Actor-Role Confusion: Difference between revisions

* In ''[[Galaxy Quest]]'', the actors in a science fiction TV show are believed to be real heroes by fans from outer space. Of course, they eventually [[Becoming the Mask|rise to the challenge]].

** And it isn't just the fans ''from outer space'' who conflate the two; their die-hard human fans on Earth sometimes have the same problem:

'''Brandon:''' "Oh my God, I knew it. I knew it! I knew it!" }}

 

== Music ==

* [[William Shatner]]'s spoken-word song "Real" address this:

 

 

* Inverted in one episode of ''[[The Simpsons]]'': Patty and Selma kidnap Richard Dean Anderson due to their obsession with ''[[MacGyver]]''. After he MacGyvers an escape from the room they've locked him in, he gets such a kick that [[Stockholm Syndrome|he stays with them in spite of the kidnapping]], eventually calling himself MacGyver and trying to imitate his fictional persona. He ends up becoming so annoying that they drive him off with boring vacation slides.

** In "Homer to the Max", a new police drama airs, starring a [[Badass]] cop named Homer Simpson.

'''Homer:''' Don't confuse Daddy, Lisa. }}

** When the character is later retooled as a bumbling [[Comic Relief]] moron, the guys at Moe's torment the "real" Homer by demanding he do something stupid like his namesake character.

** In one of the [[Halloween Episode|Treehouse of Horror episodes]], Lucy Lawless is constantly being referred to as ''[[Xena]]'', leaving her to exclaim more exhortedly each time "I'm not Xena, I'm Lucy Lawless". Eventually she is captured by Comic Book Guy as [[The Collector|part of a collection]] of live action actors frozen in <s> carbonite</s> plastic. Bart and Lisa try to save her but fail and she has to fight him off with [[She Fu]] moves, high kicks, [[Xena: Warrior Princess|back flips and ululating]]. She then grabs the children and flies off with them.

'''Lucy''': "I told you I'm not Xena, I'm Lucy Lawless." }}

** Of course, throughout the story, Lawless speaks in the [[Fake American]] accent she used for Xena rather than her native New Zealand accent.

*** Something similar happened when she made a guest appearance on another show: the episode starts with one of the male leads thinking Xena was going to kill him.

** Homer himself is a particularly extreme example:

** In "Mr Plow", Barney goes one step further and confuses the actor with the ''wrong'' role as he bids a cheerful farewell to "Superman" and promises to protect his secret identity...to an [[Adam Westing]] [[Batman|Adam West]]. Actually, that's why the trope once was named [[Your Secrets Safe With Me Superman]].

* In an episode of ''[[Family Guy]]'', Peter writes to Richard Dean Anderson, thinking he is [[MacGyver]], asking him to save his dog from the pound with a rubber band, paper clip, and straw. He puts his eye out.

* In a ''[[Robot Chicken]]'' sketch, [[Harrison Ford]] is chosen along with Aerosmith to stop a meteor from crashing into Earth.

''SW fan: "Go get'em, Han Solo!"'' }}

** Of course when [[Mark Hamill]] reminds everyone that ''he'' blew up the Death Star with his eyes closed, he's told "That was just a movie, Mr. Hamill" by the exact same Star Wars fanboy.