Tom Hanks doesn’t exist in Tom Hanks movies

Do movie actors exist in the worlds of the movies they star in?

You ever think about how in, like, a Tom Hanks movie, everyone lives in a reality in which there’s no such person as Tom Hanks? Because otherwise, people would be mistaking the main character for Tom Hanks all the time? So either Tom Hanks doesn’t exist in the world the movie takes place in, or he does exist but he looks like someone else?

Charlie Kaufman probably has a half-written screenplay about this stuffed in a drawer somewhere. (via jimray)

Update: Dozens reminded me that the “lookie loo with a bundle of joy” scheme in Ocean’s 12 involved the pregnant Tess Ocean character (played by Julia Roberts) looking like the movie star Julia Roberts. Several other people cited this scene in The Last Action Hero. And in Take Her, She’s Mine, character played by Jimmy Stewart is repeatedly mistaken for the famous actor, Jimmy Stewart. (thx, all)

Update: TV Tropes has many many examples of this phenomenon, which they call the Celebrity Paradox. (thx, joe)

• Charlie Kaufman
• movies
• Tom Hanks