One actor - two characters

[Buffanator]

Thinking of SMG playing twins in Ringer got me to thinking ....about....

specifically SMG playing Buffy AND 'BuffyBot' and Amy Acker playing Fred AND 'Illyria'
but also David Boreanez playing Angel AND Angelus
and Allyson Hannigan playing Willow and Dark Willow
(for the record, I don't see such differences with Evil Spike & Souled Spike - Spike is just who he is: Spike! -not to say that his character didn't go thru changes during the series, but YKWIM)


I love the 'alter ego' of all of them and thought SMG and AA did great jobs with their different characters; especially AA doing Illyria. It wasn't just the physical look of Illyria; it was her movements and expressions. Sometimes I sort of forgot she was "Fred" - ya know?

It was a little different with Angel/Angelus as that IS the same person, just a blurred line of good & evil. But I liked the different angel that DB used when he was portraying Angelus. Same goes for Dark Willow - I saw both Angelus and Dark Willow as being more confident in their abilities while they were "evil." Both Willow & Angel seemed to have some sort of lack of self confidence in themselves that Angelus & Dark Willow simply didn't have.

I didn't find the same to be true when Xander was a "copy" of himself; probably because his alter ego was actually played by Nicholas Brendon's actual twin.

Thoughts?

 

[ashleigh]

Don't forget about Xander/Vamp Xander and Xander/Hyena Xander 😉

Although I haven't seen much of AtS, it's interesting that Amy Acker played two different characters in it, since she does in Dollhouse too 🙂

 

[Ripper666]

Played Willow also Willow-Vamp or did this job do another actress?
Don't forget that SMG played the "First-Evil" Buffy too!

 

[ashleigh]

Does caveman buffy count? 😉

 

[EvilWillow]

Have you ever noticed that Tom Lenk plays one of Harmony's vampire lackies in "Real Me"? He dies in that episode, but still....pretty funny. Go watch 🙂

 

[Okra]

Did like the Willow and Vamp Willow. Does anyone know the other womans name?

 

[WileyDairyGnome]

Does Anya/Anyanka count? Since she acted differently while in demon form.

And you can't forget about Giles, Joyce, and Principle Snyder during Band Candy. 😛

Oh, and of course when Buffy and Faith switched bodies.

 

[Okra]

Oh, and of course when Buffy and Faith switched bodies.

That was a strange fight, when they switched. Did they know when they were beating up on their real bodies? Would be weird that you can punch the face of your own body during the switch and after the fight you need dental work.

 

[WWGD]

The most amazing one to me was when SMG and Eliza Dushku played each other's characters. They both did it so well!!!
Aside from that David Boreanaz doing Angel/Angelus and Alyson doing Willow/vamp Willow were also great contrasts!

 

[Jay Jade]

What about Cordelia and Possessed-Cordy?

 

[Living Dead Boy]

Did like the Willow and Vamp Willow. Does anyone know the other womans name?

......you do know they're both Alyson Hannigan right? Or were you kidding? I'm not sure. 😛 🙂

 

[SlayerFest]

Thinking of SMG playing twins in Ringer got me to thinking ....about....

specifically SMG playing Buffy AND 'BuffyBot' and Amy Acker playing Fred AND 'Illyria'
but also David Boreanez playing Angel AND Angelus
and Allyson Hannigan playing Willow and Dark Willow
(for the record, I don't see such differences with Evil Spike & Souled Spike - Spike is just who he is: Spike! -not to say that his character didn't go thru changes during the series, but YKWIM)


I love the 'alter ego' of all of them and thought SMG and AA did great jobs with their different characters; especially AA doing Illyria. It wasn't just the physical look of Illyria; it was her movements and expressions. Sometimes I sort of forgot she was "Fred" - ya know?

It was a little different with Angel/Angelus as that IS the same person, just a blurred line of good & evil. But I liked the different angel that DB used when he was portraying Angelus. Same goes for Dark Willow - I saw both Angelus and Dark Willow as being more confident in their abilities while they were "evil." Both Willow & Angel seemed to have some sort of lack of self confidence in themselves that Angelus & Dark Willow simply didn't have.

I didn't find the same to be true when Xander was a "copy" of himself; probably because his alter ego was actually played by Nicholas Brendon's actual twin.

Thoughts?

Willow/Dark Willow doesn't count, in my opinion. It wasn't like Aly was playing two totally different characters, she was just playing a different version of herself. Buffy/Buffybot, Willow/Vamp Willow, Angel/Angelus and Fred/Illyria are perfect examples of an actor playing two totally different characters in the same series. I mean she was still Willow, the magic had just taken over her. If Willow was gone, if Dark Willow was this entire new...entity, then Xander's yellow crayon story wouldn't have saved her. It's strange...everyone treats Angel like this horrible murderer, when technically he didn't kill anyone. He didn't ask for his soul to be taken (okay, there was that one time...) but Willow knew what she was doing when she sucked in all of the dark magic. Sure, she was grieving...but she consciously made the decision to do it. Yet no one has ever given her the, "You killed people!" speech.

Maybe I'm just over analyzing haha. But I feel like Angel/Angelus isn't really the same person. Ugh. It's so confusing. He should take responsibility for Angelus' actions, because if he doesn't...who the hell will? I guess I just hated that Willow's naughtiness was sort of just...dismissed.

 

[ILLYRIAN]

Strange comparisons.
Have a look at Liam and Angel and Angelus.
Then look at William and Spike.
Liam seemed to progress into Angelus where as Spike was a different entity to William.
That to me makes James Marsters a much better actor.
As for the close up shots of Willow and Vampy Willow, that was her stunt double with CGI work to make them look the same.
To my mind, draw the comparison with Vampire Diaries when Elena and Katherine met each other. One actor, two characters in the one scene.

 

[Okra]

......you do know they're both Alyson Hannigan right? Or were you kidding? I'm not sure. 😛 🙂

Are you sure? I cannot grab my own arm like that. Or place my hand on my face like the picture shows.

 

[Chosen Enemy]

Are you sure? I cannot grab my own arm like that. Or place my hand on my face like the picture shows.

I think it was mentioned somewhere (maybe on the DVD extras) that they "taped" Alyson's face onto another girl's. Not in every Alyson/someone scene I suppose. But in that specific part I guess that's what they did. I'm really not sure about that, but I think I remember something like that.

 

[InsaneMystic]

I think it was mentioned somewhere (maybe on the DVD extras) that they "taped" Alyson's face onto another girl's. Not in every Alyson/someone scene I suppose. But in that specific part I guess that's what they did. I'm really not sure about that, but I think I remember something like that.

Yeah, pretty standard procedure in such scenes (called "Spining" by Trekkies as Brent "Data" Spiner had to do it so often on TNG 🙂). Use a double in the shot, keep the double's hands/arms in, and edit in the original actor's face and upper body by greenscreen or similar effect. 🙂

 

[Buffanator]

Oh, and of course when Buffy and Faith switched bodies.

DEFINITELY! - that was some of the best "character switching" I've ever seen in any series! SMG nailed the Faith "naughtiness" and bad-ass attitude. And the look on ED's face when she was in the church fighting with Buffy... wow! Those two really did great jobs in those scenes!!