It’s a classic conundrum: you loved that one movie with that one very famous actor or actress, but you and your friend just can’t seem to agree on just who that very famous actor or actress was. We totally understand—facial recognition can be hard, especially when the only identifiers you have to go on are “super hot” and “played that wizard in that one movie about child wizards.”
This is such a big issue in the world of nonsensical arguments to have with your family at weekly obligatory Sunday dinners, in fact, that several Reddit chains have been posted to discuss this issue. Prepare to have your mind blown.
Keira Knightley and Natalie Portman
This mix-up is so common that Keira herself has actually commented on it. While talking about getting mixed up with Anne Hathaway one time she said, “Actually it’s the first Anne Hathaway I have had. Generally, I get a lot of Rachel Weisz and Natalie Portman.” UMMMM, if I were to get mixed up with Natalie, Rachel, Anne or Kiera I could die happy. These two definitely look very similar but how could you really confuse them? One will always be Padmé from Star Wars and the other will always be Elizabeth from Pirates of the Carribean. I don’t disagree that they look similar, but no one in their right minds could forget the iconic (and different) roles that these two had.
Tom Hardy and Logan Marshall-Green
Wait… which one of them was in The O.C. again? (It was Logan.) Logan might have a small advantage in the looks department — but considering Tom’s accent, they’re both pretty well-matched as far as attractiveness goes. They also both are known for their parts in Ridley Scott films. Tom made his debut in Black Hawk Down and Logey scored a role in the creepy Prometheus. Can you believe these babes are both 40? (Well, technically Tom is 39, but we’re rounding up.)
Michael Cera and Jesse Eisenberg
Let it be known that one particular Redditor described this pairing as “Michael Cera and his evil twin who played [Mark] Zuckerberg [in The Social Network].” A more accurate description has never existed before this. They do look similar — sure — but it’s their personalities that make ’em stand apart. Michael’s also apparently mistaken for Napoleon Dynamite Jon Heder but we don’t really see it.
Of his resemblence with Jesse, Michael told The New York Post, “I bumped into Jesse on the street once and he told me he gets it once a day. People think he’s Michael Cera.”
Susan Sarandon and Sigourney Weaver
I guess I see it? Like, if I squint my eyes and forget how famous they both are on their own? Personally, I think Sigourney looks a lot more like Annabeth Gish, but that could just be me. Also, I feel like this frequent mistake is more ageist than anything else. Like, they’re both just talented, powerful, late-60/early-70 year-olds so they get mistaken for one another.
Nina Dobrev and Emmanuelle Chriqui
While many already knew Nina from The Vampire Diaries, some may have had to Google Emmanuelle before realizing who she was (TV actress known for Entourage on HBO and The Mentalist on CBS). These two fall under the category of “I definitely know both of you, but one is awkwardly way more famous than the other, and I sometimes wonder if you could pull a Parent Trap and go to each other’s places of work and not get caught.” Sure that’s specific, but honestly they could probably pull it off.
Victoria Justice and Nina Dobrev
Nina’s got not one but two celebrity doppelgangers. She and this Victorious star are constantly getting mixed up… even to the point where a print magazine actually published a photo of Victoria when the article was about Nina! That’s embarrassing. Recently while acting as a guest on the E! News Rundown on Snapchat, Victoria said that she’d love to play the Vampire Diaries star’s sister in a movie because she’s been getting comments about how similar they look for so long.
Camila Mendes and Phoebe Tonkin
Speaking of The Vampire Diaries, The CW’s newest fan-favorite show, Riverdale‘s new star, Camila is often pointed out to have another CW doppelganger… Phoebe from The Originals. While I’m not sure I’d actually not be able to tell which one is which in a lineup, it’s true that the resemblance is uncanny.
Fun fact: she also gets a lot of Twitter followers thinking she’s a fan account for Camila Cabello and Shawn Mendes shippers. Hopefully by this point, or at least after season two of Riverdale airs, everyone will know exactly who Camila Mendes really is cause she’s amazing.
KJ Apa and Myko Olivier
Camila’s Riverdale co-star knows a little something about celebrity twins. He and this Glee actor look like brothers! Even KJ noticed the similarities and posted a photo of the two together onto his Instagram saying, “Seriously, it’s weird.” Myko’s made jokes about coming on for an episode of the CW show and not gonna lie… we’d love to see Myko playing Archie’s evil twin? Think of the possibilities!
Timothy Olyphant and Josh Duhamel
Timothy and Josh have a lot more than looks in common (though let’s face it, Tim is basically just the silver-fox version of Josh) — they are both seriously loyal Hollywood husbands. Josh has been married to Fergie since 2009 (which is basically a lifetime in terms of celebrity couples) and the Santa Clarita Diet actor has been married to his wife since 1991! That’s longer than some of us have been alive!
Thandie Newton and Zoe Saldana
Helpful guide: If you see one of the two in a lower-budget film, it’s probably Thandie. Then again, Thandie scored the role in Westworld, so it’s pretty obvious she won’t be doing lower-budget films for long. The British-born actress is worth $20 million. The American actress, Zoe, is also worth $20 million. Surprising, but true!
Javier Bardem and Jeffrey Dean Morgan
HONESTLY with this one, who tf is who? I’m sure there were thousands of viewers who thought Javier was playing Denny Duquette on Grey’s Anatomy.Then again, I’m sure some people think Jeffrey’s the one married to Penelope Cruz, so let’s call it even.
Zach Braff and Dax Shepard
A lot of people may confuse Zach and Dax but there’s actually a flawless way to separate the two: Just remember, Dax is the one with the world’s most perfect relationship with Kristen Bell. Zach has Scrubs. I’ll let you decide which one is the bigger accomplishment. The Garden State actor said he’s most commonly confused with Raffaello Follieri, Dax and Ray Romano... but we’ve gotta say that we’d be most likely to believe he and the Parenthood star were related (in fact, that’s a super common Google search).
Amy Adams and Isla Fisher
I’m sure when both these beautiful ladies were coming up in Hollywood we seriously couldn’t tell the difference. Which one was in Wedding Crashers? Which one was in Enchanted? And which one is married to Sacha Baron Cohen? Well, Amy Adams has certainly made a name for herself in the more ~serious~ movie role route, but the real confusion here is how I can achieve such a perfect hair color without looking like I’ve shoved my head inside a pumpkin.
Evan Peters and Ashton Irwin
One’s the U.S.-born star of American Horror Story and one’s the Australian drummer of one of the hottest boy bands in the world, 5 Seconds of Summer. But if we didn’t know any better, we’d probably think these two were related… if not twins! They’re both adorable but while Evan’s off the market and currently engaged to his on-again off-again girlfriend — now fiance, Emma Roberts — Ash is (as far as we know) riding solo. Every cloud has a silver lining.
Ben Shwartz and Joe Keery
When Stranger Things released last year, many had an eerie feeling about Steve. No, not because he kind of seemed like a douche — but because his face almost looked too familiar. Well, it’s because he looks so much like Ben, the Parks and Recreation actor who played Jean-Ralphio… you know, just 10 years younger. The two have owned up to their doppelganger status and posted a few silly photos together. They even posted a video for The Late Late Show with James Corden entitled, “The Truth About Steve & Jean-Ralphio” and it’s hilarious.
Cheyenne Jackson and Matt Bomer
At first glance, you might not think that these two look the same, but at certain angles (and with specific facial hair), they look nearly interchangeable. Like — look at that! In fact, it’s been said that these guys look like a lot more of their AHS co-stars than just one another! Finn Wittrock, Wes Bentley and Max Greenfield all have a similar look, too… but not gonna lie, it doesn’t hold a candle to the resemblance between Chey and Matt.
Danielle Radcliffe and Elijah Wood
Both were stars of their own book-to-film fantasy franchises, but is it possible Elijah Wood and Dan Radcliffe are just the same person? The argument could certainly be made… their facial features are strikingly similar. However, the Harry Potter actor stands at 5’5 — which is one full inch shorter than Elijah. Damn, we really thought we were onto something!
Eli Roth and Zachary Quinto
The eyebrow game is so strong on these two but Zachary’s clearly the bigger star. In fact, I’d be surprised if some people just thought that he was the one in Inglourious Basterds. To be fair, the Star Trek star is 40 and Eli is 45, so perhaps Zachary isn’t all too thrilled about the two being constantly compared.
Lily Allen and Rita Ora
It was when these two had very similar hair cuts and colorings that people started to catch on that the two Brits were doppelgangers! Now even with different hair styles, it’s still true that their similar features are impossible to ignore.
Katy Perry and Zooey Deschanel
This one’s a classic. The iconic Katy/Zooey lookalike is one that became immediately apparent when they both started coming into the limelight in the late ’00s. With her new ‘do, Katy kind of looks more like Miley Cyrus in 2013 than she does Zooey, but we’re sure it’s just a matter of time before she re-embraces her dark brown locks and long hair again.
Maddie Hasson and Lucy Hale
One was the star of a Freeform show that sadly went off the air and the other was… the star of a Freeform show that sadly went off air. It looks like that network has a type… but come on, switch the hair color and they’d look 100% like the other person! It’s crazy. While we all know Luce from her time on Pretty Little Liars, Maddie starred alongside Avan Jogia on the show Twisted. Sadly, however, Maddie’s show only lasted one season and was canceled in 2014.
Maia Mitchell and Lucy Hale
Another Freeform show with another Lucy Hale doppelganger. This one is almost even more perfect. Like, was I the only one calling Maia’s character Aria/Lucy while watching The Fosters? Especially during the first few seasons of the show cause this resemblance is spot-on. During the 2015 Teen Choice Awards, they took the stage together wearing similar slicked-back hairdos and basically everyone had to do a double-take.
Stanley Tucci and Mark Strong
Okay, so the glasses are kind of a giveaway on this one, but take them away, and these are two pretty identical bald-headed dudes. Mark was on the show Our Friends in the North and in the movies Revolver and RocknRolla and Stanley was in The Devil Wears Prada, The Hunger Games and Easy A… so clearly you know one a little better than the other.
Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen
Yes, I know they’re twins, but they’re fraternal twins, so this absolutely counts. Don’t even try to pretend you didn’t just Google Image search these two to figure out which was which. Hell, they played the same damn character on Full House! (It’s actually pretty easy to tell the two apart — MK is the one with more pronounced cheek bones and A has a more circular face.)
What other celebrity doppelgangers can you think of? Tell us in the comments!