10 Male Characters Played by Women

Casting can be counterintuitive. Studios often hire male actors for female characters and vice versa. Such decisions aren’t that unusual, especially in this age of gender-swapping established stories. For better or worse, they’re a fairly common practice nowadays, meaning they no longer draw the widespread attention they once did. Ironically, it’s the less overt examples that might throw people off.

Certain characters are male in appearance and context, yet the actors playing them are women. This quirky choice has a plethora of potential explanations. The characters in question could be part of a vision or hallucination. Alternatively, the filmmakers might use movie magic to disguise the actress. Finally, otherworldly forces could just conspire to change a guy into a girl. Such a random twist throws a monkey wrench into any tale. What’s weirder is that this crazy plan usually works.

Related: 10 Actors Hidden in Your Favorite Movies

10 Emperor Palpatine

Despite being the overarching villain of the whole Star Wars saga, Emperor Palpatine stays in the shadows for most of the original trilogy. Fans don’t even glimpse him until The Empire Strikes Back when he appears in a hologram and dictates his plans to Darth Vader. Even then, they can only vaguely make out the deformed man under the hood, but that doesn’t mean the filmmakers have it easy.

The Emperor is a combination of cinematic trickery. Although Clive Revill provides the voice, the physical portrayal comes courtesy of Marjorie Eaton. She’s completely unrecognizable, largely thanks to the extensive makeup and prosthetics. Adding to the obscurity is that neither actor returns in subsequent films. Ian McDiarmid debuts as the Emperor in Return of the Jedi and continues into the prequel era. In fact, later editions of The Empire Strikes Back edit him into the aforementioned scene. As a result, Palpatine’s roots remain hidden from all but the most passionate fans.^[1]

9 Frieza

Another galactic emperor, Frieza, is a bizarre specimen. The Dragon Ball baddie is technically a male, but his design and behavior are deceptively effeminate. The alien overlord’s prim and proper demeanor deliberately contrasts with his terrible strength and sadistic actions. These factors can throw anyone off. That sentiment even goes for the people behind the show.

When dubbing Dragon Ball Z in English, the companies in charge initially cast middle-aged women as Frieza. The Canada-based Ocean Group gets Pauline Newstone, while U.S. studio Funimation opts for Linda Young. The latter studio eventually recast the role with male actors for re-dubs and sequels, but Young remained the mainstay Frieza for the series’ first decade in the West.^[2]

8 Several Animated Kids

Finding kids who can act is a consistent challenge for filmmakers, but the voiceover realm has a convenient workaround: just cast women. Whenever animated projects or video games feature children, they almost always hire actresses to play them. That pattern applies to males as well as females. After all, boys usually retain high-pitched voices throughout their early years, only gaining deeper tones after puberty. Women’s voices rarely reach those low points, so voice actresses can capture that prepubescent sound. The fact isn’t lost on the industry.

Many of the most iconic animated boys are actually females. Rocky the Flying Squirrel (June Foray), Dexter (Christine Cavanaugh), Jimmy Neutron (Debi Derryberry), Timmy Turner (Tara Strong), Goku (Stephanie Nadolny), Naruto (Maile Flanagan), Monkey D. Luffy (Colleen Clinkenbeard), and Ash Ketchum (Veronica Taylor) are just a few examples. By simply putting a bit more gravel in their deliveries, these women seamlessly capture the vim and vigor of male youth. Even better, they don’t have to worry about their voices lowering with maturity, so they can play the characters for years.^[3]

7 Bob Dylan

When a person inspires a biopic, the filmmakers usually cast a star of the same gender. That fact normally goes without saying, but I’m Not There is an experimental departure. The Bob Dylan film switches between six characters, each representing one of the musician’s different personas. Most of these segments feature male actors, but not all.

Cate Blanchett steps into the shoes of Jude Quinn. This singer transitions from humble folk songs to bombastic band performances. The change earns ire from fans, who accuse Quinn of selling out. The response sends Jude on a journey of self-reflection as he ponders whether he’s lost himself in the industry. Such an existential crisis plagues many stories of fame and fortune. The only real difference here is the actress is the male embodiment of another male’s insecurities. Try to wrap your head around that.^[4]

6 Peter Pan

Peter Pan is one of the icons of youthful mischief. The cocksure kid lives in the magical Neverland. His friendship with a fairy lets him fly around with unbridled freedom, and he routinely uses that freedom to combat the local pirates. More importantly, his presence here means he never grows up. Such enduring adventures speak to the inner child in everyone, leading to countless adaptations over a century. Many of these takes are theater productions to complement the creator’s playwright profession. However, that choice leads to a casting challenge. As tough as it is for kids to act onscreen, putting them onstage is a taller order.

Most theater (and early film) portrayals have Peter Pan played by women to overcome that difficulty. Nina Boucicault, Maude Adams, Mary Martin, Cathy Rigby, and others all don the green tights before any males. Even after the boys took over, the character’s early years remained integral to his cinematic legacy. A televised live show paid homage to that legacy by once again casting a woman, Allison Williams, in the lead role. What better way to honor the girls who helped this boy fly?^[]

5 Charlie Sorrel

In this case, the casting is part of the joke. Goodbye, Charlie concerns a sleazy Hollywood writer whose womanizing ways put him on the wrong end of a gun. What should be the end is only the beginning. Fate decrees that Charlie be reincarnated as a woman. Although he initially has amnesia, the memories soon come flooding back, causing Charlie to revert to his unhealthy habits. The difference is that he’s now one of the very bombshells he once he lusted after.

Debbie Reynolds plays Charlie Sorrel for most of the film. She embodies the chauvinistic pig riddled with substance abuse, but newfound female hormones clash with this persona. The combination creates a chaotic character pulled in multiple directions. The people around him don’t know how to react, and the audience is in the same boat.^[6]

4 Charlie Harper

This casting quirk seems attracted to characters named Charlie. The one in Two and a Half Men is a similar shade of sleaze. Charlie Harper is a drunken songwriter who blows his wealth on a Malibu beach house, a steady supply of booze, and a never-ending gaggle of one-night stands. It’s no surprise when these habits catch up with him, leading to his untimely death partway through the show. Granted, this shakeup actually stemmed from the real-life controversy of actor Charlie Sheen, but the fact remained that his character was dead. Replacing him with a new protagonist only cemented that finality. However, the show just couldn’t quit its original star.

One episode sees Charlie’s brother, Alan, hopped up on pain meds. The drugs cause him to see a vision of his late sibling. Instead of Charlie Sheen, though, it’s Kathy Bates. The character returns from the great beyond with a woman’s body, which he predictably uses to spice up his metaphysical sex life. Of course, this swap is little more than a one-off gag. It’s all the more confusing in hindsight when the series finale reveals Charlie is alive. Apparently, the post-mortem sex change is all in Alan’s head.^[7]

3 The Shadow King

Legion is a show where nothing is as it seems. That largely comes down to the titular mutant, aka David Haller, whose telepathic and reality-bending powers warp the world around him. Furthering the chaos is Amahl Farouk. Also known as the Shadow King, the X-Men villain attaches himself to David’s mind, manipulating the kid for his own ends. Despite his significance, however, Farouk doesn’t show his true face until the second season.

The methodical monarch initially speaks through David’s druggie buddy, Lenny, played by Aubrey Plaza. After her untimely death, her consciousness falls under the Farouk’s sway. He then uses that consciousness to throw David off, thus making the kid easier to manipulate. In plain talk, this twist means that Plaza is the face of the Shadow King for the whole first season.^[8]

2 Maurice

In the Planet of the Apes reboot series, chimp revolutionary Caesar recruits simians of all shapes and sizes. Some are as different as night and day, but they all fight to secure a future where they’re free from human imprisonment. Caesar’s staunchest ally in this cause is Maurice. This orangutan often serves as the voice of reason, advising against rash action while supporting the pursuit of peace. The prominent flanges around his cheeks signify his status as a dominant male., but the actual face of this ape is surprising.

The person behind the fur is Karin Konoval, but no one would ever know. This illusion comes down to two factors. The first is technology. The new Planet of the Apes films use performance capture tech to depict the simians. The actors wear specialized suits, and their movements transfer to digital characters. In essence, Konoval can play someone who looks nothing like her. The second factor is the lack of spoken dialogue. The apes mainly communicate through sign language. Maurice is no exception, so the filmmakers don’t have to disguise the actress’s voice. For these reasons and more, Planet of the Apes is at the top tier of movie magic.^[9]

1 Rohirrim

Rohan lives and dies on cavalry. Throughout The Lord of the Rings, this kingdom of Men builds its culture on the bond between horses and riders. Embodying that bond is the Rohirrim—an elite class of soldiers specializing in fast attacks on horseback. The rank usually goes to males. In adapting these tales, however, the filmmakers had to have hundreds of these troops onscreen at a time. Luckily, the local residents provided a convenient workaround.

New Zealand, the movie’s main location, is a prominent hub for horse riding. One day, the filmmakers put out a call for any able-bodied riders to come to set. Numerous people turned up, many of them women. After being outfitted with armor, wigs, and beards, these equestrians then rode in formation for the required scenes. The crew didn’t have to waste time on CGI or training amateurs; they could instantly call on experienced riders. That means that many of the Rohirrim onscreen are bearded ladies.^[10]