YouTubeThere are worse things than being mistaken for Paul Rudd. And there are worse things than being Paul Rudd and having everyone just assume that you readily put yourself at risk to help shut down a scary situation.
Several men helped tackle a homophobic-slur-spewing guy after he kicked and punched a fellow traveler at Dallas/Ft Worth International Airport last week, and the Internet lit up this morning with speculation that Rudd was one of the brave souls in the scrum.
Video of the altercation started going viral yesterday, then went triple-viral once one hopeful fan mistook a man in a brown blazer who does share a resemblance to Rudd, at least in blurry passing, for the 45-year-old star.
"I'm basically a 9/11 truther right now but about Paul Rudd, in a good way. #PaulRuddSavesLives," tweeted Sara Benincasa, who was only trying to do what she thought was right for the twitterverse.
Alas, Rudd's rep has since confirmed that it wasn't him, but not before reports hailing him as the latest real-life celebrity hero made the rounds.
Presumably the doppelgänger, who sprinted over a second too late to help bring the offender down but did help keep him pinned until airport security had taken over, will now be identified and properly hailed as a good Samaritan.
Not to mention, Rudd will surely be quizzed about this during his next 50 or so interviews.
But if you had just seen this without the fanfare, wouldn't you have suspected that it was Rudd as well? (Warning: This video contains offensive language.)