As far as mistaken identities go, being confused with an A-List movie star isn’t so bad – especially if you are an equally talented and beautiful woman.

Two-time Oscar winner Jodie Foster, 53, opened up about being constantly mistaken for Helen Hunt, 52, at the Sydney premiere of her newly-directed film Money Monster.

‘I’ve been mistaken for Helen Hunt so many times and she for me. We talk about it a lot every time we see each other,’ she told Daily Mail Australia.

‘It happens so many times’: Two-time Oscar winner Jodie Foster, 53, opened up about being constantly mistaken for Helen Hunt, 52, at the Sydney premiere of her newly-directed film Money Monster

‘It’s strange because she’s at least five inches taller than me and the only similarity is that we part our hair on the same side.’

Foster was almost right, Hunt stands at 1.7 metres compared to her 1.61 metres, a difference of about 3.5 inches.

The frequent mix-up first came to light a week ago when a Starbucks barista mistook Hunt for Foster and wrote ‘Jody’ on her cup.

Similar? ‘It’s strange because she’s at least five inches taller than me and the only similarity is that we part our hair on the same side,’ Foster said

Starbucks slip-up: The frequent mix-up first came to light a week ago when a Starbucks barista mistook Hunt for Foster and wrote ‘Jody’ on her cup

Longtime ‘twin’: It goes back even further as Hunt admitted to David Letterman in a 1994 interview that a supermarket cashier had once made the same mistake

The As Good As It Gets star laughed off the incident in a Twitter post writing: ‘Ordered my drink @Starbucks asked the barista if she wanted my name. She winked and said “We gotcha”.’

It goes back even further as Hunt admitted to David Letterman in a 1994 interview that a supermarket cashier had once made the same mistake.

Foster opted for fairly neutral attire to strut the premiere red carpet in, wearing a simple knee-length black dress under an equally black blazer.

Conservative style: Foster opted for fairly neutral attire to strut the premiere red carpet in, wearing a simple knee-length black dress under an equally black blazer

All black: She teamed the conservative outfit with a black clutch and matching toeless high heels, with just a single necklace to jazz it up

Mingling: Foster signed autographs and took selfies with fans at the Sydney premiere

She teamed the conservative outfit with a black clutch and matching toeless high heels, with just a single necklace to jazz it up.

The four-time director also discussed the Money Monster casting process, saying Jack O’Connell was not her first choice.

The 25-year-old, who plays a disgruntled investor who takes George Clooney’s character hostage, has to do his audition over Skype to get the role.

‘He’s very British and he’s very young and my idea for the role was someone from Queens [New York City] who was 35 or 40,’ Foster said.

‘But the second I saw him I was blown away and couldn’t imagine anybody else.’

Had to audtion on Skype! The four-time director also discussed the Money Monster casting process, saying Jack O’Connell (pictured) was not her first choice

High drama: The film’s plot revolves around a star cable news financial analyst (Clooney) being taken hostage by an angry investor who lost everything because of a stock tip on the show Money Monster

O’Connell, who was in Australia for months filming World War II film Unbroken two years ago, did not give his director many suggestions on where to go out while she was in Sydney.

‘He’s very into sport and has seen a lot of rugby games here so he suggested that,’ she said.

Foster had to call up stars Clooney and Julia Roberts but said the script was what sold them.

‘It was very clear and had really good characters and I think they both saw that,’ she said.

The film’s plot revolves around a star cable news financial analyst (Clooney) being taken hostage by an angry investor who lost everything because of a stock tip on the show Money Monster.

Julia Roberts plays the show’s director, who works to solve the crisis. 

Foster has not appeared in a film since Elysium in 2013 and before that was The Beaver in 2011, which she also directed, but she did not feel like it was a big gap to now.

‘Everyone keeps saying it’s been such a long time between films but I feel like it’s only been a short time – I couldn’t have done another one in between,’ she said.

‘I spent a lot of time working on the script to make the characters to be as complicated an interwoven as they were.

Legs eleven! Also walking the Sydney premiere red carpet was E! Australia host Ksenija Lukich

‘The backdrops of the world of finance, high technology and broadcast infotainment and the weird way they melt together in our culture were what interested me.’

Foster acknowledged that Money Monster was her biggest film and her first attempt at a mainstream production, as her previous three were fairly niche.

‘It need resources, it needed guns, bombs, helicopters and things like that and that’s why it needed to be a mainstream film that made more money,’ she said.

‘I’m still learning. I started making movies when I was 27 and have done four so that’s not many but I have a lot of stories to tell.’

Also walking the Sydney premiere red carpet was Sunrise presenter James Tobin, E! Australia host Ksenija Lukich, and actresses Tasneem Roc, Gracie Gilbert and Tess Haubrich.

One arm out: Also walking the Sydney premiere red carpet was actress Grace Gilbert