15 Actors and Their Poor Man’s Versions
First off a special shout-out to Shifty (Paul C.) for helping me to come up with some of these. He’s the best!
1. Amy Adams and Isla Fischer
Both are lovely redhead actresses but Amy is the one with the Oscar nominated films while Isla mostly sticks to silly comedies.
2. Mila Kunis and Rachel Bilson
These petite brunettes may look alike but Mila Kunis is A list while Bilson is stuck on the CW.
3. Javier Bardem and Jeffery Dean Morgan
They look so alike that it’s easy to confuse them in pictures but there’s no doubt that Bardem’s resume is much more impressive.
4. Kristen Bell and Katrina Bowden
Katrina Bowden is the up-and-coming blonde funny girl but she hasn’t reached the star status of Kristen Bell just yet.
5. Jennifer Lawrence and Kristen Stewart
Both young actresses are all over the gossip websites but while Jennifer Lawrence is scooping up awards Kristen is busy sleeping with her director.
6. Kate Beckinsale and Rhona Mitra
It’s easy enough to see why Rhona was cast in Beckinsale’s old Underworld role, she looks and acts like her but probably costs half as much to employ.
7. Jude Law and Hugh Dancy
Hugh Dancy is following the footsteps of the more famous Jude Law as the pretty English boy. Too bad he can’t get on the same level.
8. Alice Eve and Brooklyn Decker
Alice Eve is quickly scooping up lucrative Hollywood roles while Decker is stuck in movies that bomb.
9. Johnny Depp and Skeet Ulrich
Skeet looks a lot like Johnny but you can only name a few important projects he’s been in, unlike the uber-celebrity Johnny Depp.
10. Nick Nolte and Gary Busey
This one doesn’t really need much of an explanation.
11. Mark Wahlberg and Channing Tatum
Channing Tatum is like a younger and milder version of Mark Wahlberg, an action star who ventures into comedy as well.
12. Penelope Cruz and Paz Vega
Paz is just as pretty and talented as Penelope but unfortunately can’t seem to catch up to her.
13. Matthew Lillard and Joel David Moore
Both slender lads tend to play the jokester or the crazy guy but only Lillard has serious name recognition.
14. Zoe Saldana and Dania Ramirez
Both lovely ladies cross genres but Saldana gets prime pickings while Ramirez picks up the lesser roles.
15. Robert De Niro and Chazz Palminteri
While Paminteri is an Oscar nominee, he can’t compare to the legend that is Robert De Niro.
This is funny and fantastic! The only two I disagree with are Matthew Lillard as an A lister – no f’ing way. And Chazz as a non A-lister. He might be washed up but when he was going strong, he was great… see Usual Suspects and A Bronx Tale. 🙂
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I never mentioned A-list for either of them, just their standing in comparison to the other person.
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I’ve always seen Dennis Quaid as like a poor man’s Harrison Ford
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Great post, and eerily accurate. Good job!
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Love this, what a great idea! Some of these people I actually get confused all of the time, like Javier Bardem and Jeffrey Dean Morgan. They look so much alike!
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HA! These are hilarious and great with so many being ridiculously accurate… The Bardem/JDM is money and Lawrence/Stewart is so funny because it’s true.
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who is matthew lillard? he a “has been” and channing tatum is not a poor man’s version.. this is trying to be funny but i dont get the criteria.. are they suppose to be look-alikes or celebrity status or box office or what?
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Poor Man’s Version: Something or someone that can be compared to something or someone else, but is not as good is a poor man’s version
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GREAT ARTICLE 🙂
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Not really behind Jennifer Lawrence and Kristen Stewart, seeing one is an Oscar nominee and the other is the highest paid actress in Hollywood in 2012.
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She’s high paid because of the Twilight franchise. A majority of people in the movie business and audience members don’t like her or think she’s talented regardless.
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Another person jumping on the ‘I hate Kristen Stewart because she did Twilight’ bandwagon. Not cute! She’s a very talented actress and maybe if people watched her other films they’d stop being such bitches about her. Jennifer Lawrence is incredible but she’s also taken part in a huge franchise knowing full well what she’s getting herself into, unlike Kristen did when she joined Twilight. Remember it started as a little $30mil budget indie film?
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I’ve seen almost every movie Stewart has done and apart from ‘Panic Room’ I wouldn’t describe any of her performances as worthwhile.
And who in their right mind describes a $30million movie as a ‘budget indie’? Do you even know what those words mean?
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Clearly you are a Kstew stan. Please realize you won’t change any of our opinions on her. I’m sure there’s a tumblr somewhere you can go to to find people like you.
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What about Leo DiCaprio and Michael Pitt?
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hmm I never thought of that one, but I like it!
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I really gotta disagree with 10, 11 and 13 though. Gary Busey in unforgettable in Point Break and honestly Nick Nolte has a long but not exactly spectacular career, and Matthew Lillard never really capitalized on his hits like Scream and Hackers. I mean, what’s he done since? A cameo in She’s All That, and those two Scooby Doo movies. Which isn’t to say Joel David Moore has done much better, but he seems to have a solid career in TV guest-starring spots. Channing Tatum’s star is rising rapidly with The Vow and 21 Jump Street, to the point where I actually really like the guy now. He’s got plenty of time to catch up with Marky Mark, and it looks like he might just do it.
Oh, and remember back in the Van Wilder days when Ryan Reynolds was a poor man’s version of Jason Lee? See how that dynamic totally changed hahaha!
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Love this idea, great article – every grouping interesting to me.
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Surprise, surprise this is written by a woman. I knew the moment I saw the Kristen Stewart remark. Not cute, ‘Jamie Z’. Maybe if us women started sticking up for each other there’d be less of this ‘slut shaming’ that we all bitch about…but then some of us (you) seem to participate in anyway.
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As a guy I will also call Kristen Stewart ‘not cute’. She comes across as a dull person.
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It’s interesting that you bring up “slut shaming” since I’m considering discussing that for my next article, so keep your eye out. In this situation I don’t consider mentioning that Kristen slept with her director slut-shaming, it’s simply stating the truth. The truth is everyone in Hollywood is clamoring to work with JLaw yet Kristen isn’t getting as many offers and people are dropping out of her movies (ie: Ben Affleck). So I do think that saying Kstew is a poor man’s version of JLaw in Hollywood right now is justified.
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You’re my hero. Should’ve put them as #1 tbh, her ridiculous stans are crazy in denial over her flopping career. But I disagree on Channing Tatum, the guy’s a pretty big star now. Although Sexiest Man? Really? Him?
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Why thank you! And I agree about Tatum, he is well on his way to being a big star.
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Yeah sorry but K-Stew can’t act to save her life, Twilight is terrible and nothing in this article came close to slut-shaming.
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Hahaha, agree with this categories, especially number 5. Paid actress for stewart just an old memories
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