The Danza: Difference between revisions

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{{trope}}
[[File:mst3k_credits_7944mst3k credits 7944.jpg|link=Mystery Science Theater 3000|frame|<small>He's the most troublesome puppet to operate, too</small>.]]
 
{{quote|"Whatever your character's name is, people are going to call you that. [[I Am Not Spock|For the rest of your life]]. Make your character's name '''[[The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air|Will Smith]]'''."|[[Will Smith]] quoting [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFjwbKMlmF4 valuable advice] }}
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It's not a Danza if the character already has the name from an adaptation; in such a case the character is not being named for the actor.
 
Not to be confused with an actor or celebrity actually playing themselves. That's [[As Himself]] (if they're a main character) or [[Special Guest]] (if they show up for a single episode). How to differentiate? Is Bob the Actor playing Bob the Actor? Or does he just happen to be playing a character that's also named Bob? The second one is [['''The Danza]]'''.
 
Compare [[Character as Himself]], [[Adam Westing]] and [[Ink Suit Actor]]. See also [[Name's the Same]], and [[Author Avatar]]. If [['''The Danza]]''' is the writer, then it may be [[Write Who You Know]] as well as [[Author Avatar]].
 
Named for Tony Danza, whose frequent portrayal of people named Tony (see ''[[Taxi]]'' and ''[[Whos the Boss]]'') has made him the butt of a few jokes, for example, [http://web.archive.org/web/20001023203628/http://www.teevee.org/archive/1999/04/01/sunday.html this one] for April Fools Day from Teevee.org.
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* [[Jack Nicholson]] plays Jack Napier in ''[[Batman (film)|Batman]]'', subverted in that Jack Napier becomes and goes by [[The Joker]] early on.
* To cash in even further on the fame of its cast, the entire cast of ''Love, Honour and Obey'' were named after the actors who play them.
** This may not have been just to cash in on the fame of the cast... the directors, Dominic Anciano and Ray Burdis, directed a previous movie, ''Final Cut'', starring much of the same cast (Jude Law, Sadie Frost, Ray Winstone etc) which also had the majority of the characters named after their actors. The films are clearly not sequels to each other, however -- Rayhowever—Ray is an actor in one film and a gangster in another, Sadie is with Ray in one film and Jude in the other, and most significantly, Jude dies at the beginning of one film (the film cuts between his funeral and a video being screened at his funeral which Jude made before his death), and is alive and well in the other.
*** Two of the characters in ''Love, Honour and Obey'' do ''not'' have the same name as the actor/actress. Maureen is played by Denise Van Outen and Matthew was played by Rhys Ifans.
* The ''[[Star Wars]]'' films offer many examples, usually background characters with little importance. These are often [[Significant Anagram|anagrams]]. Some examples: Cin Drallig (Nick Gillard), Roth-Del Masona (Leonard Thomas), Dannl Faytonni (Anthony Daniels), Nicanas Tassu (Nic Anastassiou), Jeremoch Colton (Jeremy Bulloch). An especially notable example is Amy Allen (mostly known for her portrayal of Aayla Secura, a character taken from a comic series), who has three characters she portrayed named after her: Mya Nalle, Yma Nalle, and Lela Mayn.
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** In the expanded universe, the full name of Wicket the ewok (played by [[Warwick Davis]]) is revealed to be Wicket Wystri Warrick.
* All three leads in ''[[The Blair Witch Project]]''.
* Bizarre example: The characters of ''[[The Blair Witch Project|Blair Witch 2: Book of Shadows]]'' are all first-name Danzas. It had been originally intended for them to be full-name Danzas, carrying on the previous film's gimmick of "No, this is really happening to the actual people you see on film", but the director decided this was "dishonest" and changed their last names -- henames—he would have changed their first names too, but too much of the movie had already been filmed. The change was made so late in the day, however, that the new last names only appear in the credits, and we see the actor's last names on-screen briefly in a police report.
* Often happens to [[Jackie Chan]] in his movies - especially those ported from Hong Kong to Western market.
** And in ''Mr. Nice Guy'', Miki is played by Miki Lee.
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* In ''[[Labyrinth]]'', they had to change the name of the baby boy to 'Toby' to avoid confusing the infant who played him. (Toby Froud, son of goblin designer Brian Froud.)
* Neil Connery as Dr Neil Connery in the [[James Bond (film)|James Bond]] parody ''[[Operation Double 007|OK Connery]]'' (aka ''Operation Kid Brother''). And yes, the [[Casting Gag]] of having Sean's younger brother play an unnamed agent's younger brother is the plot. In the same film Lois "Miss Moneypenny" Maxwell plays "Miss Maxwell".
* Jason Mewes plays a character named "Jay" in [[The View Askewniverse]] movies, as well as some other characters also named "Jay" -- and—and in the 2006 film ''Jack's Law'', a character named Bobby Mewes.
* Many of [[Harold Lloyd]]'s characters have the first name Harold, with various last names. Once this even bled into the title: ''The Sin of Harold Diddlebock''.
* Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon in ''A Cock and Bull Story'', as well as playing Tristram Shandy and his brother, also play "Steve Coogan" and "Rob Brydon".
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* Every single character in ''[[Purple Rain]]'' shares their actor's first name except for that played by Prince (his name is The Kid) and his movie mother and father (they have fictional names).
* [[Stephen Chow]] directs and plays a character named Stephen Chow in ''[[God of Cookery]]''. A particularly brave example since he sets himself up as an [[Unsympathetic Comedy Protagonist]] from the beginning.
** Considering his birth name was Sing, his characters in ''[[Shaolin Soccer]]'' and ''[[Kung Fu Hustle]]'' are also [[The Danza]].
* Rudy Del Campo plays a character named simply "Del Campo" in the film version of ''[[West Side Story]]''.
* ''China Strike Force''. In the English dub, at least three characters are named for the actor: Coolio plays Coolio, Norika Fujiwara plays Norika, and Ken Lo plays Ken Lo.
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* Sam Rockwell stars as Sam Bell in ''[[Moon]]''. Deliberate as Duncan Jones specifically wrote the part for him.
* Dragan Mićanović plays a Serbian gangster, Dragan, in ''[[Layer Cake]]'', and amusingly enough, is [[The Dragon]].
* In ''[[Men in Black (film)|Men in Black]] II'', it's ambiguous whether [[Michael Jackson]] is playing himself or a fictional character in his cameo -- butcameo—but he's an aspiring MIB agent who wants to become "Agent M".
* In ''[[Enter the Dragon]]'', [[Bruce Lee]] plays a character named "Mr. Lee".
* In Mexico, there is a famous actress and comedienne named "María Elena Velasco". She has been cast a Danza in everything she has been in. Specifically, she plays "La India Maria", a character she herself created.
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* The playwright Moliere sometimes named characters after the original actors that played them.
* The novel ''[[The Bone People]]'' by Keri Hulme has a protagonist named Kerewin Holmes.
* This editor believes that the name of an Austrian emperor indicates a use of this in Kafka's ''The Trial'' -- compare—compare [[Franz Kafka]] with (Franz) Josef K{(afka); the protagonist of another novel, ''The Castle,'' is called simply "K".
* [[Philip K. Dick]]'s protagonist "Horselover Fat" in ''[[VALIS]]''. This story proceeds as a first-person framing of a third-person narrative, until a character [[No Fourth Wall|actually calls him out]] and shows how "Horselover" is a [[Lampshade Hanging|thinly-veiled translation]] of Dick's own name, and the two men are really the same person.
* David Wong, main character of ''[[John Dies at the End]]'', by David Wong. Not necessarily, as David Wong is just a pen name.
* Possibly the earliest example of this trope in literature would be ''[[The Divine Comedy]]'' by Dante Aligheri featuring a protagonist named Dante Aligheri.
* Portia da Costa's [[Romance Novel]] ''[http://www.portiadacosta.com/thestranger.html The Stranger]'' features an obvious [[Expy]] of Paul McGann's [[Doctor Who|Eighth Doctor]] (so obvious it's [[Word of God]]), in a sort of reverse [[Bleached Underpants]].<ref> Or even [[Playing with a Trope|Zigzagged]] [[Bleached Underpants]]; the [[Ascended Fanon|heroine merits a mention]] in one [[Eighth Doctor Adventures]] novel. [[Oh God, with the Verbing!|Oy, with the waving the dirty laundry around already!]]</ref> Or you could just call it published smut fic. The expy is also named Paul... and the heroine of the novel is named Claudia [[Withnail and I|Marwood]].
* William Lee, [[Author Avatar|the protagonist of several works]] by [[William S. Burroughs]].
** Similarly, Jack Kerouac wrote many novels starring a protagonist named Jack Duluoz.
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* In the [[Nickelodeon]] sitcom ''[[Victorious]]'', [[Victoria Justice]] plays Victoria "Tori" Vega.
* While we're mentioning [[Idol Singer|musically gifted actresses with their own sitcom]], China Anne Mcclain plays Chyna Parks on ''[[ANT Farm]]''. Different spelling but it still counts, although in real-life she goes by China Anne instead just China, similar to Mary-Kate Olsen not going by just Mary.
* Some of the supporting officemates in ''[[The Office]]'' share their character's first names. This is because many of then are [[Ascended Extra|Ascended Extras]]s. Also, Michael screens a movie starring himself as Michael Scarn, an obvious [[Mary Sue]] [[Author Avatar]].
* [[Norm MacDonald]] plays Norm Henderson on ''[[The Norm Show]]''. An early commercial showed Norm not responding to his character's original name, forcing the showrunner to change it to his real name to avoid confusion.
* Fred Willard played a bartender named Fred (Or Freddie, as the Nixon puppet would refer to him) on ''[[D.C. Follies]]''.
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** One could also argue Yakov Smirnoff as Yakov Korplenko.
** Woody Harrelson as Woody Boyd looks like this, but it's a coincidence: the character was named Woody before Harrelson was cast.
* [[Miley Cyrus]] as Miley Stewart in ''[[Hannah Montana]]'' -- this—this also counts as [[Alter Ego Acting]] because Miley is seen performing as Hannah onstage in real life too. More so since she legally changed her name to "Miley" from her birth name of "Destiny Hope Cyrus". ("Smiley Miley" was a nickname her father gave her as an infant.) The character was named ''Chloe Stewart''. [[Word of God]] says the writers changed it to "Miley" as there were too many names for a 12-year old to remember.
* Nick, Joe, and Kevin Jonas play alternate universe versions of themselves on ''[[Jonas]]'', which includes keeping their real names.
* Both Kenan Thompson and Kel Mitchell as Kenan Rockmore and Kel Kimble, respectively, in ''[[Kenan and Kel]]''.
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*** The page quote comes from an interview Will did with [[David Letterman]], where he says Alfonso Ribero (Carlton) told him to use this trope.
** [[Stephen Colbert]] of ''[[The Colbert Report]]''.
** [[Larry David]] in ''[[Curb Your Enthusiasm]]'' is actually an [[As Himself]], but the show has a number of Danzas -- regularDanzas—regular characters, Cheryl, Jeff, Susie, plus some one-shot characters with just one name, which happens to be the actor's.
** The kids on ''[[You Can't Do That on Television]]''.
** Sean Hughes in ''Seans Show''.
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* Yasuko Nagazami as Yasko and Alibe Parsons as Alibe in ''[[Space: 1999]]''.
* Tia and Tamera Mowry as Tia Landry and Tamera Campbell in ''[[Sister, Sister]]'' (In the series, they're twins separated at birth and adopted by different people, hence different surnames)
* [[Reba McEntire]] as Reba Hart in ''[[Reba]]''. This is a clear case of [[The Danza]]: the character was originally named Sally, until Reba was signed to play the part.
* ''[[Drake and Josh]]'', starring Drake Bell and Josh Peck as Drake Parker and Josh Nichols, respectively.
* ''[[UFO]]'' had several first-name Danzas: Ed Bishop played Ed Straker, Gabrielle Drake played Gay Ellis and Peter Gordeno played Peter Carlin.
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* On ''[[Gilmore Girls]],'' Sookie's husband Jackson is played by Jackson Douglas. His real-life girlfriend almost played Sookie.
* Long time ago now, but the [[Britcom]] ''Terry and June'' starred Terry Scott and June Whitfield as Terry and June Medford. They ''also'' starred as Terry and June ''Fletcher'' in an earlier [[Britcom]] ''Happy Ever After'' - the same couple in a different house with a troublesome aunt and her mynah bird. ([[Captain Ersatz|This was not accidental.]])
* Even older, ''Bless This House'' featured Sid James (of [[Carry On]] fame) as Sid Abbot, and Sally Gleeson as Sally Abbot. Plus, the 1972 feature film version contains a meta-''aversion'' (by virtue of the fact that it became a notable example later): Terry Scott and June Whitfield played new neighbours Ronald and Vera Baines -- theBaines—the first outing of (and virtually identical to) the on-screen couple that would later make them a Britcom cliché (see ''Terry and June'' above).
* Comedian Joel Hodgson as Joel Robinson (from ''[[Robinson Crusoe]]'') in ''[[Mystery Science Theater 3000]]''. The last name was only changed because Hodgson was considered hard to pronounce. Michael J. Nelson, his replacement... played Mike Nelson. And "TV's Frank" was played by Frank Conniff.
* In ''[[News Radio]]'', Dave Nelson was played by Dave Foley and Joe Garelli was played by Joe Rogan. Phil Hartman's character Bill McNeal was intentionally named to be ''almost'' a Danza. In the episode "Chock", Dave's old a cappella singing group stops by, the other three members being named David, Bob, and Brian. They were played by ''Mr. Show'' alums [[David Cross]], Bob Odenkirk, and Brian Posehn.
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* ''[[The Mary Tyler Moore Show]]'' had Mary Tyler Moore as Mary Richards and Ted Knight as Ted Baxter.
* Recurring nurse First Lt Kealani Kellye (also known as Kellye Yamoto, and in one episode, as Nurse Nakahara) on ''[[M*A*S*H (television)|Mash]]'' was played by Kellye Nakahara, making this an example of the actress's first name being the character's last name.
** And the full name version -- Corpsmanversion—Corpsman Roy Goldman was played by..... Roy Goldman.
** There's more. Nurse Shari was played by Shari Saba, Nurse Jo Ann was played by Jo Ann Thompson, and Nurse Sheila was played by Sheila Lauritsen.
* Mocked on ''[[Extras]]'' where (both [[In-Universe]] and Out-) [[Celebrity Cameo]] Keith Chegwin's character has his name changed to Keith after the actor repeatedly fails to comprehend that the character has a different name to him.
* Rik Mayall's characters in ''[[The Young Ones]]'' (Rick), ''[[Filthy Rich and Catflap]]'' (Richie Rich) and ''[[Bottom]]'' (Richard Richard). Additionally, in ''The Young Ones'' Nigel Planer's character was Neil Pye, and in the latter two Adrian Edmondson's character was Eddie, a nickname based on his surname. (And, while it's not strictly this trope, it's no coincidence that his wife played a character called [[Absolutely Fabulous|Eddy (Edina) Monsoon]].)
** Edmondson actually played a psychotic ex-talk show host called Eddie Monsoon in ''[[The Comic Strip Presents]]'' [[Mockumentary]] episode "Eddie Monsoon -- A Life?" (The show was originally intended to be an episode of his talk show "Back To Normal", but it was judged too obscene even for [[Channel 4]], so it was turned into a mock biopic instead.)
** Mayall changed his first name in his teens -- heteens—he was born Richard Mayall, fitting this trope even better.
* Catherine Sutherland as Katherine "Kat" Hillard in ''[[Mighty Morphin Power Rangers]]''. Likely a coincidence, considering it started as a [[Meaningful Name]] (She could turn into a cat in her introductory arc).
** Also likely a coincidence, Austin St. John's real name is Jason Geiger. He played Jason Lee Scott in the first season.
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* Most of the ''[[Kids Incorporated]]'' kids. When a [[No Name Given]] character had his name revealed in an episode, it was that of the actor Rahsaan Patterson.
* Sissy Walker, a very minor character on ''[[The Waltons]]'' who appeared only five times between 1973 and 1978, was played by Cissy Wellman.
* ''[[The Goodies]]'' -- Tim—Tim (Brooke-Taylor), Graeme (Garden) and Bill (Oddie). Plus, the books that spun off from the show give their full names in appropriate places, and their "brochure" in ''The Goodies File'' lists their real-life years and places of birth. Needless to say, the characters are just highly exaggerated versions of themselves.
* ''[[In Plain Sight]]'' has lead character Mary Shannon played by Mary McCormack. Whenever she needs an alias-to testify in court, let's say-she goes by "Mary [[Meaningful Name|Shepherd]]".
* Subversion: ''Hope & Faith'' starred Kelly Ripa and Faith Ford in the title roles... but Faith played Hope and Kelly played Faith.
* Andy Griffith as Andy Taylor in ''[[The Andy Griffith Show]]''.
* In ''Make Room For Daddy'' (aka ''The Danny Thomas Show''), Danny Thomas starred as Danny Williams.
* Every character in the Australian [[Mockumentary]] series ''[[The Games]]'' is named for their actor -- foractor—for example, Frank Woodley playing, well, Dr. Frank Woodley (who is "partially" a TV vet in the episode). This was [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshaded]] in the second season when the actor John Howard played a political representative pretending the be the Prime Minister; Brian remarks, "But that's illegal! He's not the prime minister!" to which John replies "He never said he ''was'' the prime minister; he said he was John Howard".
** May it be pointed out for non-Australians reading this that the real-life PM at time of that episode's airing was named (by pure coincidence) John Howard.
* ''[[Happy Days]]'' had Al Molinaro as Al Delvecchio and Marion Ross as Marion Cunningham.
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* Charlie on ''[[It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia|Its Always Sunny in Philadelphia]]'', and to a lesser extent Mac. When Glenn Howerton was asked about his character being named Dennis, he remarked on how it seemed like a good idea, and has proven so far to have been a good decision.
** Also, Artemis is played by Artemis Pebdani.
* Steve from ''[[Blue's Clues|Blues Clues]]''--his—his actor's name was Steven in real life. Oddly enough, his [[Suspiciously Similar Substitute]] is named Joe in the show, but has the real-life name of Donovan.
* Brent Butt as Brent Leroy on ''[[Corner Gas]]''.
* Mr. Mackay in ''[[Porridge]]'' was played by Fulton Mackay
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Roger Price said "What's your favorite name?" and I was kind of fazed, and I said, "Elizabeth." And that's how the role got its name.
}}
* In ''[[The Wire]]'' the character Felicia "Snoop" Pearson is played by [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1787519/ Felicia "Snoop" Pearson] -- who—who also happens to be a former Baltimore drug dealer with [http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/may/24/the.wire.season.five a conviction for second-degree murder].
** Also Detective Ed(ward) Norris is played by Ed Norris, former Baltimore City chief of police ([http://www.hbo.com/thewire/cast/ Cast List]).
** And while Jay Landsman is played by Delaney Williams, from Season 3 the character Dennis Mello is played by Jay Landsman.
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* Almost all the main characters in the 70's show ''[[What's Happening]].'' two had the same last name, 3 the same first name. And one just used the initial of her first name.
* Interesting variation in ''[[Everybody Hates Chris]]'' – Chris Rock narrates [[As Himself]], while the [[Timeshifted Actor|young Chris Rock]] is played by Tyler James Williams.
* On ''[[True Blood]]'', Sam Merlotte is played by actor Sam Trammell--aTrammell—a coincidence, since the character was named by Charlaine Harris, author of the novels on which the show is based.
* [[Subverted Trope]] in an episode of ''[[Burn Notice]]'' in which actor Michael Weston guest-starred as the client of the week. His character was named Spencer but the actor's name is nearly identical to that of the lead character (whose last name is spelled "Westen").
* ''Gimme a Break'' with Nell Carter as Nell Harper.
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'''Joey''': Oh. }}
* ''[[Coupling]]'' has a variant: characters Steve and Susan share the names of ''writer'' [[Steven Moffat]] and ''producer'' Sue Vertue, on whom they're [[Dramatization|loosely modeled]].
* Another variant on ''[[Glee]]''-- The—The character Kurt Hummel is so named because the actor who plays him, Chris Colfer, once played Kurt Von Trapp in ''[[The Sound of Music]]'' and looks like a Hummel figurine.
** Brad [[The Piano Player]] is played by Brad Ellis.
* Ron Glass (AKA Shepherd Book from ''[[Firefly]]'') played Detective Ron Harris in ''[[Barney Miller]]''
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* In the ''[[Doctor Who]]'' stage play "Seven Keys to Doomsday", the companions were going to be called Dave and Jenny; but when James Mathews was cast, his character was renamed to Jimmy. Later stage revivals reverted to "Dave", but in the [[Big Finish]] audio version he's "Jimmy" again.
* The short lived yet wildly popular Broadway musical ''[[Title of Show]]''. In fact, the show takes it up a notch with it being "a musical about two guys writing a musical about two guys writing a musical" (guess how many guys wrote this musical?) and the song "I Am Playing Me."
* In ''[[American Idiot]]'', the rock opera featuring [[Green Day]]'s music, the main character Johnny was named after the actor who plays him -- Johnhim—John Gallagher Jr. (who uses the name 'Johnny Gallager' in his music career).
* Most [[Cirque Du Soleil]] clowns use their own names for their characters, and occasionally more serious character roles get the same treatment, in which case the name may stick with the character after the original performer leaves. Notable examples:
** ''[[Mystere]]'': Brian Le Petit (Dewhurst) and Bebe Francois (Dupuis).
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* Sadly [[Averted Trope]] in ''[[Tales of Vesperia]]'' where, due to the policy of not reusing voice actors too frequently, Yuri Lowell is ''not'' voiced by voice actor [[Yuri Lowenthal]].
* Makoto in ''[[Street Fighter III]] 3rd Strike'' is voiced by Makoto Tsumura.
* The arcade game ''[[Pit-Fighter]]'' is an early example where the sprites are digitised images of real actors. It has four [[The Danza|Danzas]]: "Southside Jim" is played by one James Thompson, "Chainman Eddie" by Eddie Venancio, "Mad Miles" by Miles McGowan and "Angel" by Angela Stellato.
* Rochelle in ''[[Left 4 Dead 2]]'' is voiced by Rochelle Aytes
* Games made by Skip Ltd. (such as ''[[Chibi-Robo!]]'' and ''[[Captain Rainbow]]'') frequently feature a black-and-white dog named Tao, who is usually portrayed as somewhat lazy and often very hungry. Tao was the actual dog of Skip's creative director, looked exactly like his fictional counterparts, and... was somewhat lazy and often very hungry. (The real dog died in 2009, but the fictional version will live on in games forevermore.)
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* One Danza that is not the main character (and isn't their biggest part in the show) is Cree Lincoln from ''[[Codename: Kids Next Door]]'' who is voiced by [[Cree Summer]], [[Talking to Himself|who also voices her little sister, Abby/Numbah 5]]).
** Another minor character Numbuh 362 is given the name Rachel, her voice actor? [[Rachael MacFarlane]] ([[Seth MacFarlane|yes, that MacFarlane]])
* Minor character example -- inexample—in several episodes of ''[[Kim Possible]]'', [[Tara Strong]] has played a character named "Tara". But then, [[Man of a Thousand Voices|she's played]] ''[[Talking to Himself|so]]'' [[Hey, It's That Voice!|many roles]] that it was bound to happen eventually.
* Also Julie Brown as Julie [[Stealth Pun|Bruin]] in ''[[Tiny Toon Adventures]]''. In this case, she's effectively [[Adam Westing|parodying herself]].
* ''[[Kappa Mikey]]'' has its main characters playing characters with the same name in the [[Show Within a Show]]. As a bonus, Mikey Simon's voice actor is Michael Sinterniklaas, setting up a recursive Danza.
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** Amusingly, in ''Turf'', Elisa goes undercover with the fake name Salli.
* Guy Hadley as Guy Graham on Disney's version of ''[[Doug]]''.
* From the original series in 1962, to the movie from 1990,<ref>In fact, he had passed on in mid-production</ref>, [[The Jetsons|George Jetson]] had been voiced by George O'Hanlon.
* After [[The Other Darrin|Recasting]] for "What's With Andy", [[Black Best Friend|Danny Pickett]] was now voiced by Danny Brochu. The original voice actor (Bumper Robinson)'s real name is "Larry".
 
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