Maybe it is just a coincidence, but if so, it's a remarkable one. In a metaphysical course I took in 1988, the instructor said that people reincarnate in groups. So it's likely that someone in (our) life, especially if important, was a part of our past lives. There have been at least five serendipitous strong connections in my life that were so amazing that my friends, advisors and I concluded that those people had to have been a part of my previous life (or lives). I've also seen several pictures of people from the past and modern day (mostly) celebrities, whose resemblances are uncanny.