Sure, it's often a cesspit of hatred, vitriol and division. But sometimes the internet really pulls it out the bag. When lots of dark haired, delicate-framed men gathered in lower Manhattan on 27 October – not to riot or in political protest – but to enter the inaugural Timothée Chalamet lookalike contest, it was one such moment.
In the week leading up to the event, flyers adorned the city and YouTube personality Anthony Po spread the word on social media. He later posted a video about his motivation for launching the event and said, 'My entire life people have been calling me a less hot version of Timothée Chalamet.' He therefore decided to launch two simultaneous lookalike competitions – one for Chalamet and one for the American streamer Kai Cenat (an inside joke, perhaps). Only one of the contests took off.
When the date of the Chalamet lookalike contest rolled around, thousands of people RSVP’d, no one knew what to expect, the police ended up drawing an order for crowds to disperse, Chalamet himself turned up and the whole competition went viral.
Most importantly, though, it looked like a lot of fun. One man even came dressed as Willy Wonka, for crying out loud.
The event offered a blueprint for other lookalike contests to take off in various cities around the world – and that they did. A week later, a Paul Mescal lookalike contest was held in Dublin where swathes of Irish men with mullets and tiny GAA shorts on gathered to compete for a giant cheque worth €20.
The following week, London hosted a Harry Styles version where entrants were judged on ‘best hair’, ‘best style’, ‘best lookalike’ and ‘worst lookalike’. The prizes were 'waxy hair products', six cans of organic Sicilian canned wine, £50 and four cans of beer, respectively.
‘We chose those categories because they are inclusive,’ the event organiser Katrina Mirpuri tells us. ‘None of it was exclusive to age or gender. We had women entering, older men, young guys, everyone just had so much fun.’
Inspired by the Chalamet and Mescal events that came before, Mirpuri pulled the whole thing together in just four days. ‘I wanted to organise something fun and saw London was lacking a lookalike contest so I took matters into my own hands. On Tuesday night I made a poster in about five minutes and printed some off and distributed them and then posted about it online. Everyone else did the work for me and the messaging for the event spread like wildfire.’
Hundreds of people gathered in Soho Square on Saturday to watch the Styles lookalikes compete and four One Direction super fans were called in to judge, including former Grazia staff writer and author of The Book of Harry: A Celebration of Harry Styles, Bonnie McLaren. ‘It was genuinely the funniest few hours of my life,’ she says. ‘I was really taken aback and overwhelmed by how many people turned up. I knew it would be really good fun and we had an inkling it would be well attended but we couldn’t comprehend how many people from the media were there.’
The Styles lookalikes – who one X user astutely observed were ‘all dressed like Margaret Thatcher’ – arrived in their best femme jackets, statement shirts and tinted sunglasses. ‘I was judging best hair but I didn’t really go off the criteria,’ McLaren admits. ‘The criteria was mainly a Harry Styles vibe. I was really happy that women entered too so I gave the prize to a woman with amazing black curly hair, which I think Harry himself would have approved of.’
The event was a triumph to say the least and the following day it was San Francisco’s turn. Hundreds of people and 22 lookalikes gathered for the Dev Patel lookalike contest – and it was even reported on NBC news.
I know what you’re thinking, Dev Patel is from Harrow. In many ways, that’s completely beside the point. These events (so far at least) are simply an opportunity for unproblematic people to gather and celebrate their favourite unproblematic stars. Why, how, where, who – it doesn't matter.
They are not even a bid for the celebrity in question to attend, despite Chalamet doing the honours in New York. ‘Harry was not invited,’ Mirpuri explains, ‘I’m not even sure if he knows about the competition. The point was not to get Harry to turn up it was just to get people to come and have fun.’
Inspired by and owing to one another, this trend of celebrity lookalike contests is a perfect example of harmless, outdoor, free-of-charge bonhomie that present an opportunity for people to make friends, compliment each other, laugh and have fun.
If the Patel contest was the last, the organisers can rest assured that they have a legacy in pop culture. McLaren, for her part, has described judging the event as ‘the highlight of [her] career so far’ – and that’s coming from a teenage super fan-cum-author.
2024 has felt hopeless and heavy at the best of times – perhaps spontaneously organised, harmless nonsense is exactly what we all need.
Nikki Peach is a writer at Grazia UK, working across pop culture, TV and news. She has also written for the i, i-D and the New Statesman Media Group and covers all things TV for Grazia (treating high and lowbrow shows with equal respect).