10 Actors Who Played More Than One Character In A TV series

Some soap opera veterans are so beloved that they often take on more than one role. From the Roman and John switch-up to Eileen Davidson’s five respective characters, several actors have pulled double duty on DOOL.

Deidre Hall as Marlena Evans, Hattie Adams

Salem’s only therapist Dr. Marlena Evans has been played off and on by DOOL vet Deidre Hall for over four decades, starting in 1976 and appearing for three runs, her most recent being from 2011 to the present day.

But when she wasn’t being supposedly killed by Stefano DiMera or possessed by the devil, Hall was also known for playing Marlena’s doppelgänger, Hattie Adams. This character was originally portrayed by the actress’ real-life identical twin sister Andrea Hall.

Thaao Penghlis as Tony DiMera, Andre DiMera

Soap opera alum Thaao Penghlis originated the role of Tony DiMera in 1981 and has played the character off and on to this day.

Although Tony is the better known DiMera, Penghlis has played his twin brother Andre more than he has Tony, appearing as the character in six different stints over five decades.

Eileen Davidson as Kristen DiMera, Susan Banks, Sister Mary Moira, Penelope Kent, Thomas Banks

Regarding DOOL actors pulling double duty, no one wears as many hats as The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills alum Eileen Davidson.

Davidson made her DOOL debut in 1993 as villainess Kristen DiMera. Eventually, she took on the memorable roles of EJ DiMera’s mother, Susan Banks, and Susan’s siblings, Sister Mary Moira, Penelope Kent, and Thomas Banks.

Robert Scott Wilson as Ben Weston, Alex Kiriakis

Former The Price Is Right model Robert Scott Wilson took over the role of necktie killer Ben Weston in 2014 and remained a series regular until 2022, when Ben and Ciara decide to leave Salem on their new boat.

But it didn’t take long for the familiar face to pop back up when Wilson took on a whole new role as Alex Kiriakis, Sonny’s pompous and carefree older brother.

Judi Evans as Adrienne Kiriakis, Bonnie Lockhart

Adrienna Kiriakis was played by Judi Evans off and on from 1986 until the character’s tragic death in 2019 when she was killed in a whodunit-esque hit-and-run.

In 2003, Evans took over the role of the eccentric Bonnie Lockhart, a role she reprised again in 2019 after Adrienne’s death.

Drake Hogestyn as John Black, Roman Brady

Drake Hogestyn is best known as John Black, a character he’s played since the ’80s and continues to play on the long-running soap.

But back when Hogestyn made his DOOL debut in 1986, it was initially the presumed dead Roman Brady, who was said to have gotten facial reconstruction but was actually just an amnesiac whose true identity was John Black.

Galen Gering as Rafe Hernandez, Arnold Finnegan

For nearly 15 years, Galen Gering has played Rafe Hernandez, jumping over to DOOL after spending almost a decade on another NBC soap, Passions, which ended its run in 2008.

But in the early 2010s, Galen got to pull double duty when Rafe was replaced by a lookalike named Arnold Finnegan, who received plastic surgery to look exactly like Rafe and was hired by Stefano to break up Rafe and Sami.

Josh Taylor as Roman Brady, Chris Kositchek

Josh Taylor was the recast of Roman Brady in 1997 and has remained in the role ever since. But some may not know that Roman wasn’t the actor’s first character on DOOL.

Taylor first appeared on the soap in 1977 as a character named Chris Kositchek, a character he played for 10 years before reprising the role in 2022 on the DOOL spin-off Beyond Salem.

Brandon Barash as Stefan DiMera, Jake Lambert

Not long after Brandon Barash ended his run as Johnny Zacchara on ABC‘s General Hospital, the actor headed to Salem to take over the role of Stefan DiMera from fellow GH alum Tyler Christopher.

Barash played Stefan for seven months until the character’s supposed death in 2019, during which Barash portrayed Stefan’s long-lost twin brother, Jake, until that character’s unexpected death in 2022, after which Barash returned to playing a resurrected Stefan.

Tamara Braun as Ava Vitali, Taylor Walker

Soap vet Tamara Braun is no stranger to playing more than one character on a soap. Not only did she play Carly on General Hospital in the early 2000s and later Kim Nero from 2017 until 2019, but she’s also played two notable characters on DOOL.

Braun first played Ava Vitali in 2008 and later reprised the role in 2015 and again in 2020 to the present day. But in between those stints, the actress also played Nicole’s sister Taylor Walker.