With fame comes fortune – but also the tendency to be recognized in public places as you go about your daily business.
But for actor John Hannah, a recent encounter turned out to be a case of mistaken identity.
The Scottish star, whose long list of on-screen credits includes the movies “The Mummy,” “Sliding Doors” and “Four Weddings and a Funeral,” was passing through Toronto airport when he was approached by a man who thought he looked familiar.
The only problem was that he believed him to be someone else entirely: Hugh Laurie, the star of hit medical drama “House.” In fact, the man was so convinced of his star-spotting abilities that he even offered Hannah a wager.
In a tweet to his 24,400 followers after the encounter, Hannah wrote: “Just met a guy in the elevator at Toronto airport who asked if I was Hugh Laurie? I said no. He said I think you are! So I bet him $10 I wasn’t. And he accepted. Passport out. He looked a bit surprised when I said he owed me 10 bucks. Fairs fair the dude paid up. “
The two men are of a similar age – Hannah is 57, while Laurie is two years older. But while Hannah has a Scottish accent, Laurie hails from Oxfordshire in southern England.
Nevertheless, the misguided man is not the only person to have spotted the similarity. When asked by a Twitter follower if the comparison had been made before, Hannah tweeted: “Hugh Laurie. Jimmy Nesbit. Those are the usual.”
In “Sliding Doors,” Hannah met the movie’s main character, played by Gwyneth Paltrow, in an elevator. The encounter played out as two possible scenarios, one of which featured them falling in love.