Babylon producer Tobey Maguire, who starred as Peter Parker/Spider-Man in Sam Raimi's original Spider-Man trilogy, once signed an autograph as Elijah Wood for a confused Lord of the Rings fan.
"No joke, I once signed an autograph as Elijah Wood because the fan was so excited," Maguire said during an AMA on the r/movies subreddit while promoting his new film, Babylon. "I didn't want to disappoint her by telling her I wasn't Elijah."
During the same AMA, Maguire was also asked how he felt about the "Bully Maguire" memes that originated following his performance in Spider-Man 3. "Fairly neutral," he said. "I did see the Bully Maguire videos, which was a funny discovery." The actor even joked that he continues to practice the Bully Maguire dance "every morning."
Both Maguire and Wood rose to stardom around the same time, as the two actors both starred in major movie franchises in the early 2000s. Wood starred as Frodo Baggins in Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy, with The Fellowship of the Ring premiering in 2001, while Maguire first starred as Peter Parker in Spider-Man in 2002. Maguire would go on to reprise the role in 2004's Spider-Man 2 and 2007's Spider-Man 3 before returning as the character once again in 2021's Spider-Man: No Way Home. Maguire appeared in the Sony/Marvel Studios film alongside the Marvel Cinematic Universe's Spider-Man, played by Tom Holland, and Andrew Garfield, who starred in The Amazing Spider-Man in 2012 and its 2014 sequel.
Elijah Wood's Case of Mistaken Identity
This is not the first time an actor in a major franchise has been mistaken for Wood. In a recent interview, Harry Potter star Daniel Radcliffe discussed how he has previously been mistaken for the Lord of the Rings star. "This guy the other day was driving past and just shouted out the car window, 'Hey Frodo, I love your work.' And I was just like, 'Great, thank you,'" said Radcliffe. "There's no point ruining it. He's had a good day because he's met Elijah Wood, so why would I screw that up for him?"
Radcliffe, who portrayed the titular musician in Weird: The Al Yankovic Story, also added that he would choose Wood to portray him in a hypothetical biopic. "I feel bad that I've given this answer so much because I imagine he probably gets asked about it then as well," the Harry Potter star said. "But Elijah Wood -- it’s just the obvious choice. We are of a type."
Weird: The Al Yankovic Story is now available on the Roku channel. Babylon is in theaters now.
Source: Reddit