In the history of cinema, there have been a number of actors who have been fortunate enough to play iconic lead roles in blockbuster franchises. Whether it be Harrison Ford in the Indiana Jones franchise or Sigourney Weaver in the Alien series. Two other stars who fall into that category are Harry Potter’s Daniel Radcliffe and The Lord of the Rings’ Elijah Wood. With this, one would think that the two are some of the most easily recognizable stars in all of Hollywood. However, they’ve hilariously revealed that a number of people tend to get them confused at times.
Some say that everyone has a twin somewhere, and that could very well be true. However, Daniel Radcliffe, who acknowledges some of the physical similarities between him and Wood, doesn’t think they look exactly the same:
Though we’re both short, pale, blue-eyed and brown-haired, I would say that we don’t exactly look alike. But the idea of us is exactly the same. When people say to me Lord of the Rings! I literally just say, 'Nope.'
Well, that certainly had to have been an awkward encounter for Daniel Radcliffe, considering just how recognizable he is among most fans. If anything, I guess it might have been refreshing for him to not called out for being “The Boy Who Lived,” maybe?
Likewise, Elijah Wood has also had some interesting fan encounters that involve him being mistaken for Daniel Radcliffe. When he and the Harry Potter star discussed their careers during a lengthy chat for Empire Magazine, Wood recalled one memorable encounter that took place in an elevator:
Once I was in an elevator ... just me and one other person, and I could feel them looking at me intently. Just before the door opened, he got up the courage, pointed at me and said, Harry Potter! I said, 'No!' and I walked away.
It’s hard to deny that Daniel Radcliffe and Elijah Wood do look somewhat similar. As Radcliffe mentioned, they do share some key physical attributes. They honestly don’t look exactly alike, but I guess if you’re only vaguely familiar with either actor, then it would be easy to get them mixed up.
One thing the two actors do share is that they both started work on their massive franchises when they were quite young, which gave them pretty unique working experiences. Wood seems to have enjoyed his Lord of the Rings journey, and what amazes him the most is the actual process of making the trilogy. Radcliffe also has fond memories of his time on the Potter set, though he has admitted to still being embarrassed by some of his early work in the franchise.
All in all, both Daniel Radcliffe and Elijah Wood have plenty to be proud of. And even though they’ll likely still get confused for each other at times, it doesn’t actually change their lasting contributions to cinema.
