17 Stars Who Get Mistaken for Other Stars

Celebrities are accustomed to being recognized all the time in public, but sometimes it’s a case of mistaken identity. Maybe they resemble another famous face, or share a similar name, or have similar careers that blend together. For one reason or another, the two seem interchangeable. It may be flattering, but can also be a hit to the ego to be considered indistinguishable from someone else. Here are some stars who regularly get mistaken for other stars.

1. America Ferrera and Gina Rodriguez

Just this year, actress Gina Rodriguez of Jane the Virgin fame was mistaken for Ugly Betty‘s America Ferrera…by the Twitter account of the Golden Globe Awards. Oops. It was considered quite the embarrassing faux pas, as if all Latinas look alike or something. Both Golden Globe winning actresses took the high road about it, though. Gina said of the oversight, “America’s lovely. She’s so beautiful and such a fantastic actress. If there’s anybody I want to get mixed up with — it’s her for sure!” A few weeks later, America was presenting at the Globes with Eva Longoria, who opened with, “Hi, I’m Eva Longoria, not Eva Mendes,” in mockery of the gaffe.

2. Andy Samberg and Andrew Garfield

These two share the same first name, but really that’s about it. They don’t look alike and certainly don’t sound alike (Samberg’s American and Garfield’s British). However, that didn’t stop airport officials from mixing the two actors up. When Brooklyn Nine-Nine’s Samberg was heading to his honeymoon in the Maldives in 2014, he was greeted with fanfare and VIP treatment during a Dubai layover. However, it soon became clear he was being mistaken for the Spider-Man actor when reporters started asking him about the superhero film. Rather than correct the mistake, he just went with it and enjoyed the royal treatment.

3. Elizabeth Banks and Chelsea Handler

The Hunger Games star Elizabeth Banks has no problem with people confusing her for fellow blonde comedienne in a similar age range Chelsea Handler. “I don’t mind being compared to Chelsea Handler at all. It helps me when someone says, ‘oh, you’re Chelsea Handler’ and I say ‘yes I am.’ That gives me one more gain of anonymity. We met at a party and we were both aware people compared or confused us. She’s a great broad, a real wit.”

4. Steve Carell and Stephen Colbert

Steve Carell has said that people think he is Stephen Colbert from time to time. This seems like an unlikely mix up, but brown hair, similar first names and a shared Comedy Central background seems to throw some people off. Interestingly the two have known each other for quite some time, even before their Daily Show stints. Stephen was Steve’s understudy at Chicago’s Second City when they were just starting their careers. Stephen Colbert also gets mistaken for Bob Saget from time to time. He must have one of those ‘everyman’ faces.

5. Keira Knightley and Natalie Portman

Keira Knightley has said that she commonly gets chased through airports because people think she is Natalie Portman. There’s something about those soulful brown eyes, wide smiles and porcelain skin that is similar. With the right makeup, they are doppelgangers. Knightly has said, “I feel quite sorry for her because she must get chased a lot because it’s happened like five times where someone’s been like, ‘Natalie! Natalie! Natalie!’ And I’ll sign and take a picture as Natalie.”

6. Dylan McDermott and Dermot Mulroney

These two are around the same age and have the same coloring, but they really don’t look alike. The reason they get confused for each other is that their names are kind of similar, in a dyslexic sort of way. Lots of Ds and Ms and Ls in those five syllables. In 2012, Saturday Night Live parodied the common mix-ups between the actors in a game show skit called “Dylan McDermott or Dermot Mulroney.” McDermott wasn’t amused. “Yeah, I’ve only heard it a thousand times,” he told New York Magazine. It must get kind of old after a while.

7. Zooey Deschanel and Katy Perry

Zooey Deschanel and Katy Perry get confused for one another, and New Girl‘s Zooey isn’t cool with it, or at least she wasn’t back in 2009. She was quoted as saying, “It’s a little bit annoying, to be totally blunt. The only similarity that we have is that we look a little bit alike.” A little bit? With that dark lustrous hair and big blue eyes, they’re dead ringers! (Then again, some people think Katy Perry looks like JonBenet Ramsay.)

8. Daniel Radcliffe and Elijah Wood

In 2011 Daniel Radcliffe admitted that he constantly mistaken for Elijah Wood, another fellow actor of the fantasy film franchise genre. “I was in Japan and someone held out a photo of him for me to sign. I couldn’t say it in Japanese so I wrote, ‘I’m not Elijah Wood but thanks anyway, Daniel Radcliffe.’If I was a bit more puerile I would have written ‘The Lord Of The Rings’ is rubbish.’” At least he has a sense of humor about it.

9. Amy Adams and Isla Fisher

Amy Adams and Isla Fisher each have their own distinctive film careers, but they also both happen to have a similar shade of red hair and this seems to trip some people up. Amy has said: “I get Isla Fisher all the time, still. And I know Isla, and for a while our kids went to the same dance school. When I’m with Isla, we both look at one another and, ‘I get it, but I don’t get it.'”

10. Will Ferrell and Chad Smith

Funny man Will Ferrell and Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith get mistaken for each other all the time. So much so that it even led to them doing a charity drum off on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. Chad often wears “I am Not Will Ferrell” TV shirts during performances, and describes their humorous first meeting. “I’m looking at Will and thinking, ‘People really think I look like him?’ I don’t fucking look like that. He looks me up and down and says, ‘You’re very handsome,’ and walks away. Totally deadpan. I was like, ‘You’re funny. You’re funny.'” Come on, they look like twins here.

11. Henry Cavill and Matt Bomer

Superman‘s Henry Cavill has actually been mistaken for Matt Bomer by the photo agency Fame/Flynet Pictures who took his photo at LAX. The two do have a similar look with similar bone structure, eyes, and dark hair style. In fact Matt was considered to play Superman at one point as well. In 2003 he was Brett Ratner’s choice to play the lead in Superman Flyby which ultimately ended up being morphed into a different project. What do you think, clones separated at birth?

12. Sarah Hyland and Mila Kunis

Modern Family‘s Sarah Hyland and That 70’s Show Mila Kunis get mistaken for one another quite commonly as well. The big-eyed brunette beauties take it in stride however, and when they met in 2010 they agreed to just pretend to be one another when people make this snafu.

13. Matt Damon and Mark Wahlberg

Matt Damon and Mark Wahlberg are both extremely successful in their own right, but looking slightly similar gets them confused quite a bit. According to Matt: “I do get confused with Mark Wahlberg a lot, and we just have a deal that whenever we get mistaken for each other we have to be very polite. Can’t give the other a bad name.”

14. Ralph Fiennes and Liam Neeson

Ralph Fiennes and Liam Neeson have actually starred alongside each other a couple times, and yet they still get confused for one another. Is it that they’re both fine British actors? According to Liam: “I get mistaken for my pal Ralph Fiennes. I’ve been congratulated for my Hamlet on Broadway 14 years ago. ‘And he gets mistaken for me sometimes. We’d pass as brothers, you know.”

15. Gerard Butler and Clive Owen

Gerard Butler and Clive Owen are pretty similar looking (they both have that smouldering manliness going on), but even more shocking than Gerard being mistaken for Clive is the fact that he was once mistaken for a terrorist at the airport. He had been coming from an audition and forgot that he had stuff taped to the bottom of his shoes, which seemed more than suspicious to airport security. “The guy literally went,’What the f**k is that? Security!’ The next thing I know there are 10 people around me and I’m telling what sounds like the most far-fetched story every about my audition with Angelina Jolie.”

16. Jennifer Connelly and Demi Moore

Jennifer Connelly has said that people often mistake her for Demi Moore. The two do share a similar look with dark hair, green eyes and strong facial feautures, and they both have been acting for years. They are however eight years apart in age – and most people don’t want to be mistaken for an older woman.

17. Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Javier Bardem

Magic City‘s Jeffrey Dean Morgan says he gets mistaken for Javier Bardem all the time. “It use to happen a lot more sort of right when I guess started being recognized at all. I got Javier a lot. Now it happens less, but it certainly happens quite a bit. It’s funny, I was doing press for Magic City and doing phone interviews much like I’m doing here with you and I got on the phone with somebody and I don’t remember what it was for, but they had just interviewed Javier like the day before and Javier told a story much like the stories I tell of people coming up to me and thinking I’m him and he told a story about you know being at the airport with his wife and somebody coming up and insisting that he was Jeffrey Dean Morgan and so I was rather amused he gets the same thing I get. But yeah it happens quite a bit. I get Javier and I get Robert Downey every now and again too. It’s funny.” Not exactly two bad guys to get mistaken for.