Dave Franco is very aware of the Luigi Mangione comparisons thanks to the endless texts from his friends

Last updated: July 6, 2025 1:24 PM

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After a shocking murder that captivated the nation, Dave Franco started receiving texts saying the same thing about him.

His friends and acquaintances jokingly informed him he looks like Luigi Mangione, the man accused of fatally shooting UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson on a New York City street in broad daylight last month.

Dave Franco Los Angeles Premiere Of Amazon Prime Video's 'Somebody I Used To Know' — American actor and filmmaker Dave Franco arrives at the Los Angeles Premiere Of Amazon Prime Video’s ‘Somebody I Used To Know’ held at The Culver Theater on February 1, 2023 in Culver City, Los Angeles, California, United States. Photo credit: depositphotos.com

“I have never received more texts in my life,” Franco told the Hollywood Reporter in an on-camera interview posted Jan. 25, “about anything.”

His contacts not the only ones who have suggested he bears a resemblance to Mangione. The subject has been discussed on social media for weeks, with some fans naming Franco as a contender to play the murder suspect in a biographical film or series, should one be developed.

Don’t stop talking about Luigi Mangione. He’s entitled to a fair trial and the presumption of innocence. pic.twitter.com/jwcJ23t6My
— The Luigi Case (@LuigiCaseFiles) January 26, 2025

“I don’t think there have been any official offers,” the actor’s wife Alison Brie, sitting beside him, joked during the interview, to which the 39-year-old responded, “No, no official.”

Franco continued, “It’s just friends. Anyone who has my phone number has reached out about it.”

Meanwhile, he has been keeping busy with acting projects such as the thriller “Together,” in which he and Brie play a couple whose move to the countryside triggers a supernatural incident. The film is set to premiere at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival Jan. 26.

Dave Franco USA - 24th Screen Actors Guild Awards - Press Room - Los Angeles — LOS ANGELES – JAN 21: Dave Franco at the 24th Screen Actors Guild Awards – Press Room at Shrine Auditorium on January 21, 2018 in Los Angeles, CA. Photo credit: depositphotos.com

Mangione, 26, was arrested at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania, after a five-day manhunt in wake of Thompson’s Dec. 4 killing. Later that month, Mangione was indicted on 11 charges, includes first-degree murder and murder as an act of terrorism, in New York City. He has pleaded not guilty to all of them and remains in custody, awaiting a trial.

If convicted of all counts, he faces a maximum sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.

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