25 Celebrities And Their "Past Lives"
Then an actual Civil War photo surfaced last year, the soldier's similarity to actor Nicolas Cage caused quite a stir. Some people joke that this isn't simply a humorous coincidence but that it poses some interesting considerations, like: Is Nicolas Cage a time traveler? And had he been warring for centuries?
But Cage isn't the only celeb that has a historical look-alike. People have found plenty of other celebrities with their doppelgängers from the past. From John Travolta impersonating a man from the 1860s to Jay Z hanging out in Harlem in 1939. And some believe celebrities are vampires, others believe they are clones or progeny of past leaders, artists, philosophers, and even criminals.
We'll find out who they are in this post. Remember to vote for the best celebrity look-alike, and "time traveler"!
#1 Keanu Reeves looks a lot like an actor from 150 years ago.
Source: Wikimedia Commons, Eric Charbonneau/AP Images
#2 Did Andrew Garfield engineer the Soviet takeover during the October Revolution and found a Marxist school of thought?
Source: Wikimedia Commons, Frazer Harrison/Getty Images
#3 Dan Radcliffe looks like a lot of stern-looking old ladies.
Source: YouTube, Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images
The image above of a serious woman dressed in black, pearls, and what appears to be "Harry Potter" glasses is our fave.
#4 Oscar Isaac looks suspiciously like one of Raphael's friends.
Source: Wikimedia Commons, CBS Films
#5 Bruce Willis may or may not have been the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers.
Source: AP Photo, Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP
Movie companies know who to cast in a future MacArthur biography.
#6 Nicolas Cage famously looks like this Confederate prisoner of war.
Source: The Thanatos Archive, Jerod Harris/Getty Images
According to The Hollywood Reporter, "Personally, I believe it's him and that he is some sort of walking zombie/vampire, et cetera, who quickens/reinvents himself once every 75 years or so." "In 150 years, he may be a politician, a cult leader, or a talk show presenter."
In several of his films, Cage may have hinted at his existence as an eternal vampire. In the 1988 cult film "Vampire's Kiss," he portrayed a guy who believes he is a vampire, and in the 2010 film "The Magician's Apprentice," he played Balthazar, a 3,000-year-old magician.
Cage appeared on David Letterman's talk program a few months after the photo was released to deny being an eternal vampire.
"Now, see, I don't drink blood, and the last time I looked in the mirror, I saw myself," Cage explained.
The assertion is rated "uncertain" by Snopes.
#7 Cage is allegedly in a centuries-long battle with John Travolta.
Source: eBay, Hulton Archive/Getty Images
"I realize you're stating John Travolta is still alive in 2011, but he doesn't look 151," the vendor stated in the listing. "Many Scientologists believe in reincarnation, and John Travolta is a Scientologist. Of course, time travel is also a possibility."
Both Cage and Travolta featured in the 1997 film "Face/Off," in which they portrayed characters that tried to kill one other and changed faces, according to the AV Club. Perhaps it was a metaphor for their dissatisfaction with eternity and the monotony of living after a long life.
#8 Just how long has Jay Z been in Brooklyn?
Source: Sid Grossman/New York Public Library, Harry How/Getty Images
The New York Times covered the entire incident in detail. In the meanwhile, Wikipedia maintains that Jay Z was born in 1969.
#9 Just when exactly did "Game of Thrones" take place?
Source: Museo del Prado, Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images
Dinklage likewise has a similar appearance to Velázquez.
#10 Mark Zuckerberg looks like a former king of Spain and Portugal.
Source: Wikimedia Commons, David Ramos/Getty Images
They appear particularly similar in the photo above, which was shot while Zuckerberg was in Spain.
#11 Serena Williams resembles civil rights advocate Betty Shabazz.
Source: Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images, AP Photo/Jim Wells
Williams would be ideal in any historical drama about Shabazz, from his powerful jaw to his prominent cheekbones.
#12 Queen Latifah and Zora Neale Hurston had the same taste in hats. Coincidence?
Source: Library of Congress, Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images
#13 Conan O'Brien may have been making jokes since the Civil War.
Source: PBS, Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty Images
#14 Rupert Grint resembles a fellow British artist — from 200 years ago.
Source: National Galleries Scotland, Julian Finney/Getty Images
#15 Halle Berry, the first black woman to win the Oscar for best actress, looks a lot like the first black actress to be nominated for the award.
Source: AP Photo, Anthony Harvey/Getty Images
For her performance in "Carmen Jones," Dorothy Dandridge became the first black actress to be nominated in that category over half a century before. During their Oscar appearances, both women had the same haircut style.
#16 Orlando Bloom looks a lot like one of the founders of modern Romanian painting.
Source: Wikimedia Commons, Star Max via AP Images
Bloom is also a passionate art collector. Perhaps it's because he has some firsthand knowledge of the art form.
#17 Did Jack Black coordinate American militia forces before the outbreak of the Revolutionary War?
Source: Wikimedia Commons, Charles Sykes/AP
We don't have any images of Revere because he lived during the Revolutionary War. The most renowned portrait is of him as a silversmith in Boston, painted by John Singleton Copley in 1768. Jack Black has a fascination with metals and collects antique coins as a pastime.
#18 The abolitionist movement had a lot of celebrity lookalikes. Ellen DeGeneres looks like Henry David Thoreau.
Source: Wikimedia Commons, Kevin Winter/Getty Images
#19 Donald Trump is not the only president Alec Baldwin can play.
Source: Library of Congress, Annie I. Bang/Invision/AP
#20 Brad Pitt resembles the guy who made Rorschach inkblots.
Source: Wikimedia Commons, Carlos Alvarez/Getty Images
#21 Another famous Civil War-era figure, John Brown, looks like Charlie Sheen.
Source: Library of Congress, Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP
#22 Albert Einstein is usually associated with his unruly hair and a big mustache. But when he was younger, he looked quite a bit like Shia Labeouf.
Source: YouTube, AP Photo/Thibault Camus
In addition to acting, Labeouf has recently dabbled in high-concept performance art projects. Perhaps he'll address the remaining flaws in the Standard Model soon enough. Who can say?
#23 Danny Pudi resembles some guy in a Berlin Wall documentary from 1962.
Source: DannyPudi/Twitter, Michael Kovac/Getty Images
#24 Meanwhile, Tommy Lee Jones can play the 17th president.
Source: Library of Congress, Star Max via AP Images
He resembles Tommy Lee Jones, who portrayed a vastly different character in Lincoln's life. Jones portrayed Thaddeus Stevens, a Republican member from Pennsylvania who pressed Lincoln to ensure full abolition despite the Civil War in Steven Spielberg's film "Lincoln."
#25 Robert De Niro looks a lot like the Enlightenment philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau.
Source: Wikimedia Commons, AP Photo/Jose Goitia