11 Actors Who Juggled Multiple Franchises at the Same Time

Ugh, just sit on the couch for once in your life. You’re making everyone else look bad.
11 Actors Who Juggled Multiple Franchises at the Same Time

Aren’t you people busy enough with one franchise?! The physical training, the stunt choreography, the character study, and the learning of an entire screenplay’s dialogue seem daunting enough for one movie, let alone its sequels. Double that, and you’ve got the workload of these little overachievers. Like, you did it! Be proud of what every other actor on the planet dreams of, and finally realize that you’re enough. We see you. Mommy and Daddy see you. No need for more void-filling, just sit back on your patio overlooking the Hollywood hills and take it all in.

But we get it. You’re the “it” person, and other franchises are gonna come calling. Your agent and manager want their cuts, so you’ll get a hefty nudge in the second, third, or even fourth franchise’s direction. As tired as you might be, this won’t last forever. And you’ll sleep when you’re dead. Here’s your chance to collect your nuts for the winter, and juggle multiple franchises at the same time. Like these 11 squirrels right here. Actors! They’re actors, it was a metaphor. You get it.

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Can we just start calling him Tom Cruise in every one of his movies?

CRACKED Tom Cruise in Mission Impossible, Jack Reacher (and many more). Including one set for release in 2024, there are 8 Mission Impossible films. The original Jack Reacher dropped a year after M.I.: Ghost Protocol, and its sequel dropped a year after M.I.: Rogue Nation. Lest we forget the Top Gun sequel and a million other massive blockbusters.

IMDB / NPR 

We LOVED Sir Ian in the early 2000s.

CRACKED Sir lan McKellen was Gandalf and Magneto. Between 2000 and 2006, he starred in the Lord of the Rings trilogy and the original X-Men trilogy. Between 2012 and 2014, he reprised his role as Gandalf in The Hobbit trilogy, and Magneto in X-Men: Days of Future Past.

IGN 

It’s all aliens and ghosts for Sigourney.

CRACKED Sigourney Weaver in the Aliens, Avatar, and Ghostbusters franchises. From 1979 to 1992, she played Ripley in 3 Aliens movies and Dana Barrett in 2 Ghostbusters movies. She played Ripley again in 1997's Alien: Resurrection, and between the 2 Avatar films, she played Dana Barrett again in 2021's Ghostbusters: Afterlife.

IMDB / IGN 

Need a great franchise villain… Hugo’s your guy!

CRACKED Hugo Weaving is a part of 4 massive franchises. Between 1999 and 2003, he played Agent Smith in the Matrix trilogy and Elrond in The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Не then voiced Megatron in 3 Transformers movies, reprised his role as Elrond in 2 Hobbit movies, and played Red Skull in Captain America, so... the MCU baby!

IMDB / Yahoo 

Man, Parks & Rec really helped launch an insane career.

CRACKED Chris Pratt in The Guardians of the Galaxy and Jurassic World trilogies. Since 2014's Guardians of the Galaxy, he's appeared as Peter Quill/Star-Lord in the next 2 Volumes, Avengers: Infinity War, Endgame, and Thor: Love and Thunder. His starring role as Owen Grady in the Jurassic World trilogy was all up in there, too.

IMDB / CBR 

Harrison Ford was every kid’s hero in the early ‘80s.

CRACKED Harrison Ford was Han Solo and Indiana Jones. Between 1977 and 1989, he starred in the original Star Wars trilogy and the original Indiana Jones trilogy. Four of those films dropped between 1980 and 1984. He'd later reprise those roles in 2 Star Wars and 2 Indiana Jones movies.

IMDB / Slate 

Jennifer Lawrence handled the 2010s.

CRACKED Jennifer Lawrence in the Hunger Games and X-Men. From 2011 to 2019, she played Katniss Everdeen in 4 Hunger Games movies and Mystique in 4 X-Men movies. Bangers like Silver Linings Playbook, American Hustle, and Mother! were sprinkled in there too.

IMDB / CNN 

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