Herbert Chavez underwent surgery to look like Superman. See other regular people who wanted to look like Jennifer Aniston, Brad Pitt—and Jessica Rabbit.
Look, up in the sky! It’s a bird … It’s a plane … It’s Herbert Chavez! Since 1998, the 35-year-old fashion designer, who lives in the Philippines, has undergone plastic surgery to look like the Man of Steel. To date, the Superman superfan has had a chin augmentation to give him a cleft, a nose job modeled on actor Christopher Reeve, and thigh implants to make his legs appear more muscular. “I am happy as Superman,” Chavez told the local media, “and happier still to have Filipinos realize that Superman lives in the Philippines, and they can see and talk to him in the flesh.” And if Chavez ever wants to go unrecognized, all he has to do is put on a pair of glasses and be Clark Kent.
On a 2005 episode of MTV’s I Want a Famous Face, Kelly Chandler, an insurance agent from Austin, Texas, underwent plastic surgery to look like Jennifer Aniston, whom she already resembled. “You’re taking a nap as Kelly and you’re going to wake up as Jennifer,” plastic surgeon Dr. Robert Ersek told her before sucking out body fat. Chandler’s confident response? “I’m going to look better than Jennifer Aniston.” And she is satisfied with the results. “I was 26 at the time and I had the body of a 35-year-old,” Chandler told the Austin Chronicle, adding that she is going back for a tummy tuck.
Evan Agostini / AP Photo
When the story of Octomom Nadya Suleman first broke in January 2009, media outlets immediately noticed her uncanny resemblance to Angelina Jolie. Though Suleman denied having plastic surgery, photos soon emerged that clearly showed she had had work done to her nose and lips. And in an interview with Ann Curry shortly after giving birth to the octuplets, Suleman went even further in her denial. “I have never even thought of Angelina Jolie, except the last time I saw a movie,” she said. “I think that was like years ago. This is so far away from the place I’m in right now, to think of any celebrity.” Suleman can now be seen on the celebrity boxing circuit, alongside such A-listers as Michael Lohan, Joey Buttafuoco, and Tareq Salahi.
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How badly did 20-year-old Arizona twins Mike and Matt Schlepp want to look like Brad Pitt? Badly enough that they underwent several plastic surgeries—including nose jobs, cheek implants, and porcelain veneers for their teeth—on camera for MTV’s I Want a Famous Face. But the $22,000 surgeries were all worth it. “I am overwhelmed with the results,” Matt told the show. “This is the face I’ve wanted to see look back at me in the mirror.” Though Mike admitted, “Since the surgery I have not been mistaken for Brad Pitt. Except for in a picture that was taken, someone said that I kind of resembled him.” Just to be certain, perhaps the Schlepp brothers should test out their new looks on Jennifer Aniston look-alike Kelly Chandler and Angelina Jolie twin Nadya Suleman.
In 2010, to win back a boyfriend who was obsessed with Jessica Alba, 21-year-old Shanghai woman Xiaoqing took an unlikely step and decided to get plastic surgery to look like the actress. “I’m not only doing it for my ex-boyfriend but for myself,” she explained. “I am a psychologically weak person. I want to do something to challenge myself and build a strong personality through it.” Alba herself was naturally disturbed by the story. “I think you should never have to change yourself like that,” she said. “If somebody loves you, they’ll love you no matter what.”
Steve Granitz, WireImage / Getty Images; Rex Features
Michael Jackson had massive amounts of plastic surgery to look like Michael Jackson, so why shouldn’t the world’s most famous King of Pop impersonator? The British-born Navi has been performing as Jackson for nearly 25 years and admits that he has spent more than $40,000 on cosmetic surgery. “You can’t roll out of bed and look like Michael Jackson,” he told the BBC. The investment has paid off. Not only did Navi get to perform in front of Jackson, but he was hired by Michael as a decoy for many years.
When British model Lisa Connell was diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumor in 2010, it was widely reported that her dying wish was to spend $60,000 on cosmetic surgery to look like Demi Moore. When Moore found out about Connell’s plan, she took to Twitter to stop it. “Wish I could contact this woman Lisa Connell who wants to have surgery to look like me & encourage her to not to!” Moore tweeted. “She is a beautiful girl!” But it turned out the story wasn’t quite true. Connell did want the surgery, but not to look like Moore. She later explained through a spokesperson: “Having cosmetic surgery is a very personal decision which should not be made lightly. As someone who has suffered from lack of confidence and low self-esteem to be offered the chance to improve my shape was a dream come true. However, you are who you are and I feel sad that there are so many young women today wanting to look like someone else.”
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Laura Steele didn’t turn back time when she wanted to look more like Cher, but she did do the next best thing: she had her lips plumped and a brow lift and got a nose job. “I didn’t do it casually,” Steele told the BBC, explaining: “I did it slowly, and I went to a plastic surgeon that I felt was not an extremist.” She then gave up a corporate job to become one of the most successful Cher impersonators. “If it can’t be Cher, I can be there. I give people a lot of vicarious pleasure.”
Left: Chris Pizzello / AP Photo
After having a dream in 1987 that she was Egyptian Queen Nefertiti in a past life, Nileen Namita of Brighton, England, spent more than $350,000 and endured more than 50 surgeries to look like the Beauty of the Nile. “I know some people will find it hard to understand why I have put myself through so much surgery,” Namita told the Daily Mail of her 20-plus years of surgery, “but by then the visions had become even more powerful. I decided to remodel my face so I looked like a modern version of Nefertiti. It was a way of allowing that part of my personality to show itself.”
It wasn’t enough for Annette Edwards to breed the world’s largest rabbits, she wanted to look like one—Jessica Rabbit. “My love of rabbits made me decide to go for the operations and make the big change,” the 57-year-old British great-grandmother explained to the Daily Mail of her $16,000 worth of surgery to look like a cartoon character. “I have had a breast uplift, a brow lift, chin implants, and botox injections. Since I had it done I have had loads of compliments, and I love the way I look now” Edwards added, “My kids think it’s mad—although they are never shocked by me anymore.”
Everett Collection; Zuma Press
