Celebrities are a fascinating phenomenon. Mobbed by hordes of autograph-seeking fans, celebrities have a hard time living private lives. But what happens when common, everyday people are mistaken for celebrities? Some student celebrity look-alikes say they would play along and claim their 15 minutes of fame.

Students tell senior Marc Braunstein he looks like Matthew Broderick. Although he does not think Broderick is bad looking, Braunstein said he is not too happy with the comparison.

If mistaken for a celebrity, Braunstein said he would pretend he was one, give the autograph and go all out.

It would be funny to mess around, he said.

Sophomore Courtney Pullman said people not only tell her that she looks like a celebrity, but she said she was mistaken for Claire Danes at a high school basketball game. It was the first time anyone had mentioned the resemblance, and she said it took her by surprise.

What would Claire Danes be doing at a small high school in the Midwest? Pullman thought when she was approached.

After that incident, many people started to notice her resemblance to Danes, she said. But Pullman is not flattered by the comparison because it was during Danes’ My So-Called Life days, which were not her best years, she said.

Sophomore Jamie Kravitz said her babysitter told her she looked like the brunette Dylan from the TV series Charlie’s Angels. She doubts that she still looks like her now, she said.

On the other hand, Kravitz gets a lot of attention from her last name, which she has in common with rock singer Lenny Kravitz.

My entire life I’ve been asked if we were related, and it just got to the point where I’d interrupt people before they finished the question with, `No!’ she said.

Sophomore Luis Pizarro said people compared him to Ricky Martin and Chayanne, the lead actor in Dance with Me.

My neighbors saw the movie and told me that I looked like him, mostly my smile, he said. I guess I took it as a compliment.

Although never mistaken for a celebrity, Pizarro said he would definitely play along if it ever happened.

Everyone would love to have a minute to be famous, he said.

When sophomore Gina Tibbott was thirteen, someone told her she looked like Linda Blair, the actress in The Exorcist. She said she was not happy with the comparison because it is anything but flattering.

Tibbott said she has had a celebrity look-alike spotting herself. A waiter at Sequoia restaurant on the Waterfront looks like a mix between George Michael and David Hasselhoff, she said. Tibbott said she was brave enough to mention it to him.

He was impressed when I told him he looked like George Michael, but when I told him he could also look like the love child of George Michael and David Hasselhoff he got mad, Tibbott said.

Other than the Exorcist stint six years ago, Tibbott said she has not been told that she looks like a celebrity, but would be fairly amused if she was approached and mistaken for one.

I would definitely go with it and make them pay for the autograph, she said. I need the money.

Comparing people to celebrities is a common practice. But students should be careful when approaching look-alikes on campus – they may not confess their true identity.