On a lively, sunlit late afternoon near a cinema in Soho, London, a crowd of over 100 has assembled, with several individuals resembling the actor Nicolas Cage—if you look closely, that is.
Among them is a Raising Arizona impersonator sporting a mustache and a Hawaiian shirt, along with multiple Con Air lookalikes in white tank tops, one of whom carries a toy bunny nestled in a small cardboard box. Some of these participants bear a striking resemblance to Cage; however, a few others could arguably be likened more to Cage’s character from Face/Off, who undergoes a surgical transformation to adopt the features of John Travolta—who distinctly doesn’t resemble him at all.
For an artist known for his quirky public image, a gathering of various Cages seems fitting. Yet, the reason behind this event is rather straightforward: The actor has debuted a new film entitled The Surfer (“gloriously demented” – the Guardian). As movie PRs are discovering, an unconventional publicity approach like a seemingly impromptu, deliberately goofy celebrity lookalike contest is one of the most effective ways to attract attention.
“I’ve faced ridicule my whole life, and now this is my time to shine,” shares Raising Arizona lookalike Daniel Breuer, who works in the music sector and claims that he’s recognized as a famous person nearly every day. While he’s also been compared to Serpico-era Al Pacino and Jerry Seinfeld, he notes, “Nicolas Cage has been the one constant.”
Patrick Doran, an actor and web designer, echoes similar sentiments. “When I was younger, people would say I looked like a young Nic Cage. Now it’s just: ‘You look like Nic Cage.’ I take that as a tremendous compliment.”
This phenomenon can be traced back to 23-year-old American YouTuber Anthony Po (who boasts 1.9 million subscribers), who last October plastered 100 A4 flyers around New York promoting a Timothée Chalamet lookalike contest. He later revealed it was part of a wager. The event attracted dozens of Chalamet lookalikes, alongside approximately 10,000 spectators, and to Po’s astonishment, the real Chalamet showed up. The chaos concluded with four arrests, a $50 (£37.60) prize for the winner, and a global media frenzy.
Dublin quickly followed suit with a Paul Mescal lookalike contest shortly thereafter, where various pale Irish men in shorts competed for €20 (£17), three pints, and a packet of Denny’s sausages. Although the actor himself did not attend, he eventually met the winner, Jack Wall O’Reilly, a hopeful screenwriter, on a radio program and praised him for “perfectly capturing my essence.”
Inevitably, this trend gained momentum. A Harry Styles lookalike contest in London offered awards of £50, wine, and hair products. A set of friends in San Francisco organized a search for Dev Patel doppelgangers, highlighting the absence of diversity in previous contests. “I just took people out and handed out burritos,” stated Jaipreet Hundal, the winner, regarding his $50 prize.
Chicago hosted a Jeremy Allen White lookalike contest, where the cutest competitor was a toddler named Carmie dressed in a white T-shirt and apron. In New York, a hunt for a Zayn Malik lookalike occurred, although it was uncertain if the eventual victor was familiar with One Direction’s discography.
In November, Glen Powell publicly supported his own lookalike contest in Austin, Texas, inviting Powell doppelgangers to participate in a “criminal Glenterprise”—“With our similar appearances, it’s the perfect crime”—and attended virtually through a video call to his mother, one of the judges. His prize was particularly unique: a cameo for the winner’s parents in his next film.
By December, Drake was offering $10,000 to the winner of his lookalike contest in Toronto, which was claimed by a 21-year-old woman named Makayla Chambers, who sported pigtails and a drawn-on beard—prompting some to wonder if the trend had peaked.
However, Cage’s publicists were undeterred, promoting their competition on Friday with categories like the People’s Cage (“best overall lookalike”), the Cagiest Cage (“best cosplay”), and the Ragiest Cage (self-explanatory).
The top prize—a lifetime membership to the Prince Charles cinema—was awarded to Breuer, who delightedly expressed, “I feel as if I’ve won an Oscar, much like Cage did for Leaving Las Vegas.” He added, “Some of the other competitors brought a fierce intensity; I was quaking in my snakeskin boots, but I was confident I could deliver the highest kick in the competition.”
