21 Typo Movie Stars
The Spellcheck Superstars
Joel Cohen
Sounds like... Joel Coen (of the Coen Brothers fame)
Biggest Hit: Garfield
In a recent interview, the legend that is Bill Murray claimed that he only agreed to voice the lead character in the appalling Garfield movie because he thought that screenwriter Joel Cohen was actually one half of the Coen Brothers.
Honest Bill admits that this was the only reason he did the movie, although he doesn't seem to have any excuses for the sequel.
We couldn't help thinking that a Garfield movie from the Coen Brothers would be all kinds of awesome: plenty of triple-crossing between Garfield and Odie, Steve Buscemi as Jon Arbuckle, and the opportunity for an amazing narration from Murray (a Coens-style version of the the feline's cartoon thoughts).
Read on for 20 more movie star typos that you could confuse with the real deal...
George Cooney
Sounds like… George Clooney
Biggest Hit: Say Yes
What We Imagine It's About: George Cooney plays a super smooth bus driver (whose route runs through the scenic region of Lake Como, Italy) who falls for one of his regular passengers.
When she buys her last weekly saver ticket of the season, the public transport casanova has to pull out all the stops to make his dream girl agree to a date before her ticket expires.
Sal Pacino
Sounds Like… Al Pacino
Biggest Hit: Holy Hollywood
What We Imagine It's About: Father Tony Vittoria (Sal Pacino) is a Catholic priest who has tended to his flock in a quiet neighbourhood church for his entire adult life.
Vittoria finds his faith tested when he's asked to be a religious adviser on a big Hollywood production. Seduced by the glamour of the movie set, the man of the cloth becomes ravaged by guilt as he finds himself torn between his priestly duties and his lust for the cinema experience.
Clive Cohen
Sounds Like… Clive Owen
Biggest Hit: Exterminator City
What We Imagine It's About: In the not-too-distant future, British badass Terry Pagitt (Clive Cohen) is framed for the slaughter of his family, and faces the recently-reinstated death penalty.
He's given one last shot a salvation when he's offered the chance to enter Exterminator City, on a mission to retrieve sensitive government information from a USB stick that's been left in the deadly metropolis. He soon finds out that a missing government laptop is the least of his worries...
Rolf Lundgren
Sounds Like… Dolph Lundgren
Biggest Hit: Bamse
What We Imagine It's About: Swedish Secret Service agent Gustav 'Bamse' Hammar is the best at what he does. When Bamse is tasked with a routine security mission at the Nobel Prize ceremony, everything seems to be going smoothly.
That's until the Stockholm Concert Hall is besieged by an angry biochemist (with a gang of hired goons in tow), looking for revenge after his deadly weapon is excluded from the nominations. Bamse has until the opening of the final envelope to avert catastrophe.
Kevin Koster
Sounds Like… Kevin Costner
Biggest Hit: The Assistants
What We Imagine It's About: In the wake of a global nuclear disaster, one group of survivors ('the assistants') live in an underground bunker, piecing together fragments of Earth's history, and considering plans for repopulation.
One of the assistants, Dave 'Bucky' Buchanan (Kevin Koster), has a different idea. He believes that he is fated to venture out on a quest to unite the world's warring factions of survivors through his own style of contemporary country and western music.
Charlie Skeen
Sounds Like... Charlie Sheen
Biggest Hit: Back to the Beach
What We Imagine It's About: Laid-back man-child Charlie Turner (Skeen) is turfed out of the family home by his angry parents, who are disappointed by his oafish ways.
Desperately needing to score some cash to pay the rent on his new studio appartment, Charlie gets re-hired at the only job he's ever had: a lifeguard position that he held as a teenager, down at the local beachfront.
Through the trials and tribulations of the job (including the sad loss of a spirited young boogie boarder to an overwhelming current), Charlie learns that the beach isn't just about bikini-clad babes and Flake 99s.
Ned Norton
Sounds Like… Ed Norton
Biggest Hit: The Lone Wolf Returns
What We Imagine It's About: Henry 'Clothes' Victor (Ned Norton) returns to his sleepy town, located somewhere in the Southern states of the US of A, after a mysterious seven-year absence.
As he tentatively reunites with family members and old friends, his grip on reality loosens, and he struggles to suppress his inner rage. Things threaten to boil over at the surprise "Welcome Home' party his Ma has planned for him, and the townsfolk may just find out what he's been up to the last seven years (and how he got the nickname 'Clothes').
Bryan Reynolds
Sounds Like… Ryan Reynolds
Biggest Hit: Hallows Eve: Slaughter on Second Street
What We Imagine Its About: Damien Masters (Bryan Reynolds), is a loveable, wisecracking rogue, whose frosty relationship with his next-door neighbour is thawing into one of mutual attraction.
Just as things are about to go all 'typically rom-com', October 31st rolls around, and Damien's true nature is revealed.
Sandy Garcia
Sounds Like… Andy Garcia
Biggest Hit: Swing It… Baby!
What We Imagine It's About: An ex-Mafia member enters into a witness protection program after ratting on his former colleagues.
The reformed wiseguy suspects that his old outfit might be looking for him at the holiday camp that he and his family are now holed up in, and, to complicate matters, he has to convince as the frontman of the camp's resident swing band.
Michael Vera
Sounds Like… Michael Cera
Biggest Hit: Lakeland Love Comedy
What We Imagine It's About: The tale of shy kid Jimmy Goober (Michael Vera) who mumbles his way through a series of relationships with preposterously hot girls, to a ridiculously hip soundtrack. In Lakeland, Florida.
As his number of conquests increases exponentially, will Jimmy still find time to score with his childhood crush, or will the venereal disease that's been sweeping the town put paid to his plans.
Christian Bales
Sounds Like… Christian Bale
Biggest Hit: Man Maid
What We Imagine It's About: Vincent (Christian Bales), loses his job as a high-powered defence attorney after an angry outburst in court.
To make ends meet, Vincent is forced to take on the role of au pair to one of his wealthiest clients. Initially, Vince hates taking care of the kids and changing the bedsheets, but he gradually comes to realise that this is, in fact, the profession he was made for.
He puts the skills from his lawyer days to good use when he leads a campaign for gender equality in the domestic service industry.
Stephen Siegel
Sounds Like… Steven Seagal
Biggest Hit: Like Mike 2: Streetball
What We Imagine It's About: In the second installment of the popular Like Mike franchise, Streetball sees undercover narc Mike (Stephen Siegel) infiltrate a gang who are peddling drugs through the latest urban sport.
As Mike gets drawn into the Streetball tournament, his competitive nature gets the better of him, and his interest in the sport threatens to derail the entire mission.
Gary Basey
Sounds Like… Gary Busey
Biggest Hit: Frozen Assets
What We Imagine It's About: It's Christmas Eve, and Clarence (Gary Basey) is being sued by his estranged wife for child maintenance payments. Before he gets a chance to explain himself, a court order sees his assets frozen.
Cue a snowy cross-country chase, as a penniless Clarence travels by any means possible to meet up with his ex and their kid, win back their hearts, and, just maybe, put a little of the magic back into Christmas.
Morgan J. Freeman
Sounds Like… Morgan Freeman
Biggest Hit: Hurricane
What We Imagine It's About: Charles Harvey (Morgan J. Freeman), a charismatic older gent and chronic loner, welcomes members of his community into his basement safehaven as gale-force winds approach.
After battening down the hatches, he narrates the tale of when a hurricane struck the village some sixty years ago, when he himself was just a young lad.
Robert Patterson
Sounds Like… Robert Pattinson
Biggest Hit: Brute Force
What We Imagine It's About: After the mysterious death of his parents, a sulky adolescent moves into a new neighbourhood, and struggles to make new friends. When he realises his moody face-pulling isn't going to get him anywhere he takes matters into his own hands.
Joining a mixed martial arts class and pumping iron at the local gym, he toughens himself up so that he can find the answers he's looking for. Though he won't be asking any questions, he'll just be taking… with brute force.
Mike Meyers
Sounds Like… Mike Myers
Biggest Hit: Voodoo Heartbeat
What We Imagine It's About: A bumbling chemist (Meyers), is struggling to create the formula for the medicine that will find him fame and fortune. Hearing tell of an artisan in the dark arts, the chemist heads to a remote area of Africa to learn some secrets from a renowned witch doctor (also Meyers).
The chemist returns to his lab with new secrets, but must try to keep the mystical nature of his discoveries hidden from his pompous professor (Meyers again).
Kevin Pacey
Sounds Like… Kevin Spacey
Biggest Hit: Virginity
What We Imagine It's About: Fifty-something Dom Fowler (Kevin Pacey) falls into a coma after a car accident. Upon waking, Fowler is suffering from amnesia, and believes himself a virgin.
After being told by a doctor that he doesn't have long left to live, Fowler sets about losing his 'virginity' before it's too late, though the fact that he's chasing such young girls is earning him a bad rep, not least with his wife (who he's now convinced is his mother).
Jeffery Bridges
Sounds Like… Jeff Bridges
Biggest Hit: At Last, Okemah!
What We Imagine It's About: Ageing folk singer Fred 'Dusty' Tumbleson (Jeffery Bridges) receives an invitation to play at a festival in Okemah, Oklahoma.
The crooner isn't in the best of health, but is determined to make the journey to his spiritual home to play one last emotional gig. There ain't gonna be an encore…
Sian Penn
Sounds Like… Sean Penn
Biggest Hit: Bathtime
What We Imagine It's About: Intense, moody, lonely soul Janine (Sian Penn), is determined to give herself the perfect bathing experience, no matter what the cost.
The film follows her disparate wanderings through bathroom merchants, and her lengthy experiments with various brands of bubble bath. She dies, but not before discovering the optimum bathing temperature of 37 degrees celsius.
Russell Crow
Sounds Like… Russell Crowe
Biggest Hit: Under the Gun
What We Imagine It's About: A grizzled gunslinger (Russell Crow) arrives in the Old West with a six-shooter to return to its rightful owner.
Before he can give it back though, he has six very specific targets for the bullets in the loaded weapon. Will each slug find its mark before sundown?
I'm the Editor at Total Film magazine, overseeing the running of the mag, and generally obsessing over all things Nolan, Kubrick and Pixar. Over the past decade I've worked in various roles for TF online and in print, including at 12DOVE, and you can often hear me nattering on the Inside Total Film podcast. Bucket-list-ticking career highlights have included reporting from the set of Tenet and Avengers: Infinity War, as well as covering Comic-Con, TIFF and the Sundance Film Festival.