Tom Hanks might be one of the most famous men in Hollywood but it turns out that fans still approach him thinking he’s a completely different actor.
The 68-year-old has lit up the screen countless times over the years, including in Forrest Gump, Cast Away, the Green Mile and A Man Called Otto, which is currently leaving Netflix viewers in floods of tears.
Despite commanding a decades-long career in the spotlight, he explained that people often get him and Michael Keaton mixed up.
During an appearance on the Happy, Sad, Confused podcast to promote his new film, Here – which has not gone down well with critics – the host questioned whether he had ever been confused for another actor.
‘Oh, Keaton all the time,’ he quickly replied. ‘Yeah, me and Michael are some form of odd doppelgänger back from a long time ago.
‘They don’t say “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” to me exactly. But a lot of time, “Hey, were you in that?” I get that.’
Tom’s son, Colin Hanks, played into the similarities on social media, previously sharing a picture of Michael to celebrate his dad’s birthday in 2019.
‘Wanna wish a Happy 63rd Birthday to my dad!!! He’s a good man with a great sense of humor,’ he wrote at the time.
‘Love ya Pops!’
Beneath the post, which is still visible, fans shared their delight in the comments, while also throwing other names into the mix.
Sherwinstark penned: ‘He kinda looks like Michael Keaton in this picture! @colinhanks @michaelkeatondouglas.’
Ftadave88 agreed: ‘You look exactly like your dad Mike right here.’
_jeanieg_ yelled: ‘HAPPY BIRTHDAY BILL MURRAY!!!’
‘Strong family resemblance!!,’ Suetraina quipped.
As Hein.Robert added: ‘Tom Hanks is the best Batman ever.’
It was rumored that Tom was offered the role of the iconic superhero before Michael jumped into the costume for Batman in 1989, and the Batman Returns sequel three years later.
The Terminal legend has since poured cold water on the speculation while on the Graham Norton Show, insisting: ‘Wouldn’t that be comical? No, never. Can you imagine me in that suit?
‘Michael Keaton was a fabulous Batman, he was mysterious. If I had grabbed a bad guy and shook him like that. And he said, “Who are you?!” and you heard me saying, “I’m Batman!”
‘It just would not have worked out, no matter what they did to the voice box.’
On Michael’s part, he confirmed that he may have turned down playing Allen in 1984’s Splash, the role that actually served as one of Tom’s first leading roles.
‘I really can’t remember now whether it was Tom or John’s role,’ he said in a lengthy interview with Grantland. ‘I just remember at the time thinking I wanted to get away from what I’d just done on Night Shift.
‘I thought if I do it again, I might get myself stuck. So then Mr Mom came along … So I said no [to Splash] so I could set up this framework right away where I could do different things.’