Jeremy Allen White Lookalike Contest in Chicago Serves Up a Winner
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11/16/2024 06:51 PM
The best doppelgänger took home a "$50 cash prize and some cigarettes"
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Jeremy Allen WhiteCarmy, is that you? The Jeremy Allen White lookalike contest in Chicago has served up a winner.
On Saturday, Nov. 16, hundreds of people flocked to Humboldt Park on the city's West Side for a competition in search of someone who looks like the actor, ABC 7 Chicago reported.
The prize offered to the best doppelgänger was "$50 cash and some cigarettes," according to a poster who went viral on X (formerly Twitter).
Photos online show dozens of contestants gathered at the event, dressed as White, 33. They each sported an apron and a white T-shirt, with a cigarette dangling from their lips à la chef Carmy Berzatto in the TV series The Bear, which takes place in Chicago.
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Jeremy Allen White attends the Emmy Awards on Sept. 15, 2024The Chicago Sun-Times reported that Ben Shabad, a 37-year-old mental health therapist from Glenview, Illinois, won the competition.
"This is the coolest thing I've done all week," he said, donning a crown following his victory. In addition to the aforementioned prize, Shabad also received a blue ribbon with a picture of Carmy and a trophy. After his win, other contestants lifted him into the air to celebrate, according to videos shared online.
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"I felt pretty confident," Shabad added, per ABC 7 Chicago. "People have been telling me I look like [White] for a long time. I don't know if it's changed my life, but it's changed my Saturday."
Albany Park roommates Kelsey Cassaro and Taylor Vaske planned the lookalike contest as a joke, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. But once the contest flier went viral, there was no going back.
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Jeremy Allen White in June 2024Related: Bruce Springsteen Says Jeremy Allen White 'Sings Pretty Good' in Upcoming Biopic About the Rock Icon
This isn't the first time a lookalike contest cropped up in a major city. On Oct. 27, thousands gathered in lower Manhattan for a Timothée Chalametlookalike contest.
Fans dressed as the actor's film characters — including Willy Wonka in Wonka and Bob Dylan in A Complete Unknown — and mimicked Chalamet's effortlessly cool style.
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The competition drew so much attention that Chalamet himself crashed the event and posed with fans. Despite his uncanny likeness, someone else wearing a purple Willy Wonka suit and a top hat took home the $50 prize (made out in a gigantic check) and multi-tier trophy.
