Trend Alert: Actors Pulling Double Duty (PHOTOS)
Cody Fern
American Horror Story: Apocalypse (Series finale, Wednesday, Nov. 14, 10/9c, FX)
His Michael Langdon (left) works a cape with finesse, chews scenery with the best of them (including Joan Collins!) and has the sort of fluid sexuality that sets Twitter aflutter. Most important, the character is the Antichrist who brought on the season’s main event — the apocalypse.
House of Cards (Netflix)
Fern costars in the drama’s final season as Duncan Shepherd, the politically ambitious spawn of high-powered industrialist Annette Shepherd (Diane Lane).
Is there a connection? Hell, Washington — it’s all the same!
Eric McCormack
Will & Grace (Thursdays, 9/8c, NBC)
He goes for laughs as lawyer Will Truman (left), gay bestie to interior designer Grace Adler (Debra Messing), on the sitcom revival.
Travelers (Netflix)
McCormack can also be dramatic, playing time-traveling operative from the future Grant MacLaren (above) on the Canadian sci-fi import. MacLaren is mankind’s best hope for preventing the end of the world. (The third season is coming soon.)
Is there a connection?
Time travel is the only explanation we can accept for how McCormack has managed to not age a lick since Will & Grace
Travelers (Netflix)
Sara Gilbert
The Conners (Tuesdays, 8/7c, ABC)
In the retooled comedy, executive producer Gilbert is back as Darlene Conner (left), the dry-witted single mom of two often found sitting around a table with her loud, diverse and opinionated family.
The Talk (Weekdays, CBS)
On the daytime chatfest, she’s the dry-witted mom of three, as well as cohost and executive producer, always found sitting around a table with her loud, diverse and opinionated cohosts.
Is there a connection?
Both shows said goodbye to a cast member this year — Roseanne Barr and Julie Chen, respectively — amid scandal.
Lisa Edelstein
The Good Doctor
(Mondays, 10/9c, ABC)
The actress, who just wrapped five seasons on Girlfriends’ Guide to Divorce, has a recurring role as Dr. Marina Blaize (left), the brilliant, acerbic oncologist treating Dr. Aaron Glassman’s (Richard Schiff) brain cancer.
The Kominsky Method (Netflix)
Edelstein’s Phoebe (right) is the one in need of medical help on this new comedy, as the pill-addicted daughter to Hollywood agent Norman (Alan Arkin).
Is there a connection?
Honestly, how many jobs does this always excellent actress have to take to get an Emmy nod!
Timothy Hutton
The Haunting of Hill House (Netflix)
The adaptation of Shirley Jackson’s novel updates the haunted house tale to explore mental illness, addiction — and bad parenting by Hutton’s Hugh Crain (left), who keeps secrets from his grown children.
How to Get Away With Murder
(Thursdays, 10/9c, ABC)
Philadelphia attorney Emmett Crawford (right) is also hiding some things — including inappropriate behavior — from new partner Annalise (Viola Davis).
Is there a connection?
Crawford has a few skeletons in the closet, while Crain has far worse than that lying in wait for him at Hill House.
Do not adjust your screens. You are, in fact, seeing several of the same actors in multiple roles these days. Clearly, one of fall’s hottest trends is multitasking.
Click through the gallery above to learn more about the actors, the roles and the shows.
