Movies Where One Actor Plays Twins

Double the performance, same paycheck.

Entries
10
Category
Film
Updated
  1. A dented iron mask resting on a velvet cushion in a stone cell, a royal crown on a matching cushion beside it.

    10. The Man in the Iron Mask

    Randall Wallace · 1998

    Leonardo DiCaprio as Louis XIV and his imprisoned twin Philippe, a year after Titanic, with Irons, Malkovich, Depardieu and Byrne as aging musketeers. It made $183 million. DiCaprio won the Razzie for Worst Screen Couple, alongside himself.

  2. Two identical pairs of white sneakers mid-split on a Hong Kong dock at night, neon reflections in the water.

    09. Double Impact

    Sheldon Lettich · 1991

    Jean-Claude Van Damme as twins Chad and Alex, one a California fitness instructor, one a Hong Kong smuggler, both doing the splits. Van Damme co-wrote and produced it. Bolo Yeung is the henchman. It made $80 million. Double the kicks, as advertised.

  3. Two identical hotel suite doors side by side in a gilded hallway, one with a corporate briefcase outside and one with a muddy pair of boots.

    08. Big Business

    Jim Abrahams · 1988

    Bette Midler and Lily Tomlin each play a twin, two sets switched at birth, one raised rich in the city and one in the country, colliding at the Plaza Hotel. Four performances, two actors, one Shakespeare plot. Midler won an American Comedy Award.

  4. A small dog sitting alert at the foot of a grand staircase in a mansion, a single smoking cigarette in a crystal ashtray on the newel post.

    07. Dead Ringer

    Paul Henreid · 1964

    Bette Davis plays twins Edith and Margaret, and one kills the other and moves into her mansion. The dog is the first to notice. It was her second go at twins, after A Stolen Life in 1946. Not to be confused with Dead Ringers, which has an S and worse doctors.

  5. Two identical tumblers of whiskey on a smoky 1960s East End bar, one pair of thick-framed glasses folded beside one glass.

    06. Legend

    Brian Helgeland · 2015

    Tom Hardy plays both Kray twins, the gangsters who ran 1960s London's East End. Even Rotten Tomatoes says the film is deeply flawed and Hardy carries it. He won the British Independent Film Award for it. He would have had to share it either way.

  6. Two identical brooches on a dark vanity table, reflected in an ornate hand mirror under a single lamp.

    05. The Dark Mirror

    Robert Siodmak · 1946

    Olivia de Havilland as twins Ruth and Terry, one kind and one quietly insane, both suspects in a murder. The film tells them apart with jewelry, which one critic noted she did not need. A psychiatrist sorts it out. Freud had a big 1946.

  7. A birthday cake with two candles on a kitchen table, a split-screen television in the background and a knife resting on the cake plate.

    04. Sisters

    Brian De Palma · 1972

    Margot Kidder as separated conjoined twins Danielle and Dominique, in the thriller that launched De Palma's whole career of split screens and Hitchcock homage. Bernard Herrmann scored it. It started with a magazine photo. So did a lot of nightmares.

  8. Two identical summer camp trunks at the end of a wooden dock, one covered in California stickers and one in London stickers, a lake at sunset behind.

    03. The Parent Trap

    Nancy Meyers · 1998

    Lindsay Lohan's film debut, playing a Californian and a Londoner who swap places at summer camp. Meyers named the twins after her own daughters. A remake of the 1961 Hayley Mills version, and it made $92 million on $15 million. The accent did a lot of work.

  9. Two identical typewriters side by side on a cluttered desk, one beside a wilting orchid and one beside a stack of action-movie paperbacks.

    02. Adaptation.

    Spike Jonze · 2002

    Nicolas Cage plays Charlie Kaufman and his invented twin Donald, who got a real screenwriting credit and a real Oscar nomination despite not existing. Cage got nominated too. Only one of the twins had to show up to the ceremony.

  10. Two identical sets of surgical instruments laid out on matching steel trays under a cold operating lamp, one set slightly out of order.

    01. Dead Ringers

    David Cronenberg · 1988

    Jeremy Irons as identical twin gynecologists Beverly and Elliot Mantle, separated only by posture and how fast they fall apart. Based loosely on the real Marcus twins. It swept the Genies, 10 awards. Two Irons, zero comfort.

Honorable mentions

  • Two rowing oars crossed on a Harvard boathouse floor beside two identical blazers on hangers.

    The Social Network

    David Fincher · 2010

    Armie Hammer plays both Winklevoss twins, sort of: Josh Pence played one body and Hammer's face was digitally grafted onto it. Honorable because it works. Mention because only half of him was there.

Dishonorable mentions

  • A cardboard cup of coffee next to a donut on a holiday dinner table, a single string of tinsel draped over it.

    Jack and Jill

    Dennis Dugan · 2011

    Adam Sandler plays himself and his sister. Al Pacino sells a Dunkaccino. It became the first film to win every Razzie category. It made $150 million. Both twins are fine.

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