10 Really Unbelievable Cases Of Mistaken Identity

Aren't people just hilarious sometimes? These might be funny, but mistaken identity is no joke! See for yourself in The Wrong Mans on Hulu!

1. Sir Ian McKellen was once mistaken for a tramp.

Alex Coppel/Newspix / RexUSA

The poor guy was just taking a break from rehearsing for Waiting for Godot in Melbourne, when someone walked past and said "Need some help, brother?" and put a dollar in his hat. Never mind that Sir Ian McKellen is one of the most recognizable actors in the world right now.

2. NC governor parody Twitter account was mistakenly featured on MSNBC.

Via Twitter: @GovBevPerdue

MSNBC accidentally featured the infamous parody account of former North Carolina Governor Bev Perdue in its ticker last year, much to the delight of the prankster behind @GovBevPerdue.

3. People mistakenly started buying shares of Tweeter when Twitter announced that they were going public.

Via Shutterstock

Tweeter, a consumer electronics retailer that filed for bankruptcy in 2007, saw their stock jump as much as 1,400 percent earlier last month when Twitter announced their intentions to go public. Apparently people had trouble differentiating between TWTRQ (Tweeter's symbol) and TWTR (Twitter's proposed symbol).

4. A Chinese zoo tried to pass off this Tibetan mastiff as an "African lion."

Ed Jones/AFP / Getty Images

Apparently the actual lion had been removed for breeding, so the zookeepers figured this would be a suitable replacement for the time being. While it no doubt fooled some people, it definitely pissed off quite a few people who were a lot smarter than the zoo gave them credit for.

5. Joshua Bell, a world-famous violinist, set up in the DC Metro to see if anyone would notice.

Ethan Miller / Getty Images

Dressed in a shirt, jeans, and baseball cap, and wielding a $3.5 million violin, Joshua Bell set up for about 45 minutes in the DC Metro to see how people would react to a short experimental concert. Of course, everyone pretty much saw him as just another street musician. His total haul at the end of the session? $32.17.

6. Michael Cera is fed up with being mistaken for Jesse Eisenberg.

Brendon Thorne / Getty Images

Michael Loccisano / Getty Images

I mean, they do look pretty similar, but come on people. "I was in a convenience store one time buying something, and the guy just ahead of me was paying for something and he looked at me and he goes, ‘Jesse Eisenberg?’ I went, ‘No.’ Then he goes, ‘Michael Cera?’ I was pretty impressed he got it on the second try.” Read more on Michael Cera's frustration here.

7. The kid on Drake's latest album cover is being confused for Blue Ivy Carter.

Via Twitter: @GottaFollowHim

On Drake's latest album Nothing Was the Same, there is an image of a child whom Drake claims is a younger version of himself. However, Twitter has concluded that it's actually a depiction of Blue Ivy Carter, the recently born child of Jay-Z and Beyoncé.

8. A fake Ryan Gosling fooled a lot of people in Detroit.

Mojo In The Morning / Via vimeo.com

A Ryan Gosling lookalike went around Detroit earlier this summer with the Mojo in the Morning radio show to see how many people they could fool. The results were pretty hilarious.

9. A film shoot got mistaken for a coffee shop armed robbery.

Via Shutterstock

A group of college filmmakers were shooting a robbery scene at a coffee shop when they were suddenly held up at gunpoint by the police. To be fair, they pretty much had every reason to believe it was an armed robbery. Fortunately, no one was hurt.

10. Boston Celtics legend Bill Russell was mistaken for Morgan Freeman at Obama's inauguration.

Paul Marotta / Getty Images

Earlier this year, at Obama's second inauguration, an ABC News correspondent accidentally identified Bill Russell as Morgan Freeman. To quote: "That's Morgan Freeman, I think." To be fair, the correspondent quickly corrected himself after making such a huge mistake.