Growing up in Los Angeles, Celebrity Impersonators always fascinated me. From the spot on characters who have mastered the mannerisms and speech of their celebrities, to the ones who leave us scratching our heads asking, “Who are you supposed to be?”. I would mostly see them at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, California where you can still find them today, and in the movies. But now, with the internet being so vast with information, I’m able to find lots of old footage and news articles I never saw, which gives me more insight into the industry I’m in and the individuals in it and the others trying to be in it.
For your viewing pleasure, I’ve complied some fun and interesting facts and information revolving around the Celebrity Impersonator entertainment industry that the average person doesn’t know or really wouldn’t think of.
Legal Issues
While there are a lot of people out there who resemble famous people, not all go into the lookalike and impersonator business. Some realize the resemblance from hearing it most of their lives and move on with their day, while some take advantage of it. Like in 2005 when Robin Williams sued a look alike and his agent, claiming they had been passing off Michael Clayton as the funny man himself and scamming the reporters, hotels, charities and the public. Or like in 2017 when it was reported that Gavin Barnes, a Sisqo look alike, was able to gain access to several high-profile presentations at New York Fashion Week by duping people into thinking he was the real Thong Song singer Sisqo. He was even able to sit front row at the Philipp Plein, Kanye West, and Vivienne Tam shows. While Gavin Barnes denied he ever said he was Sisqó, you have to ask yourself, “How did you get into the events then in the first place and why go with an “assistant”? No legal action has been made, but it was a close one.
A Celebrity Has Fun With Fans
There are many funny moments in history where a celebrity has purposely tried to trick their fans such as when Charlie Chaplin entered a look-alike contest and didn’t even place 10th place or when Dolly Parton entered a look alike contest and lost…to a guy. I recently ran into this clip from Oprah years back where she tried to fool some of her fans by pretending she was a lookalike and impersonator of herself trying to enter into the look alike business. This is too funny.
The Decoys
For years, many celebrities and even leaders in high places have used decoys in order to escape the paparazzi, leave concert venues and hotels, all to have some sort of normality or sleep! Yes, sleep. Back in 2012 Lady Gaga tried to use a decoy while she tried to get some sleep in ahead of her concert in Romania, but it didn’t quite work because the look alike didn’t look like her. Now, for the ultimate decoy, I could only imagine how it would have been like for Navi, who bills himself as the #1 Michael Jackson Impersonator in the world. Navi says he worked for Michael Jackson during promotions of albums and tours. In 2017, he started in the Lifetime Biopic “Michael Jackson: Searching for Neverland.”
Celebrity Look Alike Dating App!?
Sorta. There is an app Called Dating.AI that is doing something other apps haven’t really thought of. On their website, this is how they explain it. “Dating AI is the first dating app with Face Search. This powerful feature lets you instantly see the people you are really interested in meeting.” So, let’s say you’re looking for a Brad Pitt or Scarlett Johansson look alike. You’ll upload the actual celebrity picture to the app, the app then searches around other dating apps like Tinder, PlentyOfFish and Bumble and finds the best resemblance of your crush. Once you see the person you’re interested in, you click on their photo and it will redirect you to the appropriate app the images exists on.
Celebrity Meeting Their Look Alikes
This must be one of the funniest and weirdest feelings for both parties. Sometimes the look alikes aren’t even fans of the people they resemble, but hey, it makes for a great Instagram picture! And having someone who resembles you that isn’t related to you is nothing new either. In a study that was done in 2015 by researchers in Australia looking into the chances of having a doppelgäNger (doppelganger), they showed that it’s less likely than you might think to have an exact look alike. Crunching the numbers they should the probability of two people matching up in all eight facial features is only one in 1 trillion, while there is a one in 135 chance that a pair of doppelgängers exist somewhere in the world that have most, but not all eight facial features matching.
Celebrity Impersonator Convention
You read it correctly! Even celebrity impersonators have their own conventions and it’s called Sunburst Convention. This convention is a great place for tribute artists, look alikes, tribute bands and the best celebrity impersonators to gather for networking, meet talent agents, producers, buyers, special event planning companies and lots more businesses who are looking for the perfect entertainment for their events. It’s also a great place for talent to showcase their work in front of all of them too! This year, the Sunburst Convention will be on August 28 – September 1, 2019.
A Celebrity Impersonators Documentary
If you want to get a glimpse of what it’s like to be a great celebrity look alike and impersonator, Just About Famous is a good movie to watch. In this documentary you’ll see great look alikes who do what they do best, while some have their ups and some have their downs. Like the real celebrities, it’s not always what the fans think it is. It’s really hard work to try and get your act as closely as you can to the celebrity you’re impersonating and when the curtain comes down after an amazing performance and cheering fans, you go back to your hotel and it’s completely silent, an odd feeling.