Just the two of us: Splitting the screen with some memorable dual roles

Boston Globe

19-03-2025

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De Niro's performance got me thinking about actors who have played dual roles, which led to this list. The criteria here are simple: The actor only plays two roles and — this is most important — they have to appear onscreen together in at least one scene.
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Nicolas Cage appears in the dual roles of Charlie and Donald Kaufman in "Adaptation."
Ben Kaller
Nicolas Cage in 'Adaptation' (2002)
As several movies have proven, one Nicolas Cage can be too many. But he does a great job playing a fictionalized version of the film's screenwriter, Charlie Kaufman, and Kaufman's twin brother, Donald. Charlie has writer's block while trying to adapt 'The Orchid Thief,' a real novel by the real author Susan Orlean (played here by Meryl Streep). Unfortunately, Donald, his freeloading brother, turns out to be the more successful screenwriter. The movie spirals out of control from there.
I was in the critical minority on this one — I hated the last third of it — but the Oscars disagreed. Cage, Streep, and Chris Cooper all received acting nods (Cooper won), and Charlie shared a best adapted screenplay nod with Donald, his nonexistent twin brother.
Bette Davis in 'A Stolen Life' (1946) and 'Dead Ringer' (1963)
In both films, La Davis plays an identical twin who replaces her deceased sister. 'A Stolen Life' finds both Bettes in love with Glenn Ford, who isn't aware that the twin he married has died and has been replaced by the twin who actually loved him.
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The awesome twist here is that this is a remake of the 1939 film starring Elisabeth Bergner. According to writer Mary Orr, who wrote the source material for 'All About Eve,' Bergner is the inspiration for that film's theater diva, Margo Channing. We all know who played Margo, don't we?
Evil twin Davis kills her good twin and assumes her identity in 'Dead Ringer,' a better-than-expected thriller directed by the man who lit two iconic cigarettes in Davis's 1942 classic, 'Now, Voyager,' Paul Henreid. Big mistake, Bette! This one's a lot of fun, and it shouldn't be confused with the next movie on this list.
Jeremy Irons and Genevieve Bujold in "Dead Ringers."
20th Century Fox
Jeremy Irons in 'Dead Ringers' (1988)
Irons plays twin gynecologists in David Cronenberg's psychological nightmare. 'Dead Ringers' is one of the body-horror director's sicker movies, which is really saying something. The Oscar-worthy Irons is fantastic here, giving two distinct performances and blurring the lines of identity. How disturbing is this film? Allow me to quote Irons's Claus von Bulow in 'Reversal of Fortune': 'You have no idea.'
Lupita Nyong'o in 'Us' (2019)
In Jordan Peele's excellent horror film follow-up to 'Get Out,' Lupita Nyong'o gives the best dual performance on this list. As the film's hero and her identical 'tether,' Nyong'o gets to fight herself in a climactic battle. Nyong'o should have beaten up the Academy, which ignored her brilliant work. While Peele follows the usual 'good twin, bad twin' formula, the surprise here is that, depending on your perspective, we're not sure which is which.
Edward G. Robinson in 'The Whole Town's Talking' (1935)
A rare comedy from Eddie G. (it's more of a farce) puts him in a dual role as a killer mafioso on the lam and the shy clerk who gets mistaken for him. Legendary director John Ford helms this entertaining movie based on a story by W.R. Burnett (he wrote 'The Asphalt Jungle'). The great Jean Arthur plays clerk Eddie's love interest, and the F/X work is pretty damn good for 1935. The only film on this list where the two roles have no explainable connection whatsoever.
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Bette Midler and Lily Tomlin in 'Big Business' (1988)
'Airplane' co-director Jim Abrahams steps away from his partners David and Jerry Zucker for this occasionally funny comedy. Tomlin, no stranger to multiple roles, plays twins born at a West Virginia hospital. Midler also plays twins born there. An old nurse accidentally switches the twins, giving one Midler and one Tomlin twin to each parent. As farce is wont to do, all four women end up in different ranks of the same corporate conglomerate. Mistaken identities abound. This movie is confusing as hell, and not very good, but there's fun to be had watching Midler and Tomlin ham it up.
Lee Marvin in 'Cat Ballou' (1965)
In this comic western, quintessential tough guy Lee Marvin stars as Tim Strawn, an evil killer working for the men who want to steal the Wolf City, Wyo., family ranch of Cat Ballou (Jane Fonda). For protection, Cat hires perpetually drunk gunslinger Kid Shelleen (Marvin), who rides an equally drunk horse and happens to be Strawn's brother. (It's easy to tell them apart — Strawn doesn't have a nose.) Stubby Kaye and Nat King Cole play the singing Greek chorus who propel the plot through song.
'Half of this [Oscar] belongs to a horse someplace out in the Valley,' Marvin
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Lindsay Lohan as Hallie "Hal" Parker and Annie "Ann" James in "The Parent Trap."
Disney
Hayley Mills and Lindsay Lohan in 'The Parent Trap' (1961 and 1998)
In both versions of this Disney fan favorite, Mills and Lohan play a twin raised by one of their divorced parents. Neither knows of the other's existence until they are teenagers. Once they're properly introduced, they switch places in order to reunite their divorced parents. With kids like these, who needs alimony?
Arnold Schwarzenegger in 'The 6th Day' (2000)
In this sci-fi actioner, Ah-nuld discovers he's been cloned, and that clone has taken over his unsuspecting family. In his positive review, my predecessor Jay Carr wrote that this film 'puts the fun back into going to Arnold Schwarzenegger movies.' This may come as a complete shock to you, but Boston Globe film critics can be wrong!
Adam Sandler in 'Jack and Jill' (2011)
I had to put Adam Sandler's second-worst movie here for two reasons: One, the twins Sandler plays are, for a change, brother and sister; and two, Bobby De Niro's frequent acting partner, Al Pacino,
Odie Henderson is the Boston Globe's film critic.