Ryan Seacrest Embarrassed Himself by Mistaking Jeffrey Tambor for a Dead Actor

Sometimes Ryan Seacrest seems just a little too perfect. Not that we would change him in any way, but the occasional sign that the guy is a human being rather than a robot designed to host us through life is always welcome. Unfortunately, this latest step out of the Uncanny Valley for Ryan was at the expense of actor Jeffrey Tambor. Ryan was interviewing Jeffrey on Live! with Kelly and Ryan, who is promoting his new book, Are You Anybody?: A Memoir. That's a great title, especially considering what happened next.

During the interview, Ryan brought up what his most cherished Jeffrey Tambor role — except that it wasn’t Jeffrey Tambor's role.

“We talked about the things you have done and are doing, but to me, you’re the scary guy on the subway in Ghost,” Ryan said.

“Oh, this is horrible. You’re gonna be embarrassed,” Jeffrey responded. “That’s not me.”

Ryan is weirdly cheerful throughout, but you have to wonder if he was dying inside. The man he was thinking of was character actor Vincent Schiavelli, who passed away in 2005.

Funnily enough, Jeffrey said this isn’t the first time this has happened to him. Once while he was visiting Rome, a waiter approached him and shouted, “Get off my train!” which is Vincent’s big line in Ghost. Jeffrey said he had no idea what the man was talking about, but by now he does. He even joked his wife thought he was Vincent Schiavelli.

They brought up a photo of Vincent for a side-by-side comparison, and though there is a bit of a resemblance, it’s clear that "the scary guy on the subway" is not Jeffrey Tambor. Jeffrey also seems genuinely peeved to be told he looks like Vincent. Not all comparisons to celebrities are as flattering as we want them to be. Maybe if Ryan had mistaken him for Patrick Swayze it would have gone over better.