Actors who returned to their roles after many years (9 photos)

Several popular actors have returned to their iconic roles after a hiatus of over 25 years.





Times are such that filmmakers are increasingly trying to reboot old franchises or make sequels to cult films that are already several decades old. And in order to attract more nostalgic viewers, older, or even outdated, actors who once starred in the original are invited to these films.

Harrison Ford, Mark Hammill, Carrie Fisher and other Star Wars actors



Harrison Ford became one of the few actors from the original Star Wars trilogy who was able to build a dizzying career. In the original Star Wars trilogy, Ford played one of the main roles - smuggler Han Solo. Ford tried on this image from 1977 to 1983.

Naturally, Ford could not have appeared in the prequel trilogy, which was released in the early 00s, because in theory at that time Han Solo was supposed to be still a little boy. But when it came to filming the seventh part, the events of which should develop 30 years after the end of Return of the Jedi (1983), it was decided to bring up the old men of the series, such as Harrison Ford, Mark Hammill, Carrie Fisher and others.





True, if all the actors (who could not build a successful career) were ready to star in the franchise until the end of their days, then Ford, on the contrary, set the condition that he would act only if his character was killed. So he wanted to quit Star Wars.

However, this did not stop him from appearing for a couple of minutes in the last part of the new trilogy, “The Last Jedi.”

Michael Keaton (31 years old)

Casting an actor like Michael Keaton to play the dark Batman was a big risk, since Keaton was known mostly as a comedic actor. However, Keaton was able to prove that he is capable of playing even the gloomy "Dark Knight".

He returned to the same role in the film Batman Returns (1992). But in subsequent parts he was already replaced by Val Kilmer, and then by George Clooney. Well, then the era of restarts began, which then gave way to the era of multiverses.



So, it was thanks to the multiverses that the creators could do whatever they wanted, namely, resurrect dead characters (or rather, take them from other universes), as well as bring in actors who had previously played the same characters (for the sake of fan service). Many people know how audiences squealed, screamed and clapped when they saw the three Spider-Men played by Tobey McGuire, Andrew Garfield and Tom Holland together.

The Flash movie is coming out in 2023 and also deals with the theme of multiverses. So, in this film, the main character meets the aged Bruce Wayne from Tim Burton's universe. Well, Michael Keaton played him...31 years after his last appearance in this role.

Ghostbusters (37 years old)

The cult fantasy comedy film "Ghostbusters" was released back in 1984. The main roles of the hunters themselves were played by such actors as Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Harold Ramiz and Ernie Hudson.

The film turned out to be so successful that there was simply no question about releasing a sequel, and as a result, the second part of the film was released in 1989, which was also a great box office success, although not as much as the first part. However, after the release of the sequel, Bill Murray refused to take part in any sequels.



However, Dan Aykroyd did not lose hope of filming the third “Hunters”. He even wrote the script for the film, cutting Peter Vankman (Bill Murray) out of it and adding young blood to the squad. But in the end this idea was never realized.

Nevertheless, in 2016, a female reboot of the film was released; all the main actors (except for the deceased Harold Ramis) took a small part, but played completely different characters.

A full-fledged return to their roles occurred only in 2021 in the film “Ghostbusters: Descendants.” At the end of the film, we can see all the old guys gathered, and even Egon Spangler as a ghost. Naturally, since Harold Ramiz was no longer alive, we had to turn to computer technology for help.

Linda Hamilton

Actress Linda Hamilton made famousThanks to her role as Sarah Connor in the films "Terminator" (1984) and "Terminator 2" (1991). In the third and fourth parts there was no longer any Sarah Connor, and in the fifth film her role was played by actress Emilia Clarke.



However, when it came to the sixth part of the film, it was decided to cast grandma Linda Hamilton in the role of the elderly Sarah Connor. But despite the fact that James Cameron promised us a cool film in the spirit of the second part, in reality it turned out to be a bland feminist action movie with Arnold Schwarzenegger in the role of a curtain sewer.

Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy

In the fantasy comedy film, Bette Midler, Sarah Jessica Parker and Kathy Najimy played three witches who were revived in our time due to the fact that a virgin (the main character) lit a black candle in their house. And now the witches want to drink the life force of all the children in the city, but of course they will be stopped.



Not to say that the film was some kind of hit, but still, almost 30 years later, the filmmakers decided to release a sequel, where they brought in the entire original cast of witches, namely 78-year-old Bette Midler, 66-year-old Kathy Najimy and 58-year-old Sarah Jessica Parker.

Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter

While still young, Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter played the main characters in the sci-fi comedy film “Bill and Ted's Adventures.” A couple of years later, a continuation of this film was released.



Later it was planned to film the third part, but something constantly got in the way. One thing is certain, Keanu Reeves had nothing to do with it, since he himself would not mind starring in the sequel. And in 2010, Keanu Reeves announced that there would still be a third part, and work was already underway on the script for the film.

And here Keanu Reeves didn’t lie. True, the third part of the film was released only in 2020. But she still came out.

Sam Neill, Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum

Naturally, I couldn’t help but remember Steven Spielberg’s cult film “Jurassic Park” (1993), where the main roles were played by such actors as Sam Neill (Dr. Grant), Jeff Goldblum (Dr. Malcolm) and Laura Dern (Dr. Ellie Sattler) .



And how happy the fans were when their favorite, albeit aged, heroes returned to their roles in the film “Jurassic World 3: Domination,” which is essentially the sixth film in the franchise.