The nature of the acting profession is essentially to transform into other people. This in itself is a daunting task that often requires many years of training. However, there is one task that requires an even higher skill level and that is when the same actor plays twins: characters that must be different enough so that each can be identified separately, but at the same time have certain similarities so that the relationship is obvious. If we add to all the above the fact that the actor has to perform and interact with a character that is not really there on set, but must be recreated mentally by the actor in a sort of dual task, acting as twins becomes a much more complicated and difficult challenge to achieve successfully. Some twins seen on screen are actually two separate people who are actually twins in real life, as is the case of James and Oliver Phelps in the Harry Potter saga or the iconic twins Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen, who starred in several films, including It Takes Two. However, this is not always the case. Sometimes, with a little help from the FX and make-up team, well-known actors managed to play a pair of twins for movie productions. Such was the case with Leonardo DiCaprio in Randall Wallace's The Man in the Iron Mask, in which he simultaneously performed King Louis and Philippe.
Brilliant performances of twins cannot only be seen in movies. In fact, in 2020 I Know This Much Is True premiered on HBO, a miniseries in which Mark Ruffalo portrays twin brothers Dominick and Thomas Birdsey and which was very well received by the audience. Nevertheless, this time we will take a look at seven movies in which actors played twins.
Adaptation
Screenwriter Charlie Kaufman (Nicolas Cage) is overwhelmed by his own insecurity. He has been hired to bring a book about the life of orchid collector and dealer John Laroche (Chris Cooper) to the screen, but finds himself completely blocked. Just like Susan Orlean (Meryl Streep), the brilliant journalist and writer of the novel, Charlie has not been lucky enough to experience a real love story, and Donald (Nicolas Cage), his twin brother, only makes the situation worse: as a screenwriter he has been a success, as well as in romantic relationships. He is exactly the opposite of Charlie. One day, the screenwriter finds an idea that will loosen his creative block: he is going to use his personal problems as the foundation to write a screenplay about Laroche and Susan Orlean. However, now that he is inspired and as the story takes shape, Charlie triggers a series of events that will forever change the lives of all the protagonists.
Adaptation is a 2002 Spike Jonze film in which Nicolas Cage was given the challenge of portraying both Kaufman brothers, Charlie and Donald, with their totally contrasting personalities. Along with the aforementioned actors, the cast included Tilda Swinton, Jay Tavare, Litefoot and Roger Willie.
Big Business
Big Business combines multiple ingredients to be an incredible comedy: it stars the legendary Bette Midler and Lily Tomlin, and has the peculiarity that both of them play a pair of twins exchanged at birth in a small rural hospital. Two are daughters of an important and wealthy couple who own the largest factory in the area, while the two others are daughters of a humble and large family. The clueless, elderly hospital nurse accidentally mixes up one twin from each pair and delivers them to their families. To top it all off, the twins share the same name: Sadie and Rose. The years go by, and although the twins look nothing alike physically, they live happily, unaware of the mistake made almost 40 years ago. However, their paths cross in the middle of Manhattan streets and the outcome is a hilarious spiral of confusion in which problems are running rampant. As the rich twins want to close the family factory, the other sisters are determined to do whatever it takes to prevent its closure.
The Prestige
When a production is directed by Christopher Nolan and features a cast of well-known actors such as Hugh Jackman, Christian Bale in a double role, Michael Caine, Scarlett Johansson, Rebecca Hall, Andy Serkis, Piper Perabo and even David Bowie, one can only anticipate a great movie. In The Prestige we follow the story of two extraordinary magicians who become irreconcilable enemies and begin an intense rivalry to discover each other's secrets, so they can outwit the other on his own ground. Of course, this competition does not come by itself: both of them face dangerous, deceitful and deadly consequences. And so, trick by trick and show after show, their fierce rivalry escalates to reach extremely hazardous limits. Like many of Nolan's films, this movie left everyone open-mouthed wondering, which is why over the years many fans have been busy reviewing theories and possible explanations for its intriguing finale.
Bowfinger
Comedians Eddie Murphy and Steve Martin first teamed up in 1999 to star in Bowfinger, a movie about failed Hollywood director Bobby Bowfinger (Martin). He wants to develop a screenplay written by a friend, convinced enough of the job that he hopes to reclaim his lost fame with it. Selling it, however, won't be easy. Fortunately, a famous producer takes him on, but only on one condition: the film must feature Kit Ramsey (Murphy), Hollywood's rising star. As Bowfinger wants to carry out the project at any cost, he tries to feature the actor in the film without his knowledge by hiring Jiff Ramsey (Murphy) instead, the dumb twin brother of the renowned actor, whom he tricks into taking part in the film. Murphy's dual role in Bowfinger is absolutely admirable, especially considering that the characters played are totally different from one another.
A Simple Favor
Stephanie (Anna Kendrick) is a young blogging mom who lives in a small town, which is also home to the wealthy and sophisticated Emily (Blake Lively). Their children share a school and, quite suddenly, the two women begin a friendly relationship. But then, Emily vanishes without a trace. Stephanie begins to look for her along with Emily's husband Sean (Henry Golding) in order to uncover the truth in a plot full of betrayal, secrets, loyalty, murder and revenge.
A Simple Favor was inspired by Darcey Bell's novel of the same name and directed by Paul Feig. The cast is rounded out by Linda Cardellini, Rupert Friend, Eric Johnson, Kelly McCormack and Jean Smart, among others. Without giving away too much of the plot, it is possible to say that the double role played by Blake Lively in this movie is one of her best performances so far.
The Social Network
By 2003, programmer Mark Zuckerberg (Jesse Eisenberg) was passionately working on a very revolutionary idea: to spread the social experience of a university community on the network, the Facebook project. In six years, this idea took off, garnered 500 million users and made Zuckerberg the youngest billionaire of all time. However, the road to success is not easy: the young man will have to defend himself in court against accusations of plagiarism and complaints, some even from his own inner circle.
The Social Network was directed by David Fincher, and it was extremely successful. Partly because the 2010 film dealt with a contemporary character and, at the same time, with facts that were happening during that period. Another reason was its successful cast, made up of artists such as Andrew Garfield, Justin Timberlake, Brenda Song, Rashida Jones, Max Minghella, Rooney Mara, Dakota Johnson and Armie Hammer supporting Eisenberg in his leading role. Another highlight of this movie is that Hammer performed a dual role as Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, the twins and business partners who had a real-life legal battle with Zuckerberg.
The Parent Trap
This is the quintessential twin movie.The Parent Trap is a 1998 children's film starring Lindsay Lohan, Dennis Quaid, Natasha Richardson and Elaine Hendrix. This movie is a remake of the 1961 production of the same name, which is based on Erich Kästner's novel, Lottie and Lisa.
In this comedy we meet charming and wild twins, Annie and Hallie, who were unknowingly separated at birth and are reunited by chance at a summer camp. Shocked by the news of having an unknown twin sister, they decide to switch roles and get to know each other's parents. At the same time they attempt to reunite them, something that proves difficult since their father is engaged to another woman, one that the girls do not like very much. The Parent Trap was the debut of Nancy Meyers as director and Lindsay Lohan as actress, a role for which she received many nominations and even some awards.