Human beings are unique, varied snowflakes, and no two people look exactly alike. Not even identical twins, who still have tiny differences between them.
Still, there are a few actors out there that cause face blindness for a number of people. The ones who, when you see them in a movie and try to come up with their name, there’s a split-second of blankness before you go, “Actor X! No…Y. Wait…I always get those two confused.”
I asked Twitter to share with me what two actors they always get confused, and, as always, Twitter delivered.
These are the names that popped up most often in my mentions, but, as always, the whole thread is worth reading.
Kurt Russell & Patrick Swayze
Seeing as how they were both shaggy-haired, bronze gods around the same era through the ’80s and ’90s, plenty of people spent their entire childhoods not being able to tell Kurt Russell and the late Patrick Swayze apart.
Ron Livingston & Kyle Chandler
Maybe it’s the whole affable, extreme dad vibes they give off, but Ron Livingston and Kyle Chandler are two actors who trip many up. Throw in Mark Duplass and Rob Delaney and it gets even worse.
Kevin Costner & Michael Keaton
For some reason, a number of people get Michael Keaton and Kevin Costner mixed up, though they’ve grown out of it by now – mostly.
Natalie Portman & Keira Knightley
There’s obviously a reason that Keira Knightley got her big break in the Star Wars prequels playing Sabé, the handmaiden and decoy double for Queen Padmé Amidala, played by…Natalie Portman.
Michael Cera & Jesse Eisenberg
It’s one thing for two actors to have extremely similar faces. But for those two actors who have interchangeable vibes? It’s almost unheard of. Welcome to the Eisenberg Uncertainty Principle.
Tom Hardy & Logan Marshall-Green
You will never convince me these two do not share DNA somewhere in the past. Never.
Minka Kelly & Leighton Meester
These two It Girls of the mid-2000s are synonymous with that era and the teen dramas that made them stars, so it’s understandable that plenty of people still confuse them today.
Matt Damon & Mark Wahlberg
This is honestly a new one I’d never heard before, but apparently, more than a few people have spent a good portion of their lives not being able to tell the difference between Matt Damon and Mark Wahlberg. Who knew?
Timothy Olyphant & Josh Duhamel
Is it that they both have a type of swagger? The slightly squinted eyes, like they’re always looking into the sun? The sandy hair graying at the temples? The sun-kissed skin tone? Whatever the case, Timothy Olyphant and Josh Duhamel are NOT, I assure you, the same person.
Kym Whitley & Jackée Harry
What. Just…what? No. I refuse to believe they’re not the same person.
Dylan McDermott & Dermot Mulroney
Granted, the “McDermott”/’Dermot” thing definitely helps add to the confusion. But there’s a reason Dermot Mulroney is in this gag bit below about pretending to be Dylan McDermott.
And the number one face-flip that trips people up…
Jessica Chastain & Bryce Dallas Howard
No two actors confuse people more than Jessica Chastain and Bryce Dallas Howard. Somehow, in the great filing cabinet of our brains, they accidentally both got sorted into one folder together and now occupy the same space in our minds. Seriously. Even Bryce’s own dad, Ron Howard, got the two of them mixed up.
