The evolution of how actors play their own lookalikes in movies, from 'The Parent Trap' to 'An American Pickle'

There's a long history of actors playing fake twins, doppelgangers, and doubles in movies. This episode of "Movies Insider" traces the evolution of doubling effects in Hollywood, from the split screens of the original "Parent Trap" to the rotoscoping and green-screen composites used on Nicolas Cage in 2002's "Adaptation," all the way up to the advanced face and head replacements of 2019's "Us." We take a look at how technology dating from the early silent-film era has advanced to make movies like "Us," "The Social Network," and more possible, and break down why the Jeremy Irons twins in David Cronenberg's 1988 movie "Dead Ringers" represented a turning point for twin effects. Find out how the artists at Monsters Aliens Robots Zombies VFX cloned Paul Rudd for his 2019 Netflix series "Living with Yourself," how Rodeo FX created Jake Gyllenhaal doppelgangers for Denis Villeneuve's 2013 thriller "Enemy," and how NVIZ Studio pulled off its twinning effects on Tom Hardy in 2015's "Legend" and Seth Rogen in 2020's "An American Pickle" — and learn why late 19th-century optical effects laid the foundation for all this groundbreaking effects work in the 21st century. Hollywood has always been fascinated with twins — and specifically identical twins played by a single actor. This episode of "Movies Insider" traces the evolution of how fake twins are created in movies. Beginning with the matte effects of the silent-film era, we follow the advancement of twin effects all the way up to the advanced face and head replacements in 2019's "Us." Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.