History Main / PlayingTheirOwnTwin

[[folder: Film - Live Action]]

[[folder:Live Action TV]]

[[folder: {{Webcomics}}]]

[[folder: Western Animation]]
* Rare animated example: Kath Soucie voices both twins Phil and Lil in ''{{WesternAnimation/Rugrats}}'' as well as their mother.
* Ron Pearlman voices both the Stabbington brothers in ''{{Disney/Tangled}}''.

* In ''{{Series/Quantico}}'', Nimah and Raina Amin are both played by Yasmine Al Massri
* In the ''{{Series/Supergirl| 2015}}'' series, [[spoiler:Alura Zor-El and her EvilTwin Astra]] are played the the same actress.

* Liv and Maddie of ''Series/LivAndMaddie'' are both played by Dove Cameron. They do interact a lot, so there are stand-ins as well as shots being combined to show both of their faces. The title sequence notably has Liv taking a selfie of the pair, obviously both in shot. Somehow, though (probably because [[TomboyAndGirlyGirl Liv is likely wearing heels while Maddie isn't]]), Liv is taller. (In "Helgaween-A-Rooney," she plays triplets.)

* In ''{{Film/Constantine}}'' Angela Dodgson is a twin, whose sister kills herself at the beginning of the film. Both are played by Rachel Weisz.

** George Bluth Sr. and Oscar Bluth are both played by Jeffrey Tambor.

* In the ''{{Series/Supergirl| 2015}}'' series, [[spoiler:Alura Zor-El and her evil twin]] are played the the same actress.

* ''Series/{{Ringer}}'': Creator/SarahMichelleGellar plays a pair of twins, one of which dies in the first episode and the other pretends to be her.

* Liv and Maddie of ''Series/LivAndMaddie'' are both played by Dove Cameron. They do interact a lot, so there are stand-ins as well as shots being combined to show both of their faces. The title sequence notably has Liv taking a selfie of the pair, obviously both in shot. Somehow, though (probably because [[TomboyAndGirlyGirl Liv is likely wearing heels while Maddie isn't]]), Liv is taller.

* Liv and Maddie of ''Series/LivAndMaddie'' are both played by Dove Cameron. They do interact a lot, so there are stand-ins as well as shots being combined to show both of their faces. The title sequence notably has Liv taking a selfie of the pair, obviously both in shot. Somehow, though, Liv is taller.

[[quoteright:350:[[{{Series/Popular}} http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/popular_same_twins.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:350:[-The twins are played by the same actress, and their [[PinkMeansFeminine pink skirts]] and [[PrettyInMink mink coats]] are [[PropRecycling played by the same outfit]].-] ]]

* Freddie Highmore plays twins Jared and Simon in ''Film/TheSpiderwickChronicles''.

[[caption-width-right:350:[-The twins are played by the same actress, and the [[PinkMeansFeminine pink skirts]] and [[PrettyInMink fur coats]] are [[PropRecycling played by the same outfit]].-] ]]

* Bette Midler and Lily Tomlin each play a pair of identical twins in ''Film/BigBusiness''.

* Creator/BetteDavis in ''Film/AStolenLife'' and ''Film/DeadRinger''.

* Creator/BetteMidler and Lily Tomlin each play a pair of identical twins in ''Film/BigBusiness''.
* Creator/FreddieHighmore plays twins Jared and Simon in ''Film/TheSpiderwickChronicles''.

* ''Film/DoubleImpact'' has Creator/JeanClaudeVanDamme playing two twin brothers.

* In a 1990s commercial for Diet Pepsi, Music/RayCharles introduces his twin brother Herb Charles, also played by Ray. In addition, the Rayetts (a trio of backup singers) have a set of twins, the Herbettes.

[[AC:Live Action TV]]

[[AC:Live Action Film]]
* Done in both versions of ''Film/TheParentTrap'' (the Hayley Mills original and the Creator/LindsayLohan version). The lead plays both separated at birth twins, as they were split as part of their parents' divorce proceedings and kept secret from each other. They swap places to get to know their other parent after meeting at camp before planning to get them back together.
* Creator/LindsayLohan had another outing as twins separated at birth in ''Film/IKnowWhoKilledMe'', in which she played the bright-eyed and studious Aubrey, who turns up missing; meanwhile, her long-lost twin Dakota--a stripper who was abducted, tortured, and mutilated--suddenly surfaces and is mistaken for the former twin.
* In the Creator/ChristopherNolan film ''Film/ThePrestige'', [[spoiler:Christian Bale portrays a magician]] and his identical twin brother, who is heavily disguised and passed off as an assistant whenever they appear together. The two brothers swap roles of [[spoiler:magician]] and assistant, and when one of them loses a finger to injury, they work together to amputate the same finger from the previously-uninjured twin to maintain their role-swapping options.
* In ''Film/ThereWillBeBlood'', Paul Dano plays both Eli Sunday, the two-faced young preacher who squares off against Daniel Plainview, and Paul Sunday, Eli's brother who leads Plainview to the oil on his family's land in exchange for a finder's fee. Dano was originally cast in the much smaller part of Paul, but when the actor who played Eli suddenly left the production, he took the starring role of Eli on short notice. This is played for a gag when Daniel does a DoubleTake on meeting Eli for the first time after having already dealt with Paul.
* ''Film/TheManInTheIronMask'' goes with the theory that the titular man was LouisXIV's secret twin, with both being played by LeonardoDicaprio.
* ''Film/DoubleImpact'' has Creator/JeanClaudeVanDamme playing two twin brothers.
* ''Film/DeadRingers'': Creator/JeremyIrons plays twin brothers Elliot and Beverly Mantle, two wealthy private practice gynaecologists. Their interaction was mostly achieved via split screen.
* In ''Film/TheSocialNetwork'', both Winklevoss twins were played by Armie Hammer. The production team used an innovative VFX technique in which Hammer acted alongside a body double, Josh Pence, while his scenes were filmed, and Hammer's face was later digitally grafted onto Pence's face during post-production.
* Mark Gor dies in ''Film/ABetterTomorrow'', but Creator/ChowYunFat comes back to play his BackupTwin Ken in the second movie.
* In ''Legend'', Creator/TomHardy portrays both Ronald and Reginald Kray, the infamous twin {{London Gangster}}s.

[[AC: {{Webcomics}}]]

* ''Series/TalesFromTheCrypt'': The episode "Split Personality" has an InUniverse example. Creator/JoePesci plays a con man who pretends to be twins to romance a pair of wealthy twin sisters. Needless to say, it does not end well for him.

* ''Movie/SkyHigh'' managed to combine this trope with MakingUseOfTheTwin. Penny, who had the power of self-duplication, was played by real-life twins Malika and Khadijah Haqq. Since Penny often had 8 or more copies of herself active at once, each twin would play several duplicates in one shot.

* TheManInTheIronMask goes with the theory that the titular man was LouisXIV's secret twin, with both being played by LeonardoDicaprio.

* In ''Legend'', Creator/TomHardy portrays both Ronald and Reginald Kray, the infamous twin {{London Gangster}}s. Notably, the previous biopic about the gangsters, ''The Krays'' used twin actors to portray the brothers.

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* In ''Legend'' Tom Hardy portrays both Ronald and Reginald Kray, the infamous twin {{London Gangster}}s. Notably, the previous biopic about the gangsters, ''The Krays'' used twin actors to portray the brothers.

* Creator/LindsayLohan had another outing as twins separated at birth in ''Film/IKnowWhoKilledMe'', in which played the bright-eyed and studeos Aubrey who turns up missing, meanwhile he long-lost twin Dakota - a stripper who was abducted, tortured, and mutilated, suddenly surfaces and is mistaken for the former twin.

[[caption-width-right:350:[-The twins are played the the same actress, and the [[PinkMeansFeminine pink skirts]] and [[PrettyInMink fur coats]] are [[PropRecycling played by the same outfit]].-] ]]

There are times when one person is played by a set of twins, and there are times when a set of twins are played by twins (or triplets, etc.). What\'s rarer is when a pair of twins are played by the same person.

Reasons for casting this way include when on {{long runner}}s the twin reveal is a plot device thought up for an already developed character later on, and the actor hasn\'t got a twin. Other times, the production really wanted to hire a certain actor because of their marketability or skill massively outweighing pairs of twins that auditioned. Necessarily they are AlwaysIdenticalTwins. The role in the story may take the form of the BackupTwin.

However, though it may seem as though you could save money by hiring one actor to play two parts, it may cost \'\'more\'\'. If the twins ever interact then you\'re going to need to hire at least one other person to be a stand-in (and spend a lot of time finding someone who looks like the twin actor) as well as spend twice as long filming these scenes. You\'re also going to be paying the actor for two roles, not one. Still, the availability of twin-less actors plus their appeal may start saving the production money and bring in more viewers, so earning the money back more. As well as that, some specialist acting agencies for twins ramp up the hiring cost because of the scarcity of genuine twin roles and/or actors.

There can also be InUniverse examples, for when there is a ShowWithinAShow. If a character pretends to have a twin that\'s the FakeTwinGambit.
%%To add a fictional example to the main page without a trivia tag showing, include a pot hole to \"InUniverse\" in the example.

\'\'\'Note that only examples of twin/related characters should be listed: clones, doppelgängers, and other identical counterparts are more typically played by the same actor and not part of this trope.\'\'\'

* \'\'Series/{{Ringer}}\'\': Creator/SarahMichelleGellar plays a pair of twins, one of which dies in the first episode and the other pretends to be her.
* \'\'Series/ArrestedDevelopment\'\'

** It also has an exaggerated and quite literal example with the Richter quintuplets (all Andy Richter): Andy, the show off; Chareth, the flirt; Donny, the sensitive one; Rocky, Andy\'s stunt double; and Emmett, who asked that his face not be shown on camera (even though it looks like his brothers\'). This is also an ActorAllusion to Richter\'s role as the father on the short-lived \'\'Series/{{Quintuplets}}\'\'.
* Liv and Maddie of \'\'Series/LivAndMaddie\'\' are both played by Dove Cameron. They do interact a lot, so there are stand-ins as well as shots being combined to show both of their faces. The title sequence notably has Liv taking a selfie of the pair, obviously both in shot. Somehow, though, Liv is taller.
* \'\'Series/{{Bewitched}}\'\'. Elizabeth Montgomery played both Samantha and her mischevious twin cousin Serena, however, because the characters were so different that many fans were unaware that Elizabeth played both parts; to keep the charade going, she adopted a psuedonym when credited for Serena as Pandora Spocks.
* \'\'Series/IDreamOfJeannie\'\'. Barbara Eden plays not only Jeannie, but Jeannie\'s evil twin sister (whose name is also Jeannie), \'\'and\'\' their mother (whose name is \'\'also\'\' Jeannie as well).
* \'\'Series/TalesFromTheCrypt\'\': The episode \"Split Personality\" has an InUniverse example. Creator/JoePesci plays a con man who pretends to be twins to romance a pair of wealthy twin sisters. Needless to say, it does not end well for him.
* In \'\'{{Series/Popular}}\'\' a number of twins show up, and many are played by the same person, such as Emory Dick\'s younger sisters (who are the {{Alpha Bitch}}es at their school) played by [[http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0003779/?ref_=ttfc_fc_cl_t16 Alessandra Torresani]].
* In one episode on the Israeli sitcom \'\'[=Shemesh=]\'\', the eponymous main character dates a woman, played by singer and actress Michal Tzafir (who has three siblings but no twin sister) who claims her identical twin sister is a [[StickyFingers kleptomaniac]] to explain why some shop owners angrily kick her out of their shops. At first he\'s delighted at the prospect of a TwinThreesomeFantasy coming true, but later she invites her sister to meet him at the restaurant he owns, and when she does they keep stepping out to call the other and just barely missing each other repeatedly (both are wearing the same outfit, except one of them has a scarf). He thinks it\'s a ConvenientlyUnverifiableCoverStory meant to cover for her kleptomania and breaks it off, citing trust issues. The next day, both twins come to his restaurant, and when he tries to go back on his decision, his ex refuses, [[IronicEcho citing trust issues]].
* The \'\'Series/{{Columbo}}\'\' episode \"Double Shock\" featured Martin Landau portraying identical twins who use their looks to murder their rich uncle and cover their tracks.
* Phoebe on \'\'{{Series/Friends}}\'\' and her twin sister Ursula are both played by Lisa Kudrow. It should be noted that Ursula was originally the ditzy waitress from \'\'Series/MadAboutYou\'\'.

* Done in both versions of \'\'Film/TheParentTrap\'\' (the Hayley Mills original and the Creator/LindsayLohan version). The lead plays both separated at birth twins, as they were split as part of their parents\' divorce proceedings and kept secret from each other. They swap places to get to know their other parent after meeting at camp before planning to get them back together.
* Creator/LindsayLohan had another outing as twins separated at birth in \'\'Film/IKnowWhoKilledMe\'\', in which played the bright-eyed and studeos Aubrey who turns up missing, meanwhile he long-lost twin Dakota - a stripper who was abducted, tortured, and mutilated, suddenly surfaces and is mistaken for the former twin.
* \'\'Movie/SkyHigh\'\' managed to combine this trope with MakingUseOfTheTwin. Penny, who had the power of self-duplication, was played by real-life twins Malika and Khadijah Haqq. Since Penny often had 8 or more copies of herself active at once, each twin would play several duplicates in one shot.
* In the Creator/ChristopherNolan film \'\'Film/ThePrestige\'\', [[spoiler:Christian Bale portrays a magician]] and his identical twin brother, who is heavily disguised and passed off as an assistant whenever they appear together. The two brothers swap roles of [[spoiler:magician]] and assistant, and when one of them loses a finger to injury, they work together to amputate the same finger from the previously-uninjured twin to maintain their role-swapping options.
* In \'\'Film/ThereWillBeBlood\'\', Paul Dano plays both Eli Sunday, the two-faced young preacher who squares off against Daniel Plainview, and Paul Sunday, Eli\'s brother who leads Plainview to the oil on his family\'s land in exchange for a finder\'s fee. Dano was originally cast in the much smaller part of Paul, but when the actor who played Eli suddenly left the production, he took the starring role of Eli on short notice. This is played for a gag when Daniel does a DoubleTake on meeting Eli for the first time after having already dealt with Paul.
* TheManInTheIronMask goes with the theory that the titular man was LouisXIV\'s secret twin, with both being played by LeonardoDicaprio.
* \'\'Film/DoubleImpact\'\' has Creator/JeanClaudeVanDamme playing two twin brothers.
* \'\'Film/DeadRingers\'\': Creator/JeremyIrons plays twin brothers Elliot and Beverly Mantle, two wealthy private practice gynaecologists. Their interaction was mostly achieved via split screen.
* In \'\'Film/TheSocialNetwork\'\', both Winklevoss twins were played by Armie Hammer. The production team used an innovative VFX technique in which Hammer acted alongside a body double, Josh Pence, while his scenes were filmed, and Hammer\'s face was later digitally grafted onto Pence\'s face during post-production.
* Mark Gor dies in \'\'Film/ABetterTomorrow\'\', but Creator/ChowYunFat comes back to play his BackupTwin Ken in the second movie.
* In \'\'Legend\'\' Tom Hardy portrays both Ronald and Reginald Kray, the infamous twin {{London Gangster}}s. Notably, the previous biopic about the gangsters, \'\'The Krays\'\' used twin actors to portray the brothers.

* \'\'Webcomic/{{IDGet}}\'\' explored this in a 2007 strip regarding odd casting choices in movies, including Lindsay Lohan as twins in \'\'The Parent Trap\'\', which Lindsay justifies by saying, \"What? It\'s not as if twins exist in real life.\"

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