Peter Lorre in eight films, 1937–9		Mr. Moto
US President played by Peter Sellers in Dr. Strangelove (1964)		Merkin Muffley
Danny Glover in the Lethal Weapon series (catchphrase: "I'm gettin' too old for this sh*t!"		Roger Murtaugh
Jeremy Northam in Gosford Park (2001) – a real–life popular music composer		Ivor Novello
Richard Burton in 1984 (Inner Party member, Winston Smith's nemesis)		O'Brien
Frank Sinatra in Ocean's Eleven (1960 original) and George Clooney in the 2001–7 remakes		Danny Ocean
Jack Nicholson in Reds, 1981 (Nobel prize–winning playwright)		Eugene O'Neill
Dudley Moore in Santa Claus: the Movie (1985)		Patch
Portrayed on screen for the first time by Austin Trevor, in Alibi (1931)		Hercule Poirot
Oliver Reed in Gladiator (gladiator trainer)		Proximo
Louise Fletcher in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (the role for which she won the Best Actress Oscar)		Nurse (Mildred) Ratched
Real name of Dustin Hoffman's eponymous character in Rain Man		Raymond
Mel Gibson in Lethal Weapon (the title of the film is a reference to his deliberate recklessness)		Martin Riggs
John Wayne in Stagecoach		The Ringo Kid
Sigourney Weaver in the Alien series (first names only revealed in the later films)		Ellen Louise Ripley
Dustin Hoffman in Midnight Cowboy		Enrico 'Ratso' Rizzo
Brad Pitt in the Ocean's Eleven series		Rusty Ryan
Katharine Hepburn in The African Queen		Rosie Sayer
Humphrey Bogart in The Maltese Falcon		Sam Spade
Johnny Depp in Pirates of the Caribbean (series)		Jack Sparrow
James Robertson Justice in the Doctor series		Sir Lancelot Spratt
James Dean in Rebel Without a Cause		Jim Stark
Jodie Foster in Silence of the Lambs		Clarice Starling
Charlton Heston in Planet of the Apes		(George) Taylor
Cary Grant in North by North West		Roger Thornhill
Sidney Poitier in In the Heat of the Night		Virgil Tibbs
James Dean in East of Eden (his first major film role)		Caleb Trask
Bob Hoskins in Who Framed Roger Rabbit		Eddie Valiant
John Travolta in Pulp Fiction		Vince Vega
Gene Wilder in Blazing Saddles		Jim ... a.k.a. ...
		... The Waco Kid
Detective played by Kathleen Turner (who also played her on radio)		V. I. Warshawsky
Patrick Swayze in Ghost		Sam Wheat

© Haydn Thompson 2017–23