Communications professor specializing in celebrity and audience culture Erin Meyers speculated more about why the look-alike contests are so popular at the moment.  

"They're not a protest. They're not an election rally," she explains to NPR. "They're not things that have been kind of contentious lately. They're around something that's a little more fun and they're very grassroots."

In more recent years, people have been embracing a more individualistic approach to living, and communal events seem to be withering away. Those who long for fellowship might see the look-alike contest as a great way to spend time with their community or even meet potential romantic partners.

In addition, such a gathering was organized organically, without being weighed down by promoters or sponsors. Instead of being corporate and formal, it felt spontaneous and goofy. The switch-up probably felt quite freeing and enjoyable for the attendees. 

Another interesting fact about this event is that the participants are mainly male. “Why would that be strange?" you might ask. Well, it’s relatively rare for men to want to look a certain way and get validation for it so publicly, which has been a norm for women for a long time, says Meyers. "The history of media representation is all about giving these standards for women, in particular, to live up to," she says. "You're already trying to look like Kim Kardashian or look like whoever and emulate them in your social media posts. It doesn't feel as novel, I guess."

Behind the silly fun of look-alikes, there are actually some fascinating scientific explanations for why complete strangers might be doubles of each other. Research suggests that Chalamet doppelgangers have genetic similarities even though they aren’t biologically related.

Manel Esteller, a molecular geneticist, in a study published in 2022 revealed that unrelated look-alikes share distinct parts of their genetic makeup that are responsible for bone structure, skin pigmentation, and water retention, all of which affect how our face looks.

The researchers ensured that the subjects weren’t related and that any similarities in their looks were coincidental. “There are so many people in the world right now, that eventually, people that share a higher number of [genetic] variants are expected,” he said, explaining the reason for it. As he pointed out, there are only so many combinations that make up a human face. 

Scientist Nancy Segal, a professor of psychology, has additionally found that doppelgangers might not only share similar appearance but other attributes as well, like the manner of walking (due to their bone length), their voice, and even their level of addictiveness. So for example, a Harry Styles look-alike may walk, sound the same, and smoke cigarettes but won’t have the same personality, charisma, and talent as him.  

I bet now you’re wondering if there is a person who looks, walks, and sounds like you somewhere out there. Well, scientists think that it’s very likely, but the precise number of that being true is difficult to calculate with statistical quirks and subjectivity getting in the way. Despite this, there’s still a pretty good chance we all have a doppelganger. “I think most people have somebody who is a facial lookalike unless they have a truly exceptional and unusual face,” concludes statistician Nick Fieller from The Computer-Aided Facial Recognition Project.