Hollyweird, CA - With the movie industry shut down due to ongoing strikes, some big stars are being accused of sending their look-a-likes to stand in for them on the picket lines.
We flew to LA to investigate.
At the big Walk of Fame strike on Hollywood Boulevard, we asked a guy on the picket line that looked an awful lot like Tom Cruise, what the heck is going on?
As we marched along with Tom, chanting for better pay and dental coverage, we noticed a fake Leo, and a fake De Niro—and several others, too.
'So, aren't some of you actually breaking the picket line, while being on the picket line?' we asked fake Tom.
Fake Tom Cruise slid on a pair of mirrored aviator sunglasses and popped a fresh stick of gum in his mouth. "What'd ya mean by that?" he said, in a very real Top Gun sort of way.
I mean, you're acting. You're in the picket line as Tom Cruise, while striking about acting. Isn't that a conflict of interest? Most of these other people are being themselves. But you're being Tom Cruise.
Fake Tom Cruise suddenly had a very Risky Business look about him, or so it seemed.
A minute later, after he had taken a selfie with a family from Iowa and accepted a small tip, he turned back to us and swore he was just being himself—Dave, from Long Beach. An actor struggling to get parts because he looked too much like Tom Cruise.
"If it seems like I'm acting to you, it's because you are projecting that on me. It happens every day. But I'm here, striking as Dave Lipskin," he said sternly, in a suspiciously Pelican Brief sort of way.
"That guy over there, that looks just like a drunk Gary Busey, talking to a plant—that's Jerry. "Hey Jerry!" Dave yelled out.
Fake Gary Busey barked like a dog in return, almost falling over in an attempt to moon us.
"He's always like that," explained fake Tom. "Funny guy, great actor. Usually does Shakespeare in New York. His Hamlet is flawless."
So you guys are just being yourselves? Weird. How about that obnoxiously loud woman that looks like Kathy Griffen? Is she just being herself?
"Dude, that is Kathy Griffen," said fake Tom Cruise.
We were confused. Maybe Hollywood stars aren't sending their body doubles to walk the picket lines, after all?
"So," we prodded Dave, "You were not sent here to stand in for the real Tom Cruise?'
"No, I was not. I'm on strike, as Dave Lipskin," said fake Tom, in a very Far & Away sort of way.
Fake Tom Cruise then answered a call with a very serious expression, his eyes darted around quickly behind his shades. He put on a dark hat and told us curtly, 'he had to go.' Running over to a motorcycle, he laid rubber in a wheelie down the street, in a very Mission Impossible 3 sort of way.
Shoot, I gotta get a picture with The Rock look-a-like before I go, or my daughter will kill me.
