Gene Hackman’s Dual Identity

There’s a fan theory that says Gene Hackman was playing the same character in two espionage thrillers, released 24 years apart.Hackman starred as Harry Caul in The Conversation in 1974. Then he played Edward “Brill” Lyle in Enemy of the State in 1998. A theory has been floated that these two characters are the same person. From the Wikipedia page for The Conversation: Hackman's character Edward Lyle in Enemy of the State closely resembles Caul: he dons the same translucent raincoat, and his workshop is nearly identical to Caul's. Also, the photograph used for Lyle in his NSA file is actually a photograph of Caul. Enemy of the State also includes a scene which is very similar to The Conversation's opening surveillance scene in San Francisco's Union Square.If this is unintended as an actual plot device, then it has to be an Easter Egg or an inside joke — using the photo of Caul from the first movie for the photo of Lyle in the second movie is hard to deny.