# Ever confuse one actor for another? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 18, 2026, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-confuse-one-actor-for-another/1031757 "2026-07-18T01:25:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2026, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-confuse-one-actor-for-another/1031757/41 "2026-07-18T20:22:10Z")
I came back into the thread to mention the Keith David, David Keith thing. Do you realize that to introduce them to each other you’d simply say both their names. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2026, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-confuse-one-actor-for-another/1031757/42 "2026-07-18T21:32:44Z")
Last night I watched part of _Escape from New York_ and thought “I hadn’t remembered that Brad Dourif is in this.” He wasn’t: I was mixing him up with Frank Doubleday (who may be familiar as the ‘white warlord’ in another John Carpenter movie, _Assault on Precinct 13_.) I’ve also had trouble over the years with Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, Laura San Giacomo, and Annabella Sciorra. All brunettes (normally) from about the same era (and all with Italian names). ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2026, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-confuse-one-actor-for-another/1031757/43 "2026-07-18T21:34:07Z")
All of them, all the time. Which is complicated by the fact that I can’t remember names in the best of circumstances, for people that I have worked with for years. It’s really terrible. There should be a name for this disability. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2026, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-confuse-one-actor-for-another/1031757/44 "2026-07-18T21:35:33Z")
> [@TruCelt](#): > > There should be a name for this disability. There is, but I get it confused with another disability. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2026, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-confuse-one-actor-for-another/1031757/45 "2026-07-18T21:46:33Z")
John Shea and Michael Ontkean were separated at birth. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2026, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-confuse-one-actor-for-another/1031757/46 "2026-07-18T23:09:19Z")
Lloyd Bridges and Donald Moffat. ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2026, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-confuse-one-actor-for-another/1031757/47 "2026-07-18T23:15:46Z")
> [@E-DUB](#): > > Bill Paxton and Bill Pullman. That’s what I was going to mention. I think part of the confusion is that they both always seemed to be portraying American presidents. Any movie made with POTUS and one of them was playing him. Until of course they were banned from the role because Morgan Freeman started playing every president in every film (or so it seemed to me). ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2026, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-confuse-one-actor-for-another/1031757/48 "2026-07-18T23:17:08Z")
I didn’t notice this on my own, but someone recently pointed out that John Saxon (“Enter the Dragon”) looked a lot like Don Gordon (“Bullit”). ---
**Author:** ![Dropo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce7236/32.png) [@Dropo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dropo)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2026, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-confuse-one-actor-for-another/1031757/49 "2026-07-18T23:18:18Z")
Eric Braeden and Richard Johnson. One of them was on _Rat Patrol_, the other was in _Colossus: The Forbin Project_ (1970). ETA: Nope. Those were both Braeden. Richard Johnson was in _The Haunting_ (1963) and played “Bulldog” Drummond in the '60s. ---
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2026, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-confuse-one-actor-for-another/1031757/50 "2026-07-18T23:24:52Z")
> [@mbh](#): > > Lloyd Bridges and Donald Moffat. The latter and James Cromwell. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2026, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-confuse-one-actor-for-another/1031757/51 "2026-07-18T23:43:21Z")
Leslie Bibb and Leslie Mann. I think it’s the similarity of their names. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2026, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-confuse-one-actor-for-another/1031757/52 "2026-07-19T00:19:57Z")
I’ve mentioned before, I cannot tell Matt Damon and Leonardo DiCaprio apart, especially when they were younger. That made _The Departed_ a very confusing movie for me. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2026, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-confuse-one-actor-for-another/1031757/53 "2026-07-19T00:27:04Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#): > > I cannot tell Matt Daemon and Leonardo DiCaprio apart I believe Matt Daemon’s the one with purple speech balloons. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2026, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-confuse-one-actor-for-another/1031757/54 "2026-07-19T00:27:22Z")
The name’s Keith…David Keith. ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2026, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-confuse-one-actor-for-another/1031757/55 "2026-07-19T01:03:06Z")
> [@WildaBeast](#): > > I’ve mentioned before, I cannot tell Matt Damon and Leonardo DiCaprio apart, especially when they were younger. That made _The Departed_ a very confusing movie for me. Yes! Me too! When I first saw _Oppenheimer_ (in the theater) I couldn’t tell whether it was Matt Damon (it was) or Dicaprio. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2026, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-confuse-one-actor-for-another/1031757/56 "2026-07-19T01:15:26Z")
My daughter once confused Gregory Peck and Cary Grant after seeing _ **To Kill a Mocking Bird** _ and _ **Bringing Up Baby** _ a few months apart. ---
**Author:** ![Seanette](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/seanette/32/9139_2.png) [@Seanette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seanette)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2026, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-confuse-one-actor-for-another/1031757/57 "2026-07-19T01:19:30Z")
> [@Superdude](#): > > Bill Pullman is the one still making films. Which doesn’t help if I either do not know when the movie was made or know it’s from before April 2017 (Paxton’s final film release). Still gotta look it up. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2026, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-confuse-one-actor-for-another/1031757/58 "2026-07-19T01:37:26Z")
[Peyton List](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peyton_List_(actress%2C_born_1998)) and [Peyton List](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peyton_List_(actress,_born_1986)). ---
**Author:** ![Galactus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/galactus/32/3581_2.png) [@Galactus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Galactus)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2026, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-confuse-one-actor-for-another/1031757/59 "2026-07-19T01:53:32Z")
> [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](#): > > I think part of the confusion is that they both always seemed to be portraying American presidents. Hate to break it to you, but you may be thinking of some other actor; Bill Paxton never played a president. ---
**Author:** ![I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/i_love_me_vol.i/32/521_2.png) [@I\_Love\_Me\_Vol.I](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_Love_Me_Vol.I)\ **Post date:** [July 19, 2026, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-confuse-one-actor-for-another/1031757/60 "2026-07-19T02:10:32Z")
Damn. Maybe I’m confusing the actors I’m confusing for other actors. Oh well. Is there some other guy that plays presidents and get’s confused with Pullman? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-confuse-one-actor-for-another/1031757.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-confuse-one-actor-for-another/1031757.md?page=4)