On the surface, Hollywood heart-throb Tom Cruise and Danish comedian turned British national treasure Sandi Toksvig appear to have little in common. Until, that is, you actually look at them: then, in a certain light, they appear to be the same person. The Bake Off host says she is often mistaken for the Mission: Impossible hard man. “It’s so funny. It must be our flowing locks that get us mistaken. It’s very flattering for me, but probably not for Tom,” she told the Daily Star after the resemblance was pointed out on Twitter.
Tom Cruise may be a bulletproof man, a slick action hero whose frown could unhand a thousand warriors, whose buttocks could deflect lasers while simultaneously absorbing stares from adoring women. But Sandi Toksvig is everyone’s favourite five-foot lesbian comedian, who can disarm any adversary with the power of her wit alone – and a lot less fuss. Perhaps it is Cruise who should be flattered by the comparison.
But once you’ve seen one pair of surprising celebrity lookalikes, it is very hard to stop yourself looking for more …
We used to assume that royal couples looked like each other because they were related, so what’s the explanation for Prince Harry and Meghan Markle? Because, save for Meghan’s advantageous complexion – Harry’s parchment-thin skin already crinkles around his 33-year-old eyes – the pair are identically beautiful. The deep-set eyes, the big, broad, Wallace-from-Wallace-and-Gromit grins, the long noses that flatten in the middle and then swoop upwards, to heaven, from whence their glorious faces fell.
After La La Land’s wardrobe team put John Legend into a yellow jumper, Twitter fans couldn’t help but notice his resemblance to Arthur, the 90s US kids’ television cartoon aardvark. A post comparing the two went viral enough for Chrissie Teigen, Legend’s wife, to respond with a photo of her husband’s clenched fist (well, it was Arthur’s, but what’s the difference?). But Legend had the last laugh, when Google paid him to dress up as Arthur for an advert.
One used to cut himself on stage as part of his proto-punk posturing, the other once swore that he would do the same before he’d ever return to his role as James Bond. But the two have more in common than self-harm references alone: both Iggy Pop and Daniel Craig are variations on two themes - piercing blue eyes, deeply wrinkled cheeks and thin-lipped pout.
