Why doppelgängers are real, and why some people are trying to find theirs
New documentary meets three pairs of lookalikes who were searching for some kind of belonging
Deborah Wainwright is the director of Doppelgängers: Face to Face
With eight billion people on the planet, chances are that somewhere out there, there's someone who looks almost exactly like you.
Once, while I was walking down a street in Philadelphia, a very excited man approached me and declared that he "loved all my movies." Assuming he probably wasn't a big fan of Canadian documentaries, I was fairly certain he had the wrong woman. But I thanked him anyway and went on my way. We both got a win that day: he got to tell people he met a movie star, and I got to decide which movie star I resembled (I chose Amy Poehler, by the way).
This wasn't the first time I'd been told I looked like someone: an actor, someone's sister, "this woman I know from work." It's been happening all my adult life. And it turns out I shouldn't be surprised. We like to think of ourselves as unique, special, one of a kind, but there's an unsettling possibility that we aren't.
Lookalikes are the focus of my new documentary Doppelgängers: Face to Face, where I followed three sets of doppelgängers — unrelated pairs of people who share a striking resemblance — as they prepare to meet each other.
You probably have a doppelgänger — or two, or three
Historically, a doppelgänger sighting was believed to be an omen that you were on the verge of a stroke or had severe mental illness. "It's a German word that means 'double goer' or 'double walker,'" says Adam Golub, a professor of American Studies at California State University, Fullerton. "This kind of idea of a second self has actually been present in a lot of folklores and mythologies throughout the world."
Today, we use the term to simply mean someone who closely resembles us but is not related to us. It's a curious phenomenon that piques our collective attention in a powerful way.
In 2022, a study about unrelated "twins" sent media outlets worldwide spinning. It showed that unrelated people who closely resembled each other also had genetic similarities. But since there's an essentially infinite number of possible genetic variations, it's not actually that surprising that some individuals would share a number of the same combinations and end up looking very similar. Now, it's easier than ever to find someone who looks just like you.
What is it about the idea of a doppelgänger that sends our imaginations soaring? I wanted to find out.
According to Golub, our interest in doppelgängers tends to peak during times of societal division, in periods when technology has us a little fearful, and when we are struggling with issues of identity. Sound familiar?
A search for belonging
There are more than 10 million "doppelgänger seekers" registered in various "find your doppelgänger" groups online. Although many say they're looking for their stranger twin just for fun, when you dig a little deeper, more personal reasons often come to light.
"Millions of people [are] uploading their photos, all trying to find their match," says Erica Arsenault-Dicks, an administrator for a "find my doppelgänger" group.
The themes of identity, belonging and human connection became evident as we got to know our pairs of stranger twins. Some expressed the desire to find someone who represents the sibling they never had or one they had lost. Someone who provides that feeling of being connected as family. Someone who understands them and may have experienced what they themselves have experienced simply because they resemble one another.
"I had a brother who was 15 months older than me," says Nathaniël Siri, a French Canadian, in the documentary. "He unfortunately died when I was three."
"I wished to have a twin brother when I was young and [now] it happened," says Edward Toledo, Siri's doppelgӓnger who is originally from El Salvador. "I feel like [Nathaniel's] my twin brother sometimes."
Siri and Toledo found similarities and connections that went well beyond their physical attributes. They're both dancers and share a similar energetic personality. "It's not only about appearance," says Toledo. "Sometimes I think doppelgängers are also connected in [the] personality aspects of themselves. They sometimes think the same way or act the same way."
"It's like some sort of weird connection that I can't really explain," says Toledo.
"I think what people are more so looking for," says Arsenault-Dicks, "is to know that the person understands them and may behave like them, and may sympathize with them and may understand them without sort of speaking.
"So, I think it's both a twin as well as a soul twin," she says.
I haven't sought out my own doppelgänger yet, and my similarity to Amy Poehler may end at the fact that we were both natural blonds at one time in our lives. But after making this film, I do wonder if there's another me out there somewhere — and if she makes documentaries, too.
