With the imminent release of X-Men: Days Of Future Past, and with the already announced X-Men: Apocalypse and The Wolverine 2, Hugh Jackman will have played the not-so-cuddly Logan an amazing NINE times (ten if you count the dual roles of Days Of Future Past). But while none of those movies have actually come out yet, or in the case of two of them, haven’t even begun to be shot, there are other actors out there who have played the same role over and over and over again to their heart’s content. But who has played the same person the most times? Read on!
A Lot Of The Cast Of Harry Potter – 8 TIMES
Starting off with The Philsopher’s Stone and rounding out at The Deathly Hallows Part 2, we had Harry, Ron, Hermoine, Draco Malfoy, Hagrid, Snape, Seamus, Goyle, Neville, Fred, George, Ginny and Lily Potter pop up in all eight films, and all eight characters played by the same actors. What are the odds on some of these returning as older characters when the series gets its inevitable reboot a decade from now?
Robert Englund as Freddy Kreuger – 8 TIMES
He first appeared with third degree burns way back in 1984, continued on through five direct sequels, then returned with the first proper meta-horror film with Wes Craven’s New Nightmare, and was last seen getting slapped about the place by another icon in Freddy VS Jason in 2003. Was incorrectly dumped in favour of Jackie Earle Haley for the crap remake.
Leonard Nimoy as Spock – 8 TIMES
Having appeared in six of the original series’ spin off movies, Nimoy wouldn’t even be on this list if it weren’t for director JJ Abrams not sticking him into the 2009 reboot and Into Darkness four years later. This number could go even higher if he pops up in the next instalment, that is if they can finally nail someone down to direct it now that Abrams has popped off to another space-based franchise.
Christopher Lee as Dracula – 10 TIMES
Between 1958 and 1976, the legendary Lee appeared as the Count in series of movies, the quality of which can only be described as “varied”. Yes, the original Dracula was a fantastic (and still kinda scary) old-school horror, but then it all just kinda bled out when he started appearing in cack like Dracula And Son. Yes, he gets to appear on this list, but he should’ve put a stake through it much earlier.
Bernard Lee as M – 11 TIMES
Given that Skyfall was essentially Bond 23, it shouldn’t come as a surprise to find someone from the Bond universe on this list. Lee was the boss of more than one Bond, kicking off with the franchise in Dr. No back in 1962, and calling it a day with Moonraker in 1979. After him we had Robert Brown, Judi Dench and most recently Ralph Fiennes, and just like Bond, people will be left eternally arguing who the best M was.
Johnny Weissmuller as Tarzan – 12 TIMES
Forgive us for this, but are we alone in thinking that most of the Tarzan movie titles were a little bit … porny? Tarzan The Ape Man (1932), Tarzan And His Mate (1934), Tarzan Escapes (1936), Tarzan Finds A Son! (1939), Tarzan’s Secret Treasure (1941), Tarzan’s New York Adventure (1942), Tarzan Triumphs (1943), Tarzan’s Desert Mystery (1943), Tarzan And The Amazons (1945), Tarzan And The Leopard Woman (1946), Tarzan And The Huntress (1947), Tarzan And The Mermaids (1948). Just us? Okay then, moving on…
Lois Maxwell as Miss Moneypenny – 14 TIMES
Beating out Bernard Lee with even more appearances, but still not the most avid Bond actor on this list, Lois held a candle for the secret agent from Dr. No all the way to A View To A Kill in 1985. That was 23 years of a crush, so it may be time to move on with your life, dear. After Maxwell, we had Barbara Bouchet (one movie), Pamela Salem (one movie), Caroline Bliss (two movies), the perfectly named Samantha Bond (four movies), and most recently, Naomie Harris, who accidentally shot Bond on their first time out together. Perfect!
Johnny Weissmuller as Jungle Jim – 16 TIMES
No, we’ve never heard of Jungle Jim either. And yes, it’s the SAME GUY who played Tarzan all those times, once he got too old to play the loincloth’d holler-er, he threw on some khakis and basically become a clothed, able-to-talk version of Tarzan. Oh, and another thing, he made these sixteen films in just seven years. He’s like a reverse Terence Malick.
Mickey Rooney as Andy Hardy – 16 TIMES
Did you know that Mickey Rooney was the biggest box office draw from 1939 to 1940? Wow! Spanning two decades! People are complaining lately about how poor Chris Evans has been tied up to a six picture deal, or poor Sam Jackson has got caught up in a nine picture deal. Let them play Captain America or Nick Fury sixteen times, then we’ll see if we’ve got any sympathy.
Desmond Llewyln as Q – 17 TIMES
He wasn’t there at the start of the series, first arriving with From Russia With Love, and his last entry into the series was The World Is Not Enough, a very average Pierce Brosnan outing, but you can’t think of the Bond franchise without Llewyln’s Q coming to mind. He passed the torch on to John Cleese, who only hung about for one film, and recently we’ve got Ben Whishaw, who completely switches up the dynamic, while keeping the bicker-y banter in play. But Whishaw is going to have to still be playing the part in 2050 just to keep up with the legendary Llewyln.
