Laurence Fishburne laughs about being mistaken for Samuel L. Jackson

Samuel L. Jackson and Laurence Fishburne might consider wearing name tags so that people can tell them apart.

KTLA entertainment reporter Sam Rubin is still riding a wave of national ridicule and embarrassment the day after he mistook Jackson for Fishburne during a live interview on the Los Angeles station’s morning news show. The actor mercilessly blasted the mortified Rubin during the segment, questioning his qualifications as an entertainment journalist.

But Rubin is far from being the first to confuse the two African American actors.

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In an interview last April on “George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight,” a talk show that airs weekdays on the CBC, Canada’s public broadcaster, Fishburne talked about how he has long been mistaken for Jackson.

The actor recalled how he was doing an interview 20 years ago when he was approached by a woman from Texas who said, ‘I don’t mean to bother you, but can I have your autograph, Mr. Jackson?”

Fishburne obliged, signing the autograph, “Sam Jackson.”

“Sam and I have this running gag about it,” said Fishburne, noting it’s not something that upsets him.

“Once upon a time, people used to confuse Al Pacino with Dustin Hoffman,” he said. “It’s not a bad problem to have.”

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