Double takes: The best twin roles on screen

Michael B. Jordan’s best actor win was impressive enough in that it involved beating Hollywood heavy hitters including Leonardo DiCaprio and Timothée Chalamet to the coveted award.

What makes his victory extraordinary is that he won the prize for his portrayal of not one but two characters.

On Monday, Jordan claimed a golden statuette for a performance as twins after playing gangster brothers Elijah “Smoke” and Elias “Stack” Moore in Ryan Coogler’s vampire horror Sinners. The actor was able to create two entirely distinct personas for the pair – one more pragmatic and the other more charming. At no point does the audience question who is who, and therein lies the genius of his dual performance.

While Jordan is one of just two stars to earn such an accolade for playing twins (the other was Lee Marvin, who won in 1966 for Cat Ballou), many before him have still managed to impress with their multitasking performances. In fact, the history of such on-screen roles stretches as far back as 1912, when George Lessey played twins in The Corsican Brothers.

Over time, portraying twins has arguably become easier to perfect thanks to the introduction of splicing and clever camera deception. But it still requires some serious range from actors taking on the double duty.

In honour of Jordan’s Oscar win, here are some of the most memorable instances in which a single star has portrayed twins on the big and small screen.

Lindsay Lohan, The Parent Trap

The first time I watched Lindsay Lohan as both Hallie and Annie in the 1988 version of The Parent Trap, I was utterly convinced there were two separate actors on screen. Despite only being 12 years old, Lohan was able to effortlessly switch between the prim, proper Annie and the rambunctious Hallie. To make matters even more challenging for the young star, Annie had a British accent. Was it a good accent on Lohan’s part? No. But it was still an impressive feat for a child star.

Honourable mention must also go to Hayley Mills, who played Susan Evers and Sharon McKendrick in the 1961 version. So effective was Mills that her version of The Parent Trap was nominated for two Academy Awards.

Jeremy Irons, Dead Ringers

Any mention of twin performances usually conjures memories of Jeremy Irons in David Cronenberg’s 1988 thriller Dead Ringers. The actor played Elliot and Beverly Mantle, co-dependent twin gynaecologists who take advantage of their identical looks to share women.

Irons’ performance as each of the twins – one meek, the other more self-assured – is incredibly compelling, especially as they slip deeper into paranoia and mental decay. Though Irons didn’t secure an Oscar nod, he was nominated at the Golden Globes, and the film inspired a popular remake (the 2023 Dead Ringers series starring Rachel Weisz).

Lily Tomlin and Bette Midler, Big Business

What’s better than one set of twins? Two, obviously.

This larger-than-life comedy-drama features both Bette Midler and Lily Tomlin as two sets of twins who are born at the same hospital on the same night, but are mixed up by a drunk nurse. As a result, one grows up in a wealthy urban setting and the other in a poor rural environment. You can imagine the chaos when they cross paths again later in life.

Jean-Claude Van Damme, Double Impact

Not every twin flick can be a winner. Jean-Claude Van Damme’s Double Impact (1991) is memorable purely for its absolute ridiculousness. The film’s tagline said it all: “One packs a piece and the other packs a pistol”.

The action star plays twins Chad and Alex Wagner, who are separated during childhood only to reunite years later to avenge their parents’ deaths.

Granted, Van Damme’s skills appear better suited to the martial arts space rather than acting. It’s clear the film’s creators simply thought doubling the popular action hero would also double ticket sales. They weren’t entirely wrong.

Leonardo DiCaprio, The Man in the Iron Mask

It’s not every day an actor gets to play both the hero and villain of a story. DiCaprio showed off his versatility in The Man in the Iron Mask (1998), playing both a vile king and his good-hearted brother.

The film is based on Alexandre Dumas’ The d’Artagnan Romances, and it allowed DiCaprio to stretch his acting chops to the limit. One character is hyper-privileged and self-obsessed while the other is far more vulnerable, having suffered a life of imprisonment. Beyond the obvious talent on show, it’s simply more Leo on screen – who wouldn’t want that?

Nicolas Cage, Adaptation

Nicolas Cage is the best kind of weird, so it’s a delight seeing it twofold in Spike Jonze’s 2002 film Adaptation. He plays twin brothers Charlie and Donald Kaufman, the former of who is attempting to adapt a popular book by another writer (Meryl Streep).

Things get really bizarre throughout the movie, but its true beauty lies in Cage’s distinct performances as each twin. His attention to detail is immaculate, altering facial expressions and physical mannerisms to suit either the more neurotic Charlie or freeloading Donald. Cage’s effort was good enough to secure a best actor nomination at the 2003 Academy Awards.

Armie Hammer, The Social Network

Armie Hammer may not be in many people’s good graces these days, but his performance as Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss in The Social Network still ranks as one of the best twin performances on screen.

All the credit can’t just go to Hammer, though, who deftly weaved between each of the wealthy Harvard students. Much of its brilliance also came from the scenes featuring both brothers were filmed.

“Hammer played the main twin in each shot,” director David Fincher told Entertainment Weekly in 2010. “For shots that included both twins at the same time, [model Josh] Pence stood in for the second twin; Hammer later went into a studio, where he strapped his head into a harness to film that twin’s face and voice, which was then digitally superimposed over Pence’s face in the film. The result is a sort of hybrid actor with Hammer’s head and Pence’s body.”

Honourable mentions

Lisa Kudrow, Friends

You may not see much of Phoebe Buffay’s self-obsessed twin sister Ursula in Friends, but it’s always a laugh-riot when you do.

Tom Hardy, Legend

Though the movie isn’t considered one of the best gangster films, Hardy’s performance as Ronnie and Reggie Kray was widely applauded.

Mark Ruffalo, I Know this Much Is True

Ruffalo went above and beyond to distinguish between these twin characters, one of whom has schizophrenia. He reportedly filmed all of his scenes as Dominick first, then took weeks off to lose weight and physically transform into Thomas.

Must-see movies, interviews and all the latest from the world of film delivered to your inbox. Sign up for our Screening Room newsletter.