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41 pairs of celebrities who look nearly identical

Kirsten Acuna   

41 pairs of celebrities who look nearly identical
Can you tell these two radiant red heads apart?Jason Merritt/Getty Images, Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images
  • Everyone likely has a doppelgänger, including celebrities.
  • Insider rounded up pairs of stars who often get mistaken for each other or who fans believe look alike.

We all likely have a doppelgänger in the world somewhere. And that's not limited to just everyday people who are running into their look-alikes. Celebrities do, too.

Jessica Chastain and Bryce Dallas Howard get mistaken for each other all the time. Fans are convinced others share such a resemblance that they must have been separated at birth.

If you've ever felt like you're experiencing déjà vu, these pairs of celebrities may be the reason you're seeing double.

1. Sarah Hyland and Mila Kunis

1. Sarah Hyland and Mila Kunis
Sarah Hyland is on the left while Mila Kunis is on the right.      FeatureFlash / Shutterstock

The "Modern Family" and "Ted" actresses say they get mistaken for the other all the time. Upon meeting each other in December 2010 at a Nylon party, the two decided they'd pretend to be each other in public.

"She came up to me and said she gets called me all the time too," Hyland told InStyle. "She said that sometimes she pretends she's me because it makes her feel young. I asked if I could pretend to be her next time somebody asks me if I'm her, and she said OK."

2. Amy Adams and Isla Fisher

2. Amy Adams and Isla Fisher
Amy Adams and Isla Fisher.      Getty Images / Shutterstock, s_bukley

Despite the eye color difference, the "Arrival" and "Bachelorette" actresses get confused often. Fisher joked about the duo's striking resemblance in her cover story with Allure in January 2009.

"If 'Shopaholic' is a hit, then it was Isla Fisher in the movie," said Fisher. " ... and if it doesn't work out, it was Amy Adams."

Fisher used Adams' photo in her Christmas card one year and fooled both family and friends.

3. Liam Neeson and Ralph Fiennes

3. Liam Neeson and Ralph Fiennes
Ralph Fiennes and Liam Neeson are good friends who get mistaken for one another.      Neilson Barnard/Getty Images

Neeson has said people often confuse the "Harry Potter" and "Taken" stars. That shouldn't be too much of a surprise since the two have starred in multiple films alongside each other ("Schindler's List," "Wrath of the Titans"). The only difference is that Fiennes usually plays the bad guy while Neeson's the hero.

"He is one of my best, best, dearest friends. I keep getting fans and stuff mixing me up with Ralph because we have very similar profiles," Neeson said on The Jonathan Ross Show in 2014. "So I've been complimented on winning a Tony Award for my Hamlet, he's been complimented on the 'Taken' movies."

You can watch Neeson discuss their similarity more here.

4. Natalie Portman and Keira Knightley

4. Natalie Portman and Keira Knightley
Keira Knightley was Natalie Portman's double in "Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace."      Getty Images / Simon James, Shutterstock

Short, long, curly, or straight hair, Keira Knightley and Natalie Portman look strikingly similar no matter how you pair them.

The two look so similar, Knightley played Portman's double, Sabé, in "Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace."

5. Katy Perry and Zooey Deschanel

5. Katy Perry and Zooey Deschanel
Don't tell Zooey Deschanel she looks like the pop star.      AP / Getty Images

The "New Girl" actress was initially kind of frustrated when fans confused the two.

"It's a little bit annoying, to be totally blunt," Deschanel told MTV back in 2009. "The only similarity that we have is that we look a little bit alike."

The actress has since appeared to warm up to the similarity.

"I was relieved because everyone kept saying 'this girl looks so much like you,'" she told Letterman in November 2012. "And then I met her and I was like, 'Thank God she's attractive!' I was worried she was gonna be an unattractive person."

6. Will Ferrell and Chad Smith

6. Will Ferrell and Chad Smith
Will Ferrell (left) and Chad Smith welcomed the fact they look alike on      NBC

The comedian and Red Hot Chili Pepper drummer know they look so similar that they took their rivalry to "Jimmy Fallon" in 2014 in a drum-off. The pair even dressed alike.

You can watch their competition here and see their equally humorous interview here.

7. Jessica Chastain and Bryce Dallas Howard

7. Jessica Chastain and Bryce Dallas Howard
Can you tell these two radiant red heads apart?      Jason Merritt/Getty Images, Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images

The actresses are well aware that fans get them mixed up.

"We did 'Help' together and that was the first time we like grabbed each other and said, 'Let's look in the mirror,'" Chastain told Jimmy Fallon in 2015. "And we looked at our faces side by side and we were like, 'Okay, we look alike.'"

Chastain recalled how she was mistakened for the "Jurassic World" star later and how she sometimes just goes with it. The two are good sports about it though and have tried to clear up all the confusion.

Howard made a short dubsmash clip where she let's people know who's who. It caught the attention of Chastain who shared it on Instagram. In May 2015, Chastain shared a funny image on Twitter poking fun at how people can't tell them apart.

8. Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Javier Bardem.

8. Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Javier Bardem.
Back in the day, the "Walking Dead" star, Jeffrey Dean Morgan (left), and Javier Bardem looked very similar.      Getty Images / Shutterstock

When Jeffrey Dean Morgan entered Seattle Grace Hospital on ABC's "Grey's Anatomy" we had to do a double take to make sure he wasn't the Academy Award winner.

Morgan is now breaking hearts (and bodies) on "The Walking Dead."

9. Penelope Cruz and Salma Hayek

9. Penelope Cruz and Salma Hayek
The two actresses are actually good friends.      AP Photo/Francisco Seco, Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP

The official Oscars Instagram even confused the two back in 2014.

In real life, the two are really good friends and take selfies with each other. They have a nickname for one another, too — huevos — which is Spanish for eggs.

10. Nathan Fillion and Jeremy Renner

10. Nathan Fillion and Jeremy Renner
Nathan Fillion (left) has said he gets mistaken for a few actors.      Getty Images / Shutterstock, FeatureFlash

Whenever we flip past ABC's "Castle" we think we're catching sight of "The Avengers" star on screen. In 2014, Fillion took to Twitter to discuss various celebs that fans think he looks like. How did he grade Renner? "Brothers."

Fillion said he has also spoken with Jason Bateman about their resemblance to one another.

11. Millie Bobby Brown and Natalie Portman

11. Millie Bobby Brown and Natalie Portman
Is Millie Bobby Brown the next Natalie Portman?      Netflix/Frank Micelotta/Getty Images

Natalie Portman makes this list twice! In January 2018, fans took to Twitter to note the resemblance between "Stranger Things" star Millie Bobby Brown and a young Portman.

Can we get these two to play sisters in a movie?

12. Halsey and Millie Bobby Brown

12. Halsey and Millie Bobby Brown
Halsey and Millie Bobby Brown.      Dimitrios Kambouris/WireImage via Getty Images, Karwai Tang/WireImage via Getty Images

Singer Halsey told Jimmy Fallon they thought Millie Bobby Brown would be perfect to play them in a biopic, noting their similar appearances.

"Millie would be great," Halsey said. "But I don't really think I'm famous enough to cast Millie."

They added: "It's kind of uncanny how much we look alike. It's like, 'Oh no, we actually just look like sisters.'"

13. Jesse Eisenberg and Michael Cera

13. Jesse Eisenberg and Michael Cera
We're not the only ones who mix up Jesse Eisenberg (left) and Michael Cera.      Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images, AP File

People mix these actors up all the time, according to "Arrested Development" actor Cera.

"I bumped into Jesse on the street once and he told me he gets it once a day," Cera told the New York Post in 2014. "People think he's Michael Cera."

Cera said he gets mistaken for other people too, including Jon Heder ("Napoleon Dynamite").

14. Jennifer Connelly and Demi Moore

14. Jennifer Connelly and Demi Moore
In the '90s, Jennifer Connelly (left) and Demi Moore were in a lot of big movies around the same time.      Ben A. Pruchnie/Getty Images, Jason Merritt/Getty Images

If it weren't for Connelly's fuller brows, we would think these two were interchangeable.

15. Ryan Seacrest and Joel McHale

15. Ryan Seacrest and Joel McHale
Joel McHale (right) knows the two share a resemblance.      Getty Images

This is a running joke between the two that has been referenced numerous times on NBC's "Community."

McHale even took over Seacrest's Twitter handle and website one day.

16. Zoe Saldana and Thandie Newton

16. Zoe Saldana and Thandie Newton
Zoe Saldana has been told the two actresses share a similar look.      Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images, Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images

Zoe Saldana said on "The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson" she doesn't only get mistaken for the "Westworld" actress, but also Kerry Washington.

"Sometimes I'll just be walking down the street and I'll have people go, 'Hey, Thandie Newton,'" Saldana said in 2013. "It's like, 'Oh my god, your show on TV is amazing, Ms. Washington.' So it's sort of like ... it humbles you."

And it's not just fans. Saldana told The Hollywood Reporter her mom saw Newton on a poster for "Crash" and thought it was her daughter.

17. Evan Rachel Wood and Rachel Brosnahan

17. Evan Rachel Wood and Rachel Brosnahan
Evan Rachel Wood is on the left.      Jean Baptiste Lacroix/Getty Images, Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP

Newton isn't the only "Westwood" star with a Hollywood doppelganger. Evan Rachel Wood and the "Marvelous Mrs. Maisel" actress recently snapped a few photos together for The Wrap to prove they're not one and the same.

18. John Mulaney and Grant Gustin

18. John Mulaney and Grant Gustin
Only one of these men plays a superhero on TV.      Frazer Harrison/Getty Images

Can we get Mulaney to play an alternate version of Barry Allen on the CW series? The stand-up comedian said he's been mistaken for the "Flash" actor at the airport before.

"Dubai customs asked if I was you," Mulaney tweeted at Gustin. "They were super disappointed when I wasn't."

19. Hilary Swank and Jennifer Garner

19. Hilary Swank and Jennifer Garner
Hilary Swank said fans don't believe her when she says she's not Garner.      Earl Gibson III/Getty Images, Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images

The two-time Oscar winner told Conan O'Brien she has been mistaken for the "Alias" actress.

"I do. In fact, people get angry at me because they think that I'm just trying not to sign an autograph for them or take a picture," Swank told O'Brien of when fans incorrectly identify her in public.

Swank said it gets to the point where fans won't believe her when she tells them she's not Garner, so she'll relent.

"They actually said, 'Don't be a b---h,'" she added. "I didn't want to give her a bad name, so I took a photo with them. Maybe someone will say some day, 'That's not Jennifer Garner.'"

Swank said she told Garner about it and was surprised to hear she gets the same.

20. Paul Reubens and Alan Cumming

20. Paul Reubens and Alan Cumming
Pee Wee Herman is on the left.      AP Photo/Danny Moloshok, Evan Agostini/Invision/AP

Only one of these actors is Pee Wee Herman. The other you probably know from his role on "The Good Wife."

21. Jordin Sparks and America Ferrera

21. Jordin Sparks and America Ferrera
Jordin Sparks is on the left while America Ferrera is on the right.      Valerie Macon/Getty Images, Frazer Harrison/Getty Images for ELLE

A lot of people think the "Ugly Betty" star and season six winner of "American Idol" look similar, whether their hair is up or down.

22. Chelsea Handler and Elizabeth Banks

22. Chelsea Handler and Elizabeth Banks
Elizabeth Banks (right) has been told she looks like Chelsea Handler.      Getty Images

Elizabeth Banks admitted she pretends to be Handler when people confuse her with the comedian.

"I was sitting in Toronto and a guy walked up to me and said, 'Oh my god, my girlfriend loves you. She would die if I didn't get your autograph. This is so exciting!'," she said during an appearance on Lately's former show "Chelsea Lately" in 2011. "He's like, 'I just love your books. I mean, My Horizontal Life...' I was like, 'Oh, he thinks he's meeting Chelsea Handler.' I couldn't ruin it for him!"

23. Mark Wahlberg and Matt Damon

23. Mark Wahlberg and Matt Damon
I think the resemblance was more pronounced when the two were younger. They both do have a similar facial expression with an arched eyebrow.      Kevin Winter/Frazer Harrison, Getty Images

Even Matt Damon says he suffers from a case of mistaken identity every now and then with the "Transformers" actor. In 2013, "The Martian" actor told Absolute Radio that he discussed the fan confusion with Wahlberg.

"I've talked to Mark about this because he gets people [that] come up and say, 'I love you in 'The Bourne Identity,'" he said. "So Mark and I have a deal. If we're mistaken for one another, we have to be as polite as possible."

Damon said he has even signed his name as Mark's.

24. Nina Dobrev and Victoria Justice

24. Nina Dobrev and Victoria Justice
Nina Dobrev is on the left.      Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP, Rich Fury/Invision/AP

Even Victoria Justice believes she's the "Vampire Diaries" star's real life doppelgänger. That's how she introduced the actress when she presented Dobrev with an award at the Teen Choice Awards back in summer 2015.

Fans later freaked out when the two took a photo together at polo event that same year.

25. Lucy Hale and Selena Gomez

25. Lucy Hale and Selena Gomez
Lucy Hale (left) has thought it was fun to get mistaken for the famous singer in the past.      Sasha Haagensen/Getty Images for Pizza Hut, Jesse Grant/Getty Images for WE

The "Pretty Little Liars" actress has previously said she would always get mistaken for the singer when younger and she would play along.

"When I was younger, it was a lot of Selena Gomez, during her 'Wizards of Waverly Place' days," Hale told Insider. "Usually, I would correct them, but I remember there was this one time, it was this older lady in an airport, and she was like, 'Can I get a picture with you?' I thought that she thought I was Lucy."

"Afterward she started listing off the projects that she liked of mine and I quickly realized that she thought I was Selena. And I kind of just went with it because I didn't want to crush her dreams," she continued.

Hale added that she believes there's a group of women in Hollywood who all have a similar vibe including herself, Sarah Hyland, and Maisie Williams.

26. Rupert Grint and Ed Sheeran

26. Rupert Grint and Ed Sheeran
Rupert Grint wore matching shirts with Ed Sheeran during the shoot of a music video in 2011.      Ed Sheeran/YouTube

The "Harry Potter" star told James Corden he has had people mistake him for the singer and he just plays along.

Grint appeared in Sheeran's 2011 music video for "Lego House" where the two wore similar outfits.

27. Margot Robbie and Jaime Pressly

27. Margot Robbie and Jaime Pressly
Pressly posed with the "I, Tonya" stars at the movie's Los Angeles premiere December 2017.      Vivien Killilea/Getty Images for NEON

Robbie and Pressly haven't spoken out about getting mistaken for one another, but fans think the two are dead ringers despite a 13-year age difference.

In case you think they're the same person, they have been photographed together and their resemblance is uncanny.

28. Emma Mackey and Margot Robbie

28. Emma Mackey and Margot Robbie
Emma Mackey resembles a young Margot Robbie.      Netflix, Joel C Ryan/Invision/AP

As soon as "Sex Education" debuted on Netflix many thought young actress Emma Mackey looked a lot like the "Suicide Squad" star.

Mackey told UK publication PinkNews she heard the comparisons. While she said that's great, she hopes fans will judge her acting based on her skills.

"I hope that people will see past the physical aspects of my person and focus on my job as opposed to my looks, if that's okay with you all," said Mackey.

29. Susan Sarandon and Sigourney Weaver

29. Susan Sarandon and Sigourney Weaver
Susan Sarandon and Sigourney Weaver have had a few mix ups in the past.      Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for Endometriosis Foundation of America, AP

Susan Sarandon said at the Glamour Women of the Year Awards in 2016 that she and Weaver get mistaken for one another.

"I wanna just clarify a few things. Sigourney may have left the stage but we are two different people. I have taken credit for 'Alien' many times and she's signed autographs for me," she said at the ceremony, according to Page Six.

In 2014, Sarandon wrote an op-ed suggesting Weaver is her "bad-ass alter ego."

30. Odeya Rush and Mila Kunis

30. Odeya Rush and Mila Kunis
Both actresses are Jewish immigrants.      Netflix/AP

After Netflix released "Let It Snow," fans immediately thought one of the young stars, Odeya Rush, resembled a younger Mila Kunis. People started comparing photos of the two side by side online.

Though the two share similar facial features, the two have different eye colors.

31. Zach Braff and Dax Shepard

31. Zach Braff and Dax Shepard
Even an app has proven the two look pretty similar, according to Braff.      Nicholas Hunt/Getty Images, Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images

Even Braff knows the two look alike. He recently said Shepard's wife Kristen Bell took a faceswap photo of the two and it's difficult to tell who's who.

32. Glenn Close and Cloris Leachman

32. Glenn Close and Cloris Leachman
Glenn Close, 71, was mistaken for 92-year-old Cloris Leachman.      David Livingston/Getty Images, Michael Kovac/Getty Images for Variety

Glenn Close told Jimmy Fallon she was mistaken for actress Cloris Leachman by an excited fan while at the premiere for her new movie, "The Wife."

"I was in the hotel and I was in the elevator and the doors opened and this woman — she had dark glasses on. She said, 'Cloris Leachman!'" said Close.

Though Close tried to correct her, the fan wasn't having it.

"And I said, 'No, I'm Glenn Close,' She said, 'No, you're not!'" Close recalled. "And I said, 'Yes, I am.' And then she said, 'I meant that!'"

Close said she went to her hotel room, and while she believes Leachman is a wonderful actress, she found Leachman was born in 1926 and is 92. Close is 71.

33. Jeff Bridges and Kurt Russell

33. Jeff Bridges and Kurt Russell
It's easier to see the resemblance when the two have beards.      Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images, Kevin Winter/Getty Images for CDG

Bridges said he has been mistaken for Kurt Russell during a Wired Autocomplete interview.

"I've signed a Kurt Russell photograph," Russell told Dakota Johnson. "People say, 'Kurt, you're my favorite."

Bridges also said he's been mistaken for Nick Nolte.

34. Daniel Radcliffe and Elijah Wood

34. Daniel Radcliffe and Elijah Wood
Have you ever mistaken the "Harry Potter" and "Lord of the Rings" actors?      Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for Turner, Eric Charbonneau/Invision for Warner Bros./AP Images

During a session for Wired, the "Harry Potter" actor was asked if he and Elijah Wood are related. Spoiler: They're not.

Radcliffe said the duo have been mistaken for each other many times.

"I am mistaken for him very often. I had a makeup artist on one of my last jobs telling me that I had been in a movie with Vin Diesel that she had just seen the trailer for," Radcliffe told Wired.

35. Regina Hall and Regina King

35. Regina Hall and Regina King
Would you mistake Regina Hall for Regina King? The two actresses posed together at the 2019 Film Independent Spirit Awards on February 23, 2019.      Araya Diaz/Getty Images

Regina Hall said she gets mistaken for Regina King often, and she's OK with it because she winds up getting some of her freebies.

"I hope she wins [more awards], because people get us confused and I get all the perks," said Hall at the New York Film Critics Circle Awards in January 2019, according to People. "Seriously, they're like 'Here's a gift certificate for Regina King, for $5,000 for Barney's' and I'm just like, 'I'm her!'"

Last year, King won the Oscar for best supporting actress in "If Beale Street Could Talk."

36. James McAvoy and Ewan McGregor

36. James McAvoy and Ewan McGregor
James McAvoy said he always gets mistaken for the "Star Wars" actor.      Dan MacMedan/Getty Images, Karwai Tang/WireImage

James McAvoy has said people would confuse him often with the "Star Wars" actor, including one time in a gym where a young woman asked for a selfie.

During a monologue on "Saturday Night Live" in January 2019, McAvoy made light of fans mistaking him for McGregor.

"In this country, people seem to recognize me from movies like 'Star Wars,' like 'Christopher Robin,' and from 'Trainspotting.' But those people would be wrong because that's Ewan McGregor," he said. "He's the other Scottish actor."

37. Helen Mirren and Alexandra Grant

37. Helen Mirren and Alexandra Grant
Helen Mirren responded to Keanu Reeves dating reports.      Michael Kovac/Getty Images for LACMA/Michael Kovac/Getty Images for LACMA

After Keanu Reeves stepped out with girlfriend, artist Alexandra Grant, fans immediately started confusing her for "The Queen" actress, Helen Mirren.

"That was very flattering on me, you know, because she's obviously lovely," Mirren told "Entertainment Tonight" of the comparisons.

Mirren has been married to director Taylor Hackford for more than 20 years.

38. Emily Kinney and Evanna Lynch

38. Emily Kinney and Evanna Lynch
Can you tell "The Walking Dead" and "Harry Potter" stars apart?      Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic, Craig Sjodin/Walt Disney Television via Getty Images

The "Walking Dead" and "Harry Potter" stars may have you doing a double-take.

Kinney played Beth on AMC's zombie series for several seasons and Lynch was the lovable Luna Lovegood in Warner Bros.' adaptations of J.K. Rowling's popular franchise.

39. Gerard Butler and Clive Owen

39. Gerard Butler and Clive Owen
Gerard Butler is on the left while Clive Owen is on the right.      Shutterstock, s_bukley / AP

We're not the first to confuse the "300" and "Children of Men" actors.

When it comes down to it, we remember Butler is more likely to star in romantic comedies ("Bounty Hunter," "P.S. I Love You").

40. Heath Ledger and Joseph Gordon-Levitt

40. Heath Ledger and Joseph Gordon-Levitt
We could definitely see Joseph Gordon-Levitt in a biopic for Ledger.      Getty Images / Shutterstock

Ever since the two co-starred in "10 Things I Hate About You," we always thought Gordon-Levitt could play the late Ledger's twin.

41. Leelee Sobieski and Jennifer Lawrence

41. Leelee Sobieski and Jennifer Lawrence
Jennifer Lawrence looks like another actress you may remember from the early 2000s.      Getty Images

Before Jennifer Lawrence became one of the biggest stars in Hollywood, there was Leelee Sobieski, who you may remember from "The Glass House." The two look strikingly similar whether they don short or long hairdos.

Sobieski — who some say also resembles a young Helen Hunt — left Hollywood to focus on being a mother to her two children.

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