Actresses Who’ve Played the Same Role Across 20+ Years

Some characters stay with audiences for a long time, and some stay with the performers who play them even longer. Across film, television, and even video games, a handful of actresses have returned to the same role again and again, sometimes over several decades. Below are examples of performers who have kept one character alive for twenty years or more, whether through continuous series work, sporadic sequels, or voice performances that extend a role into new formats.

Mariska Hargitay – Olivia Benson

Mariska Hargitay first took on the role of NYPD detective Olivia Benson in the pilot of ‘Law & Order: Special Victims Unit’, where the character is introduced as a member of Manhattan’s sex crimes unit. She has remained with the procedural drama as its central lead while the show expanded into the longest-running primetime live-action drama in U.S. television. Over more than two decades, Hargitay’s Benson has appeared in hundreds of episodes across the main series and crossover stories in the wider ‘Law & Order’ franchise. Recent seasons continue to credit her as both star and producer as the series enters its mid-twenties in season count, with renewals already announced for further years.

Julie Kavner – Marge Simpson

Julie Kavner has voiced Marge Simpson since the character’s earliest animated shorts on ‘The Tracey Ullman Show’, continuing into the long-running series ‘The Simpsons’. In addition to Marge, she also performs the voices of several other members of the Bouvier family, including Patty, Selma, and Jacqueline, across television episodes and related media. Her work as Marge spans television, feature film projects such as ‘The Simpsons Movie’, numerous video games, and theme-park attractions like ‘The Simpsons Ride’. This extended stretch of voice acting has made Kavner one of the longest-serving performers on an ongoing scripted series, with her contract specifically allowing her to avoid on-camera promotion while she continues recording new episodes.

Sarah Jessica Parker – Carrie Bradshaw

Sarah Jessica Parker debuted as columnist Carrie Bradshaw in HBO’s ‘Sex and the City’, which follows a group of friends navigating work and relationships in New York City. After the original series concluded, she returned to the same role in two theatrical films that extended the storyline of Carrie and her circle. Parker later reprised Carrie for the sequel series ‘And Just Like That…’, set years later and focusing on the character’s life in middle age. With the conclusion of ‘And Just Like That…’ after its third season, Parker has publicly described Carrie Bradshaw as a role she has carried for roughly twenty-seven years from the character’s original debut through the most recent episodes.

Ellen Pompeo – Meredith Grey

Ellen Pompeo first appeared as surgical intern Meredith Grey in the pilot of ABC’s medical drama ‘Grey’s Anatomy’, created by Shonda Rhimes. The character is introduced as the daughter of renowned surgeon Ellis Grey and becomes the central narrator and main point of view for the ensemble series. Over hundreds of episodes, Pompeo has followed Meredith from intern to attending surgeon and hospital leader while also serving as a producer on the show. Even after scaling back her regular on-screen appearances in recent seasons, she continues to voice the character’s narration and remains formally attached to the series, keeping her connection to Meredith active after more than twenty years.

Judi Dench – M

Judi Dench took over the role of intelligence chief M in the James Bond film series starting with ‘GoldenEye’, becoming the first woman to play the character in the long-running franchise. Her version of M appears in multiple Bond films alongside different actors playing 007, overseeing missions and acting as the head of MI6. The character’s story reaches a decisive turning point in ‘Skyfall’, where M is central to the narrative rather than remaining solely a background authority figure. Dench’s tenure with the role extends to a posthumous video message in ‘Spectre’, providing instructions that set the story in motion and marking her final appearance as M around two decades after she first stepped into the part.

Elisabeth Sladen – Sarah Jane Smith

Elisabeth Sladen first joined ‘Doctor Who’ as investigative journalist Sarah Jane Smith, companion to the Third and Fourth Doctors in the classic era of the series. After her original run, she reprised Sarah Jane in the special ‘K-9 and Company’ and in later spin-off stories, keeping the character present in the wider franchise. Sladen returned again when ‘Doctor Who’ was revived, appearing opposite the Tenth and Eleventh Doctors and reintroducing Sarah Jane to a new generation of viewers. She then led her own children’s series, ‘The Sarah Jane Adventures’, remaining in the role until her final televised appearance, which came nearly four decades after Sarah Jane’s first story.

Jamie Lee Curtis – Laurie Strode

Jamie Lee Curtis first portrayed Laurie Strode in the horror film ‘Halloween’, introduced as a teenager targeted by masked killer Michael Myers. She returned to the same character in multiple sequels across different timelines within the franchise, including modern entries that revisit Laurie many years after the original events. The series charts Laurie across various life stages, from high school student to parent and long-term survivor, with Curtis reprising the role each time the story is continued or rebooted. Her most recent performances as Laurie appear in a later trilogy that concludes this version of the storyline, giving her a span with the character that stretches over more than four decades.

Linda Hamilton – Sarah Connor

Linda Hamilton first played resistance figure Sarah Connor in ‘The Terminator’, where the character is introduced as an ordinary woman targeted by a time-travelling assassin. She returned to Sarah in ‘Terminator 2: Judgment Day’, presenting the character as a trained fighter preparing for an apocalyptic future. Beyond the early films, Hamilton reprised Sarah for the theme-park attraction ‘T2-3D: Battle Across Time’ and provided her voice for later franchise entries. Decades after the first movie, she once again took on the role in ‘Terminator: Dark Fate’, with coverage around that film emphasizing the long gap between appearances and the intensive physical preparation required for her return to Sarah Connor.

Sigourney Weaver – Ellen Ripley

Sigourney Weaver introduced space officer Ellen Ripley in the science fiction horror film ‘Alien’, where she is part of the crew of the commercial ship Nostromo. She continued the role in successive sequels ‘Aliens’, ‘Alien 3’, and ‘Alien Resurrection’, which follow Ripley through different stages of the long conflict with the xenomorph species. Years after her last live-action appearance, Weaver returned to Ripley by providing voice and likeness for the survival-horror video game ‘Alien: Isolation’ and its downloadable story content. Her ongoing association with the character continues in discussions of potential new ‘Alien’ films, where she has confirmed recent meetings about another possible Ripley story many decades after the original movie.

Carrie-Anne Moss – Trinity

Carrie-Anne Moss first played hacker Trinity in ‘The Matrix’, where the character helps free Neo from the simulated reality controlled by machines. She returned to Trinity in the original trilogy’s sequels, participating in key action sequences and plot developments that explore the war between humans and the Matrix. Outside the main films, Moss has voiced Trinity in tie-in projects such as ‘Enter the Matrix’ and segments of ‘The Animatrix’, expanding the character into other media. More than twenty years after the first film, she reprised Trinity again in ‘The Matrix Resurrections’, a continuation that reunites her with Keanu Reeves and shows the character reinserted into a new version of the Matrix.

Share which long-running performances or characters you’d add to this list in the comments so others can discover them too.