OT: Cases of Mistaken Identity

Submitted by ShadowStorm33 on February 16th, 2022 at 1:29 PM

Slow news day, so I thought I'd ask about something that's been on my mind recently: cases of mistaken identity. What got me thinking about this is the recent Joe Rogan-Spotify issue. I've never listened to his podcast, and haven't really been following what's going on other than what I've seen in headlines, but the thought I kept coming back to was "wow, things really went south for that guy." Turns out I don't actually know who "actor/comedian Joe Rogan" is, and had been thinking of Seth Rogen this whole time.

At any rate, the best (worst?) case of mistaken identity I've ever had involved Dane Cook. Growing up I more or less knew who he was, and had a vague idea what he looked like, but the first time I really saw him in anything was the movie Waiting. Fast forward a few years, and I saw another movie he starred in, Good Luck Chuck. And my big takeaway from that was damn, he really aged. He was this young, good looking guy, and just a few years later he looked like shit. I was completely mystified. So I finally did some digging, and discovered that yes, Dane Cook did appear in Waiting, in a small role playing, coincidentally, a cook. And the guy who I had for years thought was Dane Cook was actually Ryan Reynolds...

Curious if anyone else has had a similar experience, going through life thinking someone was actually someone else. Bonus points if it was actually someone you'd met and interacted with, and who was probably like WTF. (Or maybe it's just me, and a function of my relative trouble remembering faces and names...)

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WindyCityBlue

February 16th, 2022 at 1:44 PM ^

Not exactly answering the question directly, but I shit you not I got confused for Drew Henson several times back in the late 90s on campus.  I was just as tall as him and maybe had some similar facial features, and I also got to hang out with some back-up football folks from time to time. 

Joined: 07/23/2008

MGoPoints: 40783

mGrowOld

February 16th, 2022 at 1:44 PM ^

Actually this happens to me, all the damn time.  I'll just be standing there, minding my own business in the Lambo, and one of the super models will come running up in a bikini yelling "hey Ryan I didnt know you drove a Lambo, I thought you had a Ferrari" and I have to let them know that the real Ryan Reynolds DOES drive an Ferrari.

So annoying.

Joined: 10/04/2010

MGoPoints: 213195

Don

February 16th, 2022 at 1:55 PM ^

Whenever I'm in the bar women keep coming up to me and saying "Hey, I really liked you in Lord of the Rings—say "My precioussss" for me!"

 

Joined: 06/30/2008

MGoPoints: 148381

XM - Mt 1822

February 16th, 2022 at 1:59 PM ^

i did a guy for a quadruple homicide/drive-by years back. he tried the mistaken ID/alibi defense.  had his girlfriend and, in a life-is-stranger-than-fiction moment, the driver in the drive-by testify as to his alibi.  didn't work.  

Joined: 12/21/2011

MGoPoints: 103612

XM - Mt 1822

February 17th, 2022 at 7:14 AM ^

correct, out west for years.  worked gangs.  that case was one of my favorite trials and there is/was w-a-a-a-a-y more to the story than what i shared here.  part of it included my only 'I.D.' (meaning, a witness who could identify a given suspect in a case) witness, when asked to ID the shooter telling me 'f&*k you', getting up from the witness stand, and walking out of a packed courtroom with what amounted to a version of crips on one side, bloods on the other, and armed marshals down the middle of the courtroom.  it was the wild west back then. 

Joined: 12/21/2011

MGoPoints: 103612

NFG

February 16th, 2022 at 2:02 PM ^

Rob Gronkowski and I could pass as twins, albeit his 2 inches taller. My wife, neighbors, strangers alike all have made the comparison. First thing my sister's fiance' said to me when we met was, "Hey, do you know who Rob Gronkowski is? You look like him."

At a Cleveland Indians game 2 years ago, someone asked me for my autograph, thinking I was him. At Disney World I was approached about it twice last September. Working the concession stand at my daughter's softball league, a group of moms came over and told me I looked like him. I have dozens of more examples. 

Joined: 04/24/2012

MGoPoints: 47985

FauxMo

February 16th, 2022 at 2:06 PM ^

Maybe not exactly on point, but about 15 years ago I had this neighbor - the kind the lives down the street and you just say "hi" to when you pass, but nothing more - named Bob. For years it was, "hi, Bob," "how are things, Bob?", "good too see you, Bob." Went on like this for 5 years or so. 

Then one day my now ex-wife says, "some neighbors are coming over for dinner, Brian and Stephanie." I said, "cool, I don't know them, but whatever." She says, "oh, yes, you know them." I shrugged it off. 

Well, long story short, Bob was actually named Brian and that was a weird, one-time-only dinner. 

Joined: 06/17/2010

MGoPoints: 137593