A Tom Cruise look-alike had fans completely caught off-guard when he stepped up to the plate to throw out the ceremonial first pitch at the San Francisco Giantsâ Thursday game.
The celebrity doppelgĂ€nger, dressed as Cruiseâs iconic âTop Gunâ character Pete âMaverickâ Mitchell, was making an appearance in celebration of original blockbuster, which marks its 40th anniversary this year â and fans on social media thought he could actually be the real thing.
âIs that really Tom Cruise?â one person queried on Instagram, while another wrote, âHe nails the look, laugh and smile of Tom Cruise.â
A third quipped, âWhat? That was the spitting image of Tom Cruise!â
âDude looks more like Tom Cruise than Tom Cruise does⊠I literally thought this was AI lolâ a fourth social media user remarked.
Some were simply confused. âIs that an impersonator or is this AI? I canât tell any more,â one person admitted.
The professional impersonatorâs name is actually Jerome LeBlanc, and he goes by the moniker âCalifornia Tom Cruise.â
In an interview with Cockpit USA, LeBlanc once admitted heâd stumbled upon the opportunity to simply look like the âRisky Businessâ actor â specifically as âMaverickâ â as a career.
âWhen I moved from Montreal to Los Angeles, many people started telling me I looked like Tom Cruise,â he divulged.
âSo, I put on the flight suit uniform from âTop Gun,â and tried street performing. To my surprise, I did so unbelievably well â I made more than I did while bartending,â he added.
LeBlanc also admitted that heâs ânot necessarily mistaken for Tom Cruise,â given a roughly 30-year age gap with the 64-year-old actor.
âBut I do notice a lot of double takes and a lot of strangers approaching me to share that they think I look so much like the actor,â he said.
The entertainer â who now has a thriving social media career on TikTok, where he regularly updates over 770,000 followers â has also shared that he doesnât actually have a celebrity heâd prefer to meet in real life.
âI donât really have an interest in meeting a specific celebrity,â he said. âSometimes, with public figures itâs better to leave them to the imagination. Because, like myself, Iâm more than what I post. And either that can be appreciated or disappointing.â
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